Dyn Standard DNS is built for the individual or small business needing basic, dial-tone reliable DNS service. Dyn has set limits for the effective range of traffic that each Standard DNS instance is allowed at 750,000 queries per month. In order to ensure that our customers are using the right service for their needs, Dyn charges a nominal fee for over-extending the query limit.

I received a notice about being over quota for queries. What should I do?

Sometimes, being over the quota for queries is the result of a TTL (Time To Live) value that is set too low for a given resource record. A record’s TTL, or Time To Live, is the length of time (in seconds) that caching name servers will store this record in their local cache before performing a new query. Setting a low TTL value (e.g., 60 seconds) will shorten the length of time that it takes other name servers to notice that you have made a change. Setting a high TTL value (e.g., 12 hours) will provide for better overall performance (as your records will stay in cache longer, and a full lookup won’t be required as often), though in general we suggest no value lower than 60 seconds or higher than one week.

Tips for reducing your query count
  1. Check that you’ve got reasonable TTL values set for your records in Standard DNS. Instructions for modifying your zone can be found here.
  2. Let the new values take effect. If they were set really short, the reduction in queries should be significant next month. However, if you find that your zone is still racking up the QPMs, we have higher tiers of service in our Managed DNS Express product line that may be a better fit.

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