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DNS Resolver for Humans — 30-Second Version
Your computer doesn’t know which IP address belongs to a domain name. It needs a phone book—but one that constantly updates. That’s where a DNS resolver comes in.
When you connect your desktop at home to the internet, your ISP provides its own DNS servers—also known as DNS resolvers—which act as your personal phone book. Your computer also maintains a local cache of recent lookups, so if you revisit a site, it’s faster without even asking the resolver again. Both your local cache and the resolver’s cache are why support staff often say “wait 48 hours” after a DNS change—it’s the time it may take for outdated listings to expire everywhere. While they sometimes refresh faster, 48 hours is a safe upper limit.
You’re not limited to your ISP’s DNS. You can switch to public resolvers like Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 or Google’s 8.8.8.8 for potential gains in speed, privacy, or reliability. You can even run your own DNS resolver—on your computer, a home server, or within your network—if you want complete control over how your internet phone book is managed.
Why Vultr Provides DNS Resolvers with Its VPS Lineup
When you spin up a VPS with Vultr, it’s essentially a blank-slate server connected to the internet. Just like a home computer, it needs a way to turn domain names into IP addresses. Rather than leaving every customer to configure their own DNS from scratch, Vultr provides its own internal DNS resolvers.
These built-in resolvers serve a few key purposes:
- Convenience: Your VPS can start resolving domain names immediately without any manual setup. This is especially helpful for automated deployments or users who are new to server administration.
- Performance: Vultr’s resolvers are typically located within the same data center as your VPS, reducing lookup latency compared to using a resolver located halfway around the world.
- Reliability: Since Vultr controls the infrastructure, it can monitor and maintain these resolvers to keep them stable and responsive.
- Caching: Just like an ISP’s resolver, Vultr’s DNS servers cache recent lookups to speed up repeated requests.
In short, Vultr’s internal DNS resolvers are meant to be a ready-to-go, fast, and reliable option so your server can resolve domains from the moment it boots up.
Vultr’s Slow DNS Resolvers
While Vultr’s internal DNS resolvers are designed for speed and convenience, there are times when they can slow down. This may happen due to high query loads, temporary network issues, or delays in upstream lookups. Even a fraction of a second added to each DNS query can add noticeable delays for applications that make a lot of external requests.
For WordPress sites, slow DNS resolution can have a real impact. WordPress often makes background calls to external services—such as plugin update checks, API calls, or loading assets from CDNs. If each of these calls takes longer because the DNS lookup is sluggish, page load times and dashboard responsiveness can suffer.
When this happens, switching to a faster, public DNS resolver like Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 or Google’s 8.8.8.8 can help improve site performance. In some cases, running your own caching DNS resolver directly on the VPS can provide the best results by cutting out external latency altogether.
Vultr Major Outage on 08/15/2025
There was a major outage on 08/15/2025 that a number of users reported showing as slow site speeds etc, and then Vultr posted this on their status page.
Global Intermittent DNS Issues - ALRT-Z9J737L Alert Created08/15/25 2:20 pm UTC We are currently experiencing intermittent DNS issues in all locations. Our engineers are actively working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Changing to Cloudflare and Google DNS Resolvers on Ubuntu 20, 22, 244
If you suspect Vultr’s internal resolvers are slowing down your WordPress site, you can easily switch your VPS to use faster public resolvers like Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 or Google’s 8.8.8.8.
This method works for Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, and 24.04, ensuring your server uses faster, globally distributed DNS resolvers. Personally I usually make this change on pretty much all servers.
1. Edit the Netplan or systemd-resolved configuration:
- For most Ubuntu servers, DNS settings are managed via
systemd-resolved. - Edit
/etc/systemd/resolved.confand add
[Resolve] DNS=1.1.1.1 1.0.0.1 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 FallbackDNS=1.1.1.1 8.8.8.8
2. Restart systemd-resolved:
sudo systemctl restart systemd-resolved
3. Update the symlink for /etc/resolv.conf if needed:
sudo ln -sf /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf
4. Verify the changes:
sudo systemd-resolve --status
You should now see Cloudflare and Google listed as your DNS servers.
Change Log
- 08-15-2025 – Added details about 08/15/2025 Vultr outage that was posted.
Jordan Trask
With 20 years of experience in technology spanning Linux, Data Center Infrastructure, and related services and applications, Jordan consults with small, medium, and large organizations tackling technology problems and needs. With 10 years of experience in WordPress, he’s created Managing WP as a means of dumping his brain on the web.
Jordan operates LMT Solutions providing Technology Consulting Services and We Power WP for WordPress Care Plans and Support.