I was adding some sub-domains and was waiting for the DNS to be regenerated and noticed it has the last modified time and last generated time, but not the current server time. Perhaps the current server time could be added somewhere on the page, maybe next to the page title (aligned right). Or get real fancy and have a countdown until the next generation and refresh.

Maybe I'm just being too lazy?

Current server time? I'm not following.

The zones get regenerated every quarter hour. So, xx:00, xx:15, xx:30, xx:45.

-Chris

Yes, I'm aware.

The page displays the time the DNS was updated, the time it was last generated, but not the current time (or any time zones for that matter).

Perhaps I should expand on this a little more.

1. I make an edit to a domain zone.
2. The last modified time updates. However, the last modified time does not match the time that's currently on my computer. Whether this is due to different time zones is irrelevant.
3. I browse away for roughly five minutes and come back. I can see that it was last updated on X time, however I don't know the current server time to be able to figure out how long is left until the next generation.

Not a huge deal; at wost case you'll only be waiting 15 minutes, but it would still be nice to be able to calculate the exact time left.

You can adjust the Linode Manager's timezone under your My Profile linky.

I'm still not following you. If you make an edit, and the "Last Modified" time changes, subtract the next quarter hour time from that and you now know how much time is left until the changes get pushed out.

Am I being dense?

-Chris

I don't think anyone's being dense, I just think the request is out of laziness (not that it's a bad thing, certainly describes me!)

It certainly is easy to do some mental arithmetic and see when the next update is. But it'd be even easier if there was a big fancy JS powered countdown timer.

If I'm understanding what he's saying..

Ah, thanks for pointing me to where I change change the timezone. This makes it easier, and my request look fairly useless.


Correct; but that's the time left from the last modified time, and not the current time! If you were to browse away for a few minutes, how would you calculate how long until the next generation? You can't (without using your system time), because all you have to go by is the records last modified time. That was the situation I was in.

However(!), now that the last modified time and my system's time are running the same timezone, I can now calculate exactly how long it will take until the next generation.


Bingo!

I don't see why your timezone makes a big difference.

Whatever time zone you're in, see how long it is until the next quarter-hour. That's all there is to it; it doesn't matter that the hours are different. Or am I missing something?

Well in my situation, correct, it didn't matter. However, not all timezones share the same number of minutes into the current hour.
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

This request has basically boiled down to: can we have a "time left until next generation" counter on the DNS manager page? It'll make it easier for lazy people. :)

They do all have the same number of minutes until the next quarter-hour.

Ah, you're correct about that.

However, using your system time wont always be exact; most machines I've used all have discrepancies in their times. But whatever, I suppose that's grasping at straws; it'll get you close enough.

My request still stands: it's much easier to have the server do the math; display a countdown.

I'm going to have to specifically ask that this feature *not* be implemented. It's not hard to look at a clock and see how long it will be until the next 15 minute step tick. It doesn't matter if your time is off as the zone probably won't reload at exactly that moment. If that is an issue then just assume that the zone reloads every 30 minutes.

I would rather see the staff implement more important features like haikus about urmom in support tickets.

I'd hope those computers had become extinct by 2009, but indeed, I am saddened to learn that might not be the case. Linode's server clocks should be within a small number of milliseconds of each other (and the rest of the world). If you run across any computers that have an inaccurate clock, please install ntpd or another NTP client and point it at pool.ntp.org.

However, also consider that zone generation isn't a zero-time event; it might take a few minutes for it to get through the whole process. Thus, a countdown would be somewhat inaccurate since there's no way to predict exactly when the regeneration will occur.

(My solution: 15 minute egg timer)

The general vibe I'm getting from all of your replies is this is a completely unneeded feature. This was one just of those quick ideas that popped into my head. I thought, why not throw it on the forum and see what people think. I'll have to remember to review my ideas more throughly in the future before they're unleashed on the sharks.

Consider my requested pulled. I understand where you guys are coming from.

I didn't mean it like THAT!

If you hadn't posted this suggestion, you'd probably be stewing about it and wouldn't have found the timezone setting for quite some time. Remember, there are no stupid questions or suggestions.

(This one, however, was close^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hutoh