Using DNS caching to improve site load times
One of the major bottlenecks of most ISPs is their DNS server. In simple terms, a DNS server is nothing but a mapping between the site name and the IP address assigned to it.
For instance, www.google.com could have an IP address of 74.125.19.99. Whenever you type in the web address in your browser, the name to IP address resolution is done using a DNS server, typically assigned by your ISP.
Tip #1: Use OpenDNS as your DNS server
OpenDNS provides one of the most reliable and up-to-date DNS servers that one can use. The two DNS servers provided by OpenDNS run at 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.
Tip #2: Cache the DNS entries
Besides using OpenDNS, you can cache the DNS entries locally so that the round trip time required to query a remote DNS server is eliminated. This can be achieved by using a tool like AnalogX FastCache.
Fast Cache runs at 127.0.0.1 (localhost), which is the IP address which is private to each computer. You will set the OpenDNS server IPs in FastCache and set your network connection’s DNS server as 127.0.0.1.
Now, whenever you try to access a website, it will query FastCache for the IP address. If its available, its returned right away without doing any network query. If the entry is not there, it will query OpenDNS for the IP address.
Simple and sweet! 
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