DNS Zone types

Question 1

Forward Zone

Answer 1

Used to resolve domain names to IP addresses. Contains records like A, AAAA, and MX.

Question 2

Reverse Zone

Answer 2

Maps IP addresses back to domain names, opposite of a forward zone

Used in reverse DNS lookups (IP address is known but the associated hostname is needed)

Question 3

Authoritative

Answer 3

Has final authority over its own records, providing definitive answers to queries about domain names within its zone without needing to query other sources

Question 4

Non-Authoritative

Answer 4

provides information that has been obtained from another server, not from the original source, usually cached from previous queries

Question 5

Primary

Answer 5

Main zone file where DNS records are stored and managed. Allows direct changes to DNS records

Question 6

Secondary

Answer 6

Read-only copy of the primary zone that serves as a backup. Redundancy for fault tolerance

Question 7

Hosts File

Answer 7

Used by an operating system to map hostnames to IP addresses.

Simple local DNS resolution, which the system checks before querying external DNS servers, allowing for manual override of DNS lookup

Question 8

Recursive DNS Queries

Answer 8

DNS server takes on the responsibility of retrieving data from other DNS servers on behalf of the client, providing a complete answer