DNS glossary
- Authoritative DNS server
- A DNS server which recursive DNS servers contact in order to
resolve a given DNS node
- DNS node
- A name which DNS usually converts in to an IP, such as www.yahoo.com.
Not all DNS nodes have IPs, however.
- DNS record
- A single piece of DNS data, which can either be data for a DNS node,
or meta-data which DNS uses.
- DNS server
- A program which resolves DNS records
- DNS server administrator
- A person who manages DNS; setting up DNS servers, changing DNS records,
and what not.
- Domain registry
- A domain registry is a company that allows one to have their
authoritative DNS servers be contacted by recursive name
servers.
- Domain suffix
- The part of the domain which is (usually) after the first dot in a
DNS node. The domain suffix for www.yahoo.com, for example, is yahoo.com.
- Domain zone
- A domain zone is a set of one or more DNS nodes. All names in a given
domain zone share the same domain suffix.
- IP
- A number which a computer connected to the internet has, similar to a
phone number.
- Internet service provider
- An internet service provider (or ISP) is a company that offers
access to the internet.
- Mail Transport Agent
- A computer program which accepts incoming SMTP (email) connections,
allowing a server to receive email.
- Recursive DNS server
- A recursive DNS server is a DNS server which contacts other DNS
servers to resolve a given DNS node.
- To resolve
- To convert a DNS node, such as www.yahoo.com, in
to an IP, such as 10.17.243.32.
- To serve
- The action of an authoritative DNS server making DNS nodes available
to recursive DNS servers.
- Static IP address
- A static IP address is an IP addresses whose value does not change.
Only some internet service providers offer static IP addresses.