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.

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, similiar 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.