Everything You need to know What is DNS? Everything You need to know

Agenda The Basics DNS Record types Nameservers Accessing & Editing Helpful resources

The Basics DNS stands for “Domain Name System”. A spreadsheet that controls what a domain does, what website it points to, what email service it uses, security, and everything else known about the domain. Basically the “brain” of the domain name

Record types A Record Cname MX Record Points Domain (example.com) or Subdomain (subdomain.example.com) to an IP address. Tells the domain where the website is hosted. Cname Redirects subdomains to a physical address. Example: www.example.com points to example.com www means “world wide web” and isn’t actually a part of a domain name. MX Record “Mail Exchanger” Used to connect a domain’s inbound, and outbound e-mail to a provider. Aka tells the domain where the email goes. Some email providers have separate inbound, and outbound records.

Record types TXT SRV SPF Continued Informational record that displays public information about a domain when requested. Used by internet services for verification. Example: Google will ask you to place a TXT record to prove that you own the domain. SRV Used to identify locations for specific services. Example: Allows an FTP program to identify the correct port, and upload server. SPF Used for Email security Authorizes a specific email service to use the domain for email to prevent email spoofing. Spoofing = sending out unauthorized emails pretending to be you.

Nameservers Nameservers are directors that point services to the DNS zone file in charge of the domain name. There must be at least 2 nameservers. One is the primary, and the other is for backup.

Accessing & Editing DNS can be edited with your domain registrar. Except when using custom Nameservers. Propagation = The time it takes for changes to take effect globally. Caching = Saving previously used data on closer servers to load content faster. TTL = “Time to Live” aka how long you want services to cache your dns before rechecking. They don’t have to listen. Google definitely doesn’t. Changes can take up to 48 hours to update. @ = Root domain Example: Example.com is the @.

Resources Whatsmydns.net = shows how your various records show up globally. Mxtoolbox.com = Find detailed information about your email services. Senderbase.org = lookup your domain, and email online reputation. developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/cache = Clear Google’s DNS cache to speed up your DNS changes!

Let’s Edit some dns!

Questions? Leave a comment on the video! Email me at help@1oh1.it Leave a comment on the compendium!