4 INTRODUCTION
device’s query. The recursive server is itself a resolver of the DNS query; we refer
to the resolver on the originating device as a stub resolver as it initiates a query to
its recursive server, and it relies solely on the recursive server to locate and return
the answer. The stub resolver is congured with DNS server IP addresses to query as
part of the IP network initialization process. For example, when a device boots up, it
typically requests an IP address from a dynamic host conguration protocol (DHCP)
server. The DHCP server can be congured to not only provide an IP address but the
IP addresses of recursive DNS servers to which DNS queries should be directed. Use
of DHCP in this manner facilitates mobility and efciency as addresses can be shared
and can be assigned based on the relevant point of connection to the IP network.
As we mentioned, the recursive DNS server’s role is to resolve the query on
behalf of the stub resolver. It performs this role using its own cache of previously
resolved queries or by querying DNS servers on the Internet. The process of querying
Internet DNS servers seeks to rst locate a DNS server that is authoritative for the
domain for which the query relates (example.com in this case) and then to query an
authoritative server itself to obtain an answer that can be passed back to the client,
thereby completing the resolution process. The location of the authoritative server is
determined by querying Internet DNS servers that are responsible for the layers of
the domain tree “above” or “to the right” of the domain in question. We’ll discuss
this process in more detail in Chapter 2. The recursive server caches the resolution
information in order to respond more quickly to a similar query without having to
re-seek the answer on the Internet.
To access your website, people need to know your web address, or technically
your uniform resource locator or URL. And you need to publish this web address
in DNS in the form of a resource record so browsers can locate your DNS servers
and resolve your www address to your web server’s IP address. Multiple, at least
two, authoritative DNS servers must be deployed to provide services continuity in
the event of a server outage. Generally, an administrator congures a master server
that then replicates or transfers its domain information to one or more slave servers.
We will discuss more details on this process and server roles in Chapter 2.
Basic DNS Data Sources and Flows
Figure 1.2 illustrates a subset of the various data stores for DNS data and correspond-
ing data sources. The authoritative DNS servers must be congured to answer queries
for domain name-to-IP address mappings for this domain for which they are author-
itative. Depending on your DNS server vendor implementation, DNS conguration
information may be supplied by editing text les, using a vendor graphical user inter-
face (GUI) or deploying les from an IP address management (IPAM) system as
shown in Figure 1.2. Each server generally relies on a conguration le and author-
itative servers store DNS resolution information in zone les or a database. Some
implementations utilize dynamic journal les to temporarily store DNS information