​DNS zone file: Explained for beginners

In extremely short, the DNS zone file is the DNS information that includes all your DNS records about your domain that you keep on your Primary authoritative name server and you copy on your Secondary name servers. If you want to know more about the DNS zone file, go on and read the rest of this article.

​DNS zone file definition

All the information (all the DNS records, a.k.a resource records) for a DNS zone are saved on a file called DNS zone file. 

It is a text file that is hosted inside the Primary authoritative name server. Inside it, you have all the resource records’ text listed in a sequence (line-orientated entries). 

Inside the file, there are some control entries that are called directives, and they are presented by a dollar sign and its name. Examples of directives are:

  • $ORIGIN – shows the domain name that is used as the origin for further subsets of domain names. 
  • $INCLUDE – Shows which files to include too. It can add other origin domain names. 
  • $TTL – a default TTL value for the file itself. 
  • $GENERATE – non-standard extension to insert multiple resource records with a single entry.

If you need more detailed info, check this article about DNS zone file!

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How does DNSSEC work?

If you are browsing for what DNSSEC is and how it works, you came to the right place. In this article, we will focus on its primary purpose and its benefits. So, let’s explain it.

What does DNSSEC mean?

DNSSEC is a collection of protocols and specifications for securing the Domain Name System and its associated activities. From lookups to data transmission, it’s all here.

Authenticated denial of existence, cryptographic authentication of DNS information, and information integrity are all provided by these enhancements to DNS resolvers.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) invented it. Because the Domain Name System was not designed with security in mind from the start. Different vulnerabilities were discovered early on in its utilization. After that, DNSSEC was created. The creators picked the extension format for this system to make it easier to integrate with the existing DNS infrastructure.

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