_Getting started with AWS

_What is DNS?

The domain name system (DNS) is a naming database in which the various domain names are located and are translated into their respective IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. The domain name system maps the name people use to locate a website to the IP address that a computer uses to locate that website.

In other words the Domain Name System (DNS) is the phonebook of the Internet where all the domain names of the various websites are mapped to their respective IP addresses.

As human beings, we find it much easier to remember names over numbers. Remembering all the IP addresses for particular websites is not a good practice. So these Domain Names came into the picture.

_What is Amazon Route 53

Amazon Route 53 is an authoritative DNS system. It is a highly available and scalable Domain Name System (DNS) web service.

Rote 53 is designed to route the end users to Internet applications by translating human readable names like www.ineuron.com into the numeric IP addresses like 192.0.2.1 that computers use to connect to each other.

_Features of Route 53

• Easy to register your domain
• Highly reliable
• Scalable
• Easy to use
• Cost-Effective
• Secure

_How to register a domain in Amazon Route 53 ?

To register a domain name of your choice you first need to log in into the AWS console, go to Route 53 dashboard.

There you can see register domain, click on it and initiate the process :

After this you need to put your domain name there and check if the same is available there or not. If it is available you can choose it and add to cart it and then click on continue.

After clicking on continue you need to enter contact information for the domain registrant, administrator, and technical contacts.

And then fill the further information they will ask you to fill and then complete the purchase.

_How to transfer a domain ?

For transferring a domain first you need to

• Go to the Route 53 dashboard and there you need to go to the registered domains section.
• Choose Transfer Domain.
• Put the name of the domain for which you want to transfer registration to Route 53, and choose Check.
• If the domain registration is available for transfer, choose Add to cart.
• If the domain registration is not available for transfer, the Route 53 console lists the reasons.
• Then fill all the other details of the owner that they will ask you to put and click on continue and complete the purchase.
• This way you can transfer a domain in Route 53.

_Domain Name Registrar

A domain name registrar is a system that handles the reservation of domain names as well as the assignment of IP addresses for those domain names.

Domain names are alphanumeric aliases used to access websites; for example, Google’s domain name is ‘google.com’ and their IP address is 192.168.1.1.

Various domain name registrars are :

• Amazon Route 53
• GoDaddy
• Bluehost
• Hontinger

_What is DNS Record ?

A DNS record is a database record used to map a URL to an IP address. DNS records are stored in DNS servers and work to help users connect their websites to the outside world.

• A — Maps a hostname to IPV4
• AAAA — Maps a hostname to IPV6
• CNAME — Maps a hostname to another hostname, where the servers are hosted initially are cnames.
• NS

— it is the name server for the hosted zone
— control how traffic is routed for a domain
— public hosted zone : control how traffic is routed for a domain
— private zone : contain record to specify how your route traffic within one or more VPCs

_TTL (Time To Live)

Time to live (TTL) refers to the amount of time or “hops” that a packet is set to exist inside a network before being discarded by a router.

The amt. of time the record cached at DNS resolver is TTL.

_DNS Resolver

Is a server designed to receive DNS queries from web browsers and other applications. The resolver receives a hostname — for example, www.ineuron.com and is responsible for tracking down the IP address for that hostname.

_TLD & SLD (Top Level Domain and Second Level Domain)

• http : protocol to send data
• FQDN : fully qualified domain name

_http vs https

_How DNS works?

• Browser -> www.google.com -> local DNS is connected
• Root DNS (managed by ICANN)
• TLD(managed by IANA- sister org of ICANN)
• SLD dns server (managed by domain registrar)

_Scalability and availability of DNS

• Is a highly available, scalable and fully managed, authoritative control
  for eg, you can update the DNS as per your wish and whenever you want.
• Only AWS service which provides 100% availability
• You can decide how you want to route your traffic for a domain
• Each records contains: DNS port 53
  which is resposible for resolving DNS queries

_Jargons/Records

• CAA — Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) record is used to specify which certificate authorities (CAs) are allowed to issue certificates for a domain.
• DS — DS records (Delegation Signer) are used to secure delegations (DNSSEC).
• MX — A DNS ‘mail exchange’ (MX) record directs email to a mail server. The MX record indicates how email messages should be routed in accordance with the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP, the standard protocol for all email).
• NAPTR — A Name Authority Pointer (NAPTR) is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System of the Internet.
• PTR — A PTR record, also known as a Pointer Record, is a piece of information (a record) that is attached to an email message.
• TXT — TXT records are a type of Domain Name System (DNS) record that contains text information for sources outside of your domain.
• SOA — A DNS SOA record indicates who is responsible for that domain.
• SPF — An SPF record identifies the mail servers and domains that are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain.
• SRV — The SRV record is a Domain Name System (DNS) resource record. It’s used to identify computers hosting specific services. SRV resource records are used to locate domain controllers for Active Directory.

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_ Thank you for reading💚

_Rajani 🌻✨