DNS resolution

When a DNS client requests hostname and address data from a DNS server, the process is called resolution. In standard DNS installations, basic DNS configuration results in a server that performs default resolution, possibly including one of the following examples:

• A primary server queries itself for data. Client software on the system requests information about another machine in the current zone, and the server answers out of its authoritative data file.

• A remote server queries another server (for example, a primary server) for data on a machine in the current zone. Client software on the remote server queries the resolver, which answers the request from its database files.

• A caching-only server queries its own cache for data on a computer outside its zone. Not finding it, it queries the primary server for its zone, then others outside the zone, until it finds the requested data.

See also:

• ``DNS resolvers''

• ``DNS root servers''

• ``DNS forwarders''

• ``The /etc/resolv.conf file''