Alias records are a Route 53-specific extension to DNS. They act as pointers to other AWS resources, such as Amazon Elastic Load Balancers, Amazon CloudFront distributions, AWS Elastic Beanstalk environments, or S3 buckets that host static websites. Alias records provide the benefits of CNAME recor…Alias records are a Route 53-specific extension to DNS. They act as pointers to other AWS resources, such as Amazon Elastic Load Balancers, Amazon CloudFront distributions, AWS Elastic Beanstalk environments, or S3 buckets that host static websites. Alias records provide the benefits of CNAME records without some of their limitations. Unlike CNAME records, they can be created at the zone apex (e.g. example.com) and can coexist with other record types that have the same name. Amazon Route 53 automatically recognizes changes in the target resource and updates the alias record accordingly. This ensures that your domain responds properly even when the IP address of the target resource changes. Alias records are charged at the same rate as standard DNS queries, making them a cost-effective solution when routing traffic to AWS resources.
Guide to Alias Records in Amazon Route 53
Alias Records in Amazon Route 53: Alias Records in Amazon Route 53 is a specific feature of AWS that simplifies domain name system (DNS) setup and maintenance. Alias records provide a way to route traffic to selected AWS resources such as CloudFront distributions, Elastic Beanstalk environments, ELB load balancers, Amazon S3 buckets, or another record in the same Route 53 hosted zone by translating one name into another name.
Importance: Alias Records are important because they can route traffic to AWS resources without requiring an IP address, and they allow you to switch the domain to point to a different resource easily. These features provide flexibility, lower latency and improve reliability.
How it works: An alias record works by making a route query to Route 53 to find out which resources a specific domain name points to. Route 53 returns an IP address for resources that have one, allowing the router to direct traffic to the right location.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Alias Records: When answering exam questions related to Alias records, remember these key points: 1. Alias records are used to map resource record sets in your hosted zone to ELBs, CloudFront distributions, or S3 buckets that are configured as websites. 2. Alias records can't be used to route traffic to other AWS resources such as EC2 instances or RDS DB instances. 3. Unlike CNAME records, you can create an alias record at the top node of a DNS namespace, also known as the zone apex. 4. Remember, there is no charge for alias queries to AWS resources.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Alias Records Example Questions
Test your knowledge of Alias Records
Question 1
You need a custom HTTPS domain for an Amazon API Gateway API and want to route traffic via an Amazon Route 53 alias while maintaining TLS from the client to the API Gateway endpoint without adding an extra CloudFront layer. What should you do?
Question 2
Your company has a web application that uses Amazon S3 bucket for hosting static content. The company wants to improve security and restrict public access. Which Alias record should you use?
Question 3
You have a web application using AWS ELB and Amazon EC2 instances, all hosted in us-east-1 region. You want to create a Route 53 Alias record for a domain name. What should be the target?
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