Hosted Zones
A hosted zone is a container for records within the Route 53 service. It holds information about how you want to route traffic on the internet for a specific domain, such as example.com, and its subdomains like www.example.com, mail.example.com, etc. Hosted zones are used to group records according to the domain names they are associated with. When you create a hosted zone, Amazon Route 53 automatically creates a default set of four name server (NS) records and a start of authority (SOA) record for the zone. You can then create, modify, or delete records as needed. There are two types of hosted zones: public and private. Public hosted zones are used to route internet traffic to your domain directly, while private hosted zones are used to route traffic within an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).
Guide: Understanding Amazon Route 53 Hosted Zones
What is a Hosted Zone?
A Hosted Zone in Amazon Route 53 is a container that holds information about how you want to route traffic on the internet for a specific domain, such as example.com, and its subdomains (www.example.com, mail.example.com).
Importance of Hosted Zones:
Hosted zones are crucial for managing and controlling DNS traffic for your domain. They offer various routing policies such as simple, weighted, latency based, and geo DNS, all aimed at improving performance and availability of your applications.
How do Hosted Zones work?
A hosted zone contains records sets, which tell the DNS where to direct the traffic. Each hosted zone has a unique set of four name servers, which you're given upon creation. You configure your domain to use these name servers with your domain registrar. As such, all traffic for your domain is directed to your Amazon Route 53 hosted zone.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Hosted Zones:
1. Understand the different types of routing policies and when to use each.
2. Remember that a hosted zone is created when you register a domain with Route 53 or transfer a domain to Route 53.
3. Recall that a hosted zone consists of a collection of resource record sets for a specified domain.
4. Each hosted zone has a unique set of name servers that you must set with your domain registrar so all traffic of your domain is directed to your Amazon Route 53 hosted zone.
5. Difference between public hosted zones and private hosted zones is also a frequent topic in exams. Public hosted zone is a container that holds information about how to route traffic on the internet for a specific domain and its subdomains. A private hosted zone does the same but in your VPC.
6. Master how to set up, delete and transfer hosted zones, as practical operation of Route 53 features could be tested.
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