DNS Infrastructure & Operations
Authoritative servers, resolvers, forwarding, and network architecture.
5 articles · ~26 min total · reads in order
Recursive vs Authoritative DNS: Who Answers What, and Why
An explanation of the two major DNS server roles, how they interact during resolution, and why the separation matters operationally.
Anycast and DNS: Why the Same IP Exists Everywhere
How IP anycast works, why DNS infrastructure relies on it, and what it means operationally when the same address exists in many places at once.
DNS at Scale: Latency, Load, and Failure Domains
How DNS behavior changes when systems grow large, and why latency, load, and failure domains dominate real-world design.
Common DNS Failure Modes and What They Look Like
Common DNS failure modes including SERVFAIL, timeouts, stale data, and partial outages, with guidance on what they mean and where they originate.
Change Management in DNS
Why DNS changes that seem simple often propagate slowly, inconsistently, or unexpectedly in real systems.