<!-- Do *not* edit this file; it was automatically generated by ej2html Look for a name.ej file with the same name as this filename --> <!-- Last updated Sat Nov 30 13:52:52 2002 --> <HTML><HEAD> <TITLE>DNS glossary</TITLE> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=utf-8"> </HEAD><BODY > <i>This document has been placed in the public domain by Sam Trenholme</i> <H1>DNS glossary</H1> <DL> <A name="authoritative"> <DT>Authoritative DNS server</DT> <DD>A DNS server which <i>recursive DNS servers</i> contact in order to <i>resolve</i> a given <i>DNS node</i> </DD> <A name="dns_node"> <DT>DNS node</DT> <DD>A name which DNS usually converts in to an IP, such as www.yahoo.com. Not all DNS nodes have IPs, however.</DD> <A name="dns_record"> <DT>DNS record</DT> <DD>A single piece of DNS data, which can either be data for a DNS node, or meta-data which DNS uses.</DD> <A name="dns_server"> <DT>DNS server</DT> <DD>A program which resolves DNS records</DD> <A name="dns_admin"> <DT>DNS server administrator</DT> <DD>A person who manages DNS; setting up DNS servers, changing DNS records, and what not.</DD> <A name="registry"> <DT>Domain registry</DT> <DD>A domain registry is a company that allows one to have their <i>authoritative DNS servers</i> be contacted by <i>recursive name servers</i>. </DD> <A name="suffix"> <DT>Domain suffix</DT> <DD>The part of the domain which is (usually) after the first dot in a DNS node. The domain suffix for www.yahoo.com, for example, is yahoo.com. </DD> <A name="zone"> <DT>Domain zone</DT> <DD>A domain zone is a set of one or more DNS nodes. All names in a given domain zone share the same <i>domain suffix</i>. </DD> <A name="ip"> <DT>IP</DT> <DD>A number which a computer connected to the internet has, similiar to a phone number. </DD> <A name="isp"> <DT>Internet service provider</DT> <DD>An internet service provider (or ISP) is a company that offers access to the internet.</DD> <A name="mta"> <DT>Mail Transport Agent</DT> <DD>A computer program which accepts incoming SMTP (email) connections, allowing a server to receive email.</DD> <A name="recursive"> <DT>Recursive DNS server</DT> <DD>A recursive DNS server is a DNS server which contacts other DNS servers to <i>resolve</i> a given <i>DNS node</i>. </DD> <A name="resolve"> <DT>To resolve</DT> <DD>To convert a <i>DNS node</i>, such as www.yahoo.com, in to an IP, such as 10.17.243.32.</DD> <A name="serve"> <DT>To serve</DT> <DD>The action of an authoritative DNS server making DNS nodes available to recursive DNS servers.</DD> <A name="static"> <DT>Static IP address</DT> <DD>A static IP address is an IP addresses whose value does not change. Only some internet service providers offer static IP addresses.</DD> </DL> </BODY></HTML>