Azure DNS Public Zones

Azure DNS Public Zones is a service provided by Microsoft Azure that allows you to host and manage DNS domains for your public-facing resources in the cloud. It is a highly available, scalable, and reliable DNS hosting service that provides global coverage for your public zones. Here’s a detailed description of Azure DNS Public Zones:

  1. Domain registration and management

With Azure DNS Public Zones, you can register your domain names and manage them through the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell. Once your domain is registered, you can create DNS records such as A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV, and TXT records, to map your domain name to the IP addresses or hostnames of your resources in Azure.

  1. Global coverage

Azure DNS Public Zones provides a highly available and globally distributed DNS infrastructure, ensuring that your public DNS records are available to users worldwide. Azure DNS Public Zones uses anycast networking, which routes DNS queries to the nearest available Azure DNS server, reducing latency and improving performance.

  1. Zone delegation

You can delegate your domain to Azure DNS Public Zones from your domain registrar by updating the DNS nameservers for your domain. This allows Azure DNS Public Zones to host your domain and provide DNS resolution for your resources in Azure. Azure DNS Public Zones supports domain delegation for top-level domains (TLDs) such as .com, .net, .org, and country-code TLDs.

  1. Integration with Azure services

Azure DNS Public Zones integrates with several Azure services, including Azure Traffic Manager, Azure Front Door, and Azure CDN. This allows you to use DNS-based traffic routing and load balancing to improve the performance and availability of your applications and services hosted in Azure.

  1. Security and compliance

Azure DNS Public Zones provides several security and compliance features, including support for DNSSEC, which helps prevent DNS spoofing and man-in-the-middle attacks. Azure DNS Public Zones also complies with industry-standard security and compliance regulations such as ISO 27001, SOC 1, SOC 2, and PCI DSS.

  1. Billing

Azure DNS Public Zones is a pay-as-you-go service, which means you only pay for what you use. You are charged based on the number of DNS queries and hosted DNS zones. Azure DNS Public Zones also provides a free zone option, which allows you to host a limited number of DNS zones and DNS queries for free.

Azure DNS Public Zones is a highly available, scalable, and reliable DNS hosting service that provides global coverage for your public zones. It supports domain registration and management, zone delegation, integration with Azure services, security and compliance, and pay-as-you-go billing.

Azure DNS Public Zones Usage Examples

Azure DNS Public Zones is a DNS hosting service provided by Microsoft Azure that allows you to host and manage DNS domains for your public-facing resources in the cloud. Here are some examples of how Azure DNS Public Zones can be used:

  1. Host your website in Azure

If you host your website in Azure, you can use Azure DNS Public Zones to map your custom domain name to the IP address of your web app. This allows users to access your website using a custom domain name instead of the Azure-provided hostname. For example, you could create a DNS A record that maps the domain name “www.example.com” to the IP address of your web app.

  1. Host your API in Azure

If you host your API in Azure, you can use Azure DNS Public Zones to map your custom domain name to the hostname of your API endpoint. This allows clients to access your API using a custom domain name instead of the Azure-provided hostname. For example, you could create a DNS CNAME record that maps the domain name “api.example.com” to the hostname of your API endpoint.

  1. Host your CDN in Azure

If you use Azure CDN to distribute content globally, you can use Azure DNS Public Zones to map your custom domain name to the Azure CDN endpoint hostname. This allows users to access your content using a custom domain name instead of the Azure CDN endpoint hostname. For example, you could create a DNS CNAME record that maps the domain name “cdn.example.com” to the Azure CDN endpoint hostname.

  1. Manage your DNS records in Azure

If you have multiple public-facing resources in Azure that require DNS management, you can use Azure DNS Public Zones to manage your DNS records in a single location. This allows you to create, modify, and delete DNS records for all your resources using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell. For example, you could create DNS records for your website, API, and CDN in a single Azure DNS Public Zone.

  1. Use Azure Traffic Manager for global load balancing

If you have multiple instances of your application running in different regions, you can use Azure Traffic Manager to distribute traffic to the nearest available instance based on the user’s location. You can use Azure DNS Public Zones to map your custom domain name to the Azure Traffic Manager endpoint hostname. For example, you could create a DNS CNAME record that maps the domain name “app.example.com” to the Azure Traffic Manager endpoint hostname.

In summary, Azure DNS Public Zones is a DNS hosting service provided by Microsoft Azure that allows you to host and manage DNS domains for your public-facing resources in the cloud. It can be used to host websites, APIs, and CDNs in Azure, manage your DNS records in a single location, and use Azure Traffic Manager for global load balancing.

Author: tonyhughes