A unit of information within a DNS record containing specific details about the domain, such as the IP address for an application endpoint or service. The nature and format of each answer depend on the record type. When the record is queried, the answer(s) specified in the record configuration are returned in the DNS response. Unlike traditional DNS providers, the IBM® NS1 Connect® platform supports multiple answers per record, eliminating the need to duplicate records for each answer and enabling advanced traffic steering functionality using the Filter Chain.
answer group
A container for DNS answers with one or more shared answer metadata, such as the geolocation. All answers in the group inherit metadata applied to the answer group, making it easier to manage answers and enabling advanced traffic steering functionality using group-specific filters at the beginning of the record's Filter Chain configuration.
answer metadata
A data set corresponding to an individual answer (endpoint) within a DNS record—such as the geographic location, up/down status, performance metrics, and more. Some traffic steering filters reference certain answer metadata when making routing decisions. You can enable automatic updates to answer metadata by connecting an NS1 Connect monitor or third-party data feed to specific fields.
data feed
A configurable object facilitating data flow from an individual monitor to the DNS answer metadata to which the feed is attached. If using a third-party data source, you must create a data feed for each monitor configured in the third-party service, and then connect the data feed to the corresponding DNS answer metadata. When you create a basic NS1 Connect monitor, the data feed is automatically generated and ready to connect to the corresponding answers.
data source
A configurable object that establishes a connection and facilitates data flow from a monitoring service to the NS1 Connect platform, where the data can be used to inform traffic steering decisions. If using a third-party monitoring service, you must configure a data source object to establish the connection between the third-party service and the NS1 Connect platform. When you create a basic NS1 Connect monitor, the associated data source object is automatically generated and hidden by default from the list of data sources.
Dedicated DNS network
A premium, single-tenant DNS network on the NS1 Connect platform that is physically and logically separate from the shared (Managed) network. The Dedicated DNS solution allows customers to establish network redundancy without the complexity and limitations of multi-provider configuration and management.
DNS network
One or more authoritative nameservers to which DNS zones and their corresponding records are published so that the data is available to requesting clients (resolvers). The NS1 Connect platform supports multiple DNS networks, including the Managed DNS (shared) network, the Dedicated DNS (single-tenant) network, and another specific to application delivery to audiences in mainland China.
DNS record
A database object within a DNS zone containing specific information about the zone's fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or one of the corresponding subdomains. The nature of the information contained within the record depends on the record type. For example, an A or AAAA (address) record specifies the IP address(es) of the application host server(s). Unlike traditional DNS configurations, the NS1 Connect platform allows you to add multiple answers to a single record to support traffic steering optimization using the Filter Chain.
Filter Chain
The advanced traffic steering technology and routing logic configuration tool on the NS1 Connect platform. Defined within the record settings, each Filter Chain configuration contains one or more traffic steering filters to determine the best answer(s) to return to the specific requester at the time of their request.
linked record
A type of DNS record that redirects to another "target" record on the NS1 Connect platform. When the linked record domain is queried, the platform references the full configuration details and traffic steering configurations specified in the target record to resolve the query. Compared to a CNAME record, a linked record typically requires one less DNS lookup, which can improve the response time. Linked records are specific to the NS1 Connect platform, and their resolution is a completely internal process.
Managed DNS for China
A premium solution on the NS1 Connect platform enabling application delivery to audiences in mainland China. It uses nameserver acceleration to mitigate the performance impact of the “great firewall” for global or .cn domains.
Managed DNS network
A shared, anycast DNS network comprises 26 authoritative DNS nameservers distributed globally to ensure near-instant propagation, resiliency, and uptime. The Managed DNS network is available to all NS1 Connect customers.
NS1 Connect monitor
A basic tool on the NS1 Connect platform for tracking the availability (up/down status) of an endpoint. There are four types of NS1 Connect monitors: DNS, HTTP/S, PING (ICMP), and TCP. During configuration, you will specify the monitoring regions, "up" conditions, and a policy determining when an endpoint should be considered "down" or unavailable. Typically, each monitor is connected to the corresponding answer(s) in a DNS record to facilitate automatic updates and paired with the Up filter in the record's Filter Chain to eliminate unavailable answers when processing incoming requests.
recursive resolver
A type of DNS server that facilitates communication between a requesting client and the various nameservers in the DNS lookup process. The resolver receives incoming DNS queries from a requesting client, such as a web browser, and either responds with cached DNS data or initiates a full lookup by querying the root nameserver, which points the resolver to the delegated top-level domain (TLD) nameserver, which points the resolver to the delegated authoritative nameserver (such as the NS1 Connect DNS nameservers). The resolver temporarily caches authoritative DNS data so it is readily available for subsequent requests for a period defined by the record's time-to-live (TTL) setting, at which point the data is considered stale, and the resolver must perform a new DNS lookup before responding to incoming queries to the domain.
A solution for using real user monitoring (RUM) data collected from private or shared resources to inform traffic steering decisions. Real-time performance and availability measurements taken from active application users are referenced by RUM-based traffic steering filters to identify the best application endpoint to return to each incoming request. This configuration is valuable for organizations with demanding application delivery requirements or those looking to establish global server/service load balancing (GSLB) across complex network architectures.
zone
A specific portion of the domain namespace corresponding to a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or a subdelegation. Each zone contains a collection of DNS records containing critical information about the FQDN (example.com) or one of the subdomains (www.example.com). Zones and their corresponding records are published to one or more authoritative DNS nameservers that are delegated as the authority for the domain.
removed "premium"