4.47. R53 Public Hosted Zones

What is a hosted zone in Route 53?

A hosted zone is a DNS database managed by Route 53 for a specific domain (e.g., animals4life.org).

What are the two types of hosted zones in Route 53?

Public (accessible via the internet) and Private (accessible only within specified VPCs).

Is Route 53 a regional or global service?

Global – Route 53 has globally distributed name servers with the same replicated dataset.

How many name servers are allocated to a public hosted zone?

Four public name servers are allocated per public hosted zone.

How is a hosted zone made authoritative for a domain?

By registering a domain or updating the domain's NS records at the registrar to point to the four Route 53 name servers.

Can Route 53 host zones for domains registered with external registrars?

✅ Yes. You can create a public hosted zone in Route 53 and update the NS records at registrars like GoDaddy or Hover.

Where are public hosted zone records accessible from?

From the public internet and from inside AWS VPCs using the Route 53 DNS resolver.

What types of records can be stored in a public hosted zone?

Examples include A, AAAA, MX, TXT, and CNAME records.

What is the monthly cost model for public hosted zones?

A small monthly fee per hosted zone, plus micro-fees per DNS query.

How does DNS resolve names in a public hosted zone?

By walking the tree: root ➝ TLD (e.g., .org) ➝ domain zone (animals4life.org) ➝ record (e.g., www).

How does Route 53 provide DNS resolution within a VPC?

VPCs use the Amazon-provided DNS resolver, typically at the VPC+2 IP address.

What happens when a domain is registered via Route 53?

Route 53 auto-creates a public hosted zone, allocates name servers, and updates the registry with the correct NS records.