Help Center> Domain Name Service> Service Overview> What Is DNS?
Updated on 2023-08-08 GMT+08:00
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What Is DNS?

Domain Name Service (DNS) is a highly available and scalable authoritative Domain Name System (DNS) web service that translates domain names (such as www.example.com) into IP addresses (such as 192.1.2.3) required for network connection. The DNS service allows end users to visit your websites or web applications with domain names.

The DNS service is free and is enabled by default.

Basic Functions

The DNS service provides the following functions:

  • Public domain name resolution

    Maps domain names to public IP addresses so that end users can access your website or web applications over the Internet.

  • Private domain name resolution

    Translates private domain names into private IP addresses to facilitate access to cloud resources within VPCs.

  • Reverse resolution

    Obtains a domain name based on an IP address. Reverse resolution, or reverse DNS lookup, is typically used to affirm the credibility of email servers.

  • Intelligent resolution

    Returns different IP addresses for the same domain name based on the carrier networks or geographic locations. This significantly reduces network latency for end users from different carrier networks and geographic locations.

Product Advantages

The DNS service has the following advantages:

  • High performance

    A single DNS node can handle millions of concurrent queries, allowing end users to access your website or application more quickly.

  • Easy access to cloud resources

    Your ECSs can communicate with each other and with other resources within VPCs using private domain names. Traffic is kept within your internal network, which reduces network latency and improves security.

    For more details, see Configuring a Private Domain Name for an ECS.

  • Smooth service migration

    You can migrate an in-use website domain name to the Huawei Cloud DNS service. To ensure that your website services are not interrupted during the migration, we will create a public zone and add DNS record sets for your website in advance.

  • Isolation of core data

    A private DNS server provides domain name resolution for ECSs carrying core data, enabling secure, controlled access to such data. You do not need to bind EIPs to these ECSs.

Accessing the DNS Service

The cloud platform provides a web-based management console as well as REST APIs through which you can access the DNS service.

  • Management console

    A web-based management console enables you to access the DNS service.

    • If you have already registered an account, log in to the management console, hover on the upper left to display Service List, and choose Networking > Domain Name Service.
    • Otherwise, register an account with Huawei Cloud by following the instructions in Quick Start and perform the preceding step.

    With a few steps, you can start using the DNS service for domain name resolution.

  • APIs

    REST APIs are provided for accessing the DNS service. You can also use the provided APIs to integrate DNS into a third-party system for secondary development. For details, see the Domain Name Service API Reference.