Manage EdjDNS

As per RFC1034, the EDJX Domain Name System (EdjDNS) consists of the following major components:

  • Domain Name Space: A collection of nodes that are linked together by zones and corresponding resource record type.

  • Name Servers: Manage the zones of authority, called DNS zones. These zones save data about each domain and subdomain and contain pointers to other name servers.

  • Resolvers: Respond to user requests to translate a domain name to an IP address.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have noted your domain’s registrar before you use the EdjPlatform to create records.

Issue the following command from a Linux terminal:

~ # whois edjx.io
Domain Name: EDJX.IO
Registry Domain ID: D503300000212345678-LRMS
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.iana.org
Registrar URL: http://res-dom.iana.org
Updated Date: 2020-09-15T06:39:21Z
Creation Date: 2018-10-15T02:10:12Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2021-10-15T02:10:12Z
.
.
.

Supported Domain Zone Setup Types

EDJX offers two domain zone setup types:

Full domain

A fully qualified domain name (FQDN) where the user must write the records on the primary DNS provider to transfer the record to the EdjPlatform. This setup type indicates that you want to use EdjDNS as your primary DNS provider and have EdjDNS manage your DNS resource records (RRs). If you choose this type, you keep your domain registration with your current registrar but transfer the DNS management to EdjDNS.

CNAME domain

A canonical name (CNAME) domain, also known as a partial domain, allows multiple records to be mapped from one hostname to another host or to an FQDN. This setup type tells the EdjPlatform that you want to transfer the domain registration and DNS management to EdjDNS (proxy is enabled). If you choose this type, you don’t need to make any changes to your registrar, but you will need to follow a few steps to validate that you own the domain. See Create a CNAME Domain for instructions.

Domain Name Components

A domain name has three main parts:

Top-level domain (TLD)

Identifies the origin of the domain or the registration type. For example, the most widely known TLD is .com, which typically identifies that the website contains commercial details. A list of the available TLDs can be found on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) website.

Second-level domain (SLD)

Identifies the business or brand name, such as edjx.

Subdomain

Identifies the home or main page. The most popular subdomain is www which stands for the worldwide web. You may want to purchase multiple subdomains when there are various functions for your website. For example, using store for an online store or support for your customer support site. See Create a Subdomain for instructions on how to manage your subdomain using EdjDNS.

RR Data

RRs consists of the following data.

RR Data Description

NAME

Identifies the domain name where the record resides.

TYPE

Identifies the record type, which is an encoded 16-bit value that specifies the type of resource in the RR.
See Supported RR Types for details about each record type.

TARGET

Identifies the header data depending on which TYPE is added to the domain. This value is also known as the RDATA or Target Value.
See Targets Values Allowed Per RR Type for details about each RR and the corresponding Target Value.

TTL

Identifies the time to live of the RR. This value is a 32-bit integer in units of seconds. The TTL value indicates the time duration, in seconds, for which a record can be retained in the recursive resolver’s cache. A zero value indicates that the RR is not cached.
For services and systems with static IPs configure the TTL value to be 1800 or higher.
For services and systems using a dynamic IP configure the TTL value to be 1800 or less.

DNS TTL

EdjDNS uses TTL to set the caching interval. That is, the DNS resolver updates the record every X seconds. The TTL setting indicates how long a DNS resolver saves the DNS record before it issues a request for updated information.

DNS TTL and CDN TTL are not the same.
DNS TTL sets the lookup interval, while CDN TTL sets how long the data is cached.

Supported RR Types

A RR type determines what kind of information is defined in the record.

Make sure you have the required permissions to add or modify resources in the EdjPlatform, which are based on group permissions assigned to each user group. See Groups for details.

The EdjPlatform supports the following RR types.

RR Type Description

A

Identifies an IPv4 address of the origin web server. When a user enters a hostname, EdjDNS sends an HTTP request to the IPv4 address associated with the hostname. The user is directed to the assigned IPv4 address.
See Create an A Record for details.

AAAA

Identifies an IPv6 address to resolve a user entered hostname. When a user enters a hostname, EdjDNS sends an HTTP request to the IPv6 address associated with the hostname. The user is directed to the assigned IPv6 address.
See Create an AAAA Record for details.

CNAME

Indicates that the domain is an alias for another domain, that is, the domain is queried as an alias for another domain. It allows different addresses to refer to the same web server; therefore, linking each domain to one IP address.
See Create a CNAME Record for details.

MX

Indicates that data of a specific type needs to communicate with a mail exchange or SMTP email server. If you are using multiple mail servers, you must identify the priority level. The priority level communicates to the EdjDNS what order content is intended for this type of record. The priority level starts communication at the lowest number to the highest number.
See Create an MX Record for details.

NS

Indicates that the data entered is for the name server which gives EdjDNS information on whether it is responsible for the request. Each name server has authority over zones within the name space. NS records list which name servers can answer lookups on the EdjDNS zone.
See Create an NS Record for details.

TXT

Indicates that the data in the record is written for human interpretation. This RRs are typically used when using EdjDNS as your authoritative name server.
See Verify a CNAME Domain and Create a TXT Record for details.

Targets Values Allowed Per RR Type

The target value is dependent on which RR type is being created.

RR Type Target Value

A

A 32-bit IP (IPv4) address. For example, 192.168.10.1.

AAAA

A 128-bit IP (IPv6) address. For example, ::ffff:c0a8:101.

CNAME

The domain name of the primary domain owner. This type acts as an alias for an A or AAAA record.
For example, ftp.example.com and blog.example.com could use the same IPv4 address.

NS

The domain name of the authoritative name server within the name space. For example, ns1.edjx.network is an EdjDNS NS record.

MX

IPv4 of the mail exchange server for the name space.

TXT

One or more strings.

Domain Zone and Resource Record Type Limitations

EDJX supports the following DNS record types per domain type:

Full Domain
A

  • Multiple A records are allowed per name.

  • AAAA and A records can exist together.

AAAA

  • Multiple AAAA records are allowed per name.

  • AAAA and A records can exist together.

CNAME

  • Only one CNAME record is allowed per name.

  • Co-existing with any other record is not permitted.

  • Recursive CNAMEs (pointing to oneself) are not permitted.

MX

  • Multiple MX records are allowed per name.

  • Co-existing with NS records is not permitted.

NS

  • Co-existing with A, AAAA, MX, or TXT records is not permitted.

  • By default, there are three NS records created when you add a Domain to the Platform.

  • Creation of NS record for root DNS record is not permitted.

TXT

  • Multiple TXT records are allowed per name.

  • Co-existing with NS records is not permitted.

CNAME Domain

  • Recursive CNAMEs (pointing to oneself) are not permitted.

  • Records are not allowed to have @ as the name.

  • A and AAAA records are allowed.

See also