Having an online business pushes us to get the best out of technology to increase our chances of succeeding. Every network protocol, software, hardware, or tool can become a key component in our strategy if we know how to utilize its possibilities.
That said, let’s talk about Backup DNS (Secondary DNS) as a first step for understanding its benefits.
What’s Backup (Secondary DNS)?
If there is a second, indeed, there must be a first. Shortly said, Master, also called Primary DNS, saves the original DNS records belonging to a domain. When you add or modify DNS records configurations, Primary DNS is the place for doing that.
Backup or Secondary DNS is a server or servers, holding a copy of all domain’s data (DNS records included). That copy is directly obtained from the Master or Primary DNS. The copy is not editable. It works just for reading it. Editions or additions can only be made in the Primary DNS and propagate to the Secondary DNS.
Why do you need a Secondary DNS server?
Secondary DNS is very important for domains to be constantly available. If the Primary DNS is down due to different reasons (maintenance, attack…), Secondary DNS will be up to respond. Also, if a Secondary DNS is closer to the query’s location, it will answer faster. Secondary DNS is really helpful. It is an ace to make your online strategy a winner in terms of redundancy, uptime, speed, etc.
Benefits of using Backup DNS
From the beginning to have a backup is a good and responsible decision. But take a look at the big benefits that using Secondary DNS can add to your online business.
- Higher security. Attacks or failures are a real possibility. An inaccessible domain can mean really painful losses for your pocket. Avoid this by relying on your Secondary DNS. If one server gets compromised, you will have another player resolving without stopping the game. Besides, you gain time for fixing the broken server.
- Gain of redundancy. Following the previous idea, having not just an original but more copies of your DNS data, you can guarantee your domain’s constant availability globally.
- The highest uptime. Secondary DNS is the solution for all who demand 100% uptime for their business. Even if you lose your Primary DNS, Secondary DNS will be there to work.
- Having the best backup. Even if the original saved in the Primary DNS gets damaged, you won’t lose everything. Remember DNS copies get updated when needed, so what you have is an up-to-date set of copies.
- Servers strategically located. Your Secondary DNS can have specific locations that are useful for your business in terms of market. This will accelerate the answer to queries originated in such spots.
- Higher speed. Answer to queries and the general performance will be boost since you are supported not only by one but also more servers.
- Bulk provision of zones. You can configure them and use them easily as you need.
- Painless migration. If you have self-hosted DNS, but you want to add a Secondary DNS from a provider, you can practically just copy and paste the DNS data. Your management system and panel control won’t be affected.
- Load balancing. Secondary DNS allows for balancing loads of traffic. Different servers can answer queries to avoid being overwhelmed. This by itself is a great advantage but also, based on how DDoS attacks operate, you are getting protection to prevent them.
Conclusion
Just having Primary DNS can be risky, and with time, it can stop your business from growing. Secondary DNS is, as we mentioned, an ace you can smartly play for expanding your online business possibilities, security, and success.