Ref: https://learn.cantrill.io/courses/1820301/lectures/41301592

• Summary:
• Contents:

R53 - Domain Registrar vs Domain Hosting Provider

• Registering a DNS domain involves two roles: domain registrar & domain hosting provider
  • R53 can do both jobs, but can also just do one of the two
    • Registrar role ↔ R53 Registered Domains
    • DNS hosting provider role ↔ R53 Public Hosted Zone
  • If R53 only does one, a different 3rd-party entity does the other → R53 interoperability
    • More manual steps involved, since registrar and hosting entities are separate
• 💡 R53 is one of the better DNS providers on the market (according to Adrian Cantrill)
  • Makes sense to use R53 for both jobs
  • But legacy configurations or business requirements might require a hybrid architecture
• Steps to register a new domain in R53 + which role is involved in each step:
  1. Customer asks to buy a domain. R53 checks the domain is available and makes an offer to customer. R53 accepts customer's money. → registrar
     • Domain ownership fee (for keeping the domain) to be paid every year or every 3 years
  2. R53 allocates 4 DNS servers = 4 name servers (NSs) → hosting provider
  3. R53 creates a ZoneFile on those 4 servers → hosting provider
  4. R53 liaises with the registry of the TLD and sends info on the 4 NSs → domain registrar
     • TLD registry sets its NS records to point at the 4 servers from R53 for the registered domain, which is now active. R53 servers are now authoritative
• ‼️ IMPORTANT: registrar and hosting provider are separate functions of R53!

R53 - BOTH Registrar and Domain Hosting Roles Architecture

Diagram: https://github.com/acantril/aws-sa-associate-saac03/blob/main/1200-ROUTE53/00_LEARNINGAIDS/Route53Interoperability-1.png

• R53 registrar (R53 registered domains) liaises with R53 hosting provider (R53 public hosted zone) under the hood → From the customer's perspective it all happens automatically
  • R53 registrar notifies R53 hosting to allocate 4 NSs, R53 hosting responds with info on the 4 allocated NSs
• R53 registrar fees:
  • Registration fee: includes registering domain name and 4 NSs info into TLD registry
  • Domain ownership fee: once a year or once every 3 years
• R53 hosting fee: once a month for hosting the domain in a public hosted zone

R53 Registrar-Only Architecture

Diagram: https://github.com/acantril/aws-sa-associate-saac03/blob/main/1200-ROUTE53/00_LEARNINGAIDS/Route53Interoperability-2.png

• 🔧 R53 performs registrar role only
  • R53 registrar fees still apply
• Different entity (e.g. Hover) hosts the domain i.e. ZoneFile and NSs
  • Admin work in Hover: create a public DNS zone & pay a (usually) monthly fee to Hover