How To Create A DNS Forward Lookup Zone?

What is DNS Forward Lookup Zone?

There are two DNS requests -

Forwards DNS lookup and reverse dns lookup. Both the lookups return either IP or the domain depending upon what you are inputting into the system.

In forward DNS the domain name is used to fetch the corresponding Ip address. Such type of DNS works mostly in the text form of an email or any other similar communication. The text typed in is first sent to the DNS server. The DNS server will check from its record and return the IP of the domain. If the server is unable to locate the IP, requests are forwarded to another server and continues to get forwarded until the IPs are fetched. Once the IP has been determined, communications can continue.

A reverse DNS lookup is used to retrieve domain name from an IP. Reverse and forward DNS work together and not in solitary because forward lookup is always accompanied with reverse lookup and vice versa. When you type in a web address in a browser, the browser finds it using an IP address and then links the Ip back to a domain name.

Consider the image above. The image at the top shows domain name being fed into the DNS (Domain Name System). The DNS, in turn, returns its IP address. When you establish this connection, you are said to establish DNS FORWARD DNS LOOKUP ZONE.

The image below shows domain name being retrieved after the IP was fed into the DNS server. The DNS, in this case, returned domain name to the user for subsequent operation. When you establish this connection, you are said to have created a DNS REVERSE LOOKUP ZONE.

How to Create a DNS Forward Lookup Zone?

In Order to Create a New Forward Lookup Zone:

You have to start the DNS snap-in. For the same, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

Select DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.

Then, Right-click Forward Lookup Zones and then, click New Zone. The New Zone Wizard will start. Click Next to continue.

New Zone Wizard appears, click Next to continue.

Select "Primary Zone" to create a copy of your zone and click Next to continue.

Tip: You can select the check box at the bottom of the New Zone Wizard on a Domain Controller (DC) to store the zone information in Active Directory (AD).

From the "Active Directory Zone Replication Scope" dialog box select one of the radial button options or accept the default of "To all domain controllers in the Active Directory domain Name.Com and click Next.

From the "Forward or Reverse Lookup Zone" dialog box select Forward lookup zone and click Next.

In the Zone Name box, type the name of the zone (for example, type newzone.com), and then click Next.

From the "Dynamic Update" dialog box select one of the radial button options or accept the default of "Allow only secure dynamic updates (recommended for Active Directory)" and click Next to complete the task.

Forward DNS Lookup Zones vs Reverse DNS Lookup Zones

To understand the distinction, let us first understand what DNS zones are. DNS zones have all the records for a domain. For instance, a zone for the domain mybusiness.com may contain records such as www.mybusiness.com, mail.mybusiness.com, support.mybusiness.com, and so on.

A DNS zone carries the administrative responsibility for the domain name space in the domain name server (DNS). DNS zones can either be forward DNS lookup zones or reverse DNS lookup zones. A forward lookup zone converts a name to an IP address. Needless to say, this zone has the records of all domain names along with their respective IP addresses. In this zone, you can create a record of how a name maps to an IP address.

So, when a computer requests an IP address by providing a domain name, the query reaches this zone as it has the IP for the given name. For instance, if you type www.mywebsite.com in your web browser, the forward zone will be queried and the IP address of the site will be returned.

When a forward look up reaches the DNS server, it will search for an A type resource associated with the domain name. If the record is found, it will be returned, else the query will be forwarded to any other DNS.

A reverse lookup zone, on the contrary, converts an IP address to a domain name. When a computer provides an IP and requests for a domain name, this zone is queried to find the domain name for the given IP. This zone contains PTR resource records that point to the IP address corresponding to a domain name during a reverse lookup.

For more information about DNS Forward Lookup Zone services mail our cloud hosting expert at [email protected].

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