Concepts / Names and DNS

Names and DNS

Recursive resolver

Also called resolver, DNS server, resolv.conf, nameserver, DNS cache

The DNS server a device asks: it does the whole search and caches the answers.

Set in /etc/resolv.conf (usually by DHCP). The SERVER line in dig's output names it. A device trusts whatever its resolver says, and the resolver sees every name the device looks up, which is why a VPN should carry DNS too.

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