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GSEC · Question #33

following is likely to provide an Authoritative reply?

The correct answer is A. The local DNS server. The local DNS server is authoritative for the zone it directly hosts, making it the most likely source of an authoritative DNS reply for locally resolved names.

Networking and Core Concepts

Question

following is likely to provide an Authoritative reply?

Options

  • AThe local DNS server
  • BThe top-level DNS server for .com
  • CThe DNS server for google.com
  • DThe root DNS server

How the community answered

(48 responses)
  • A
    81% (39)
  • B
    10% (5)
  • C
    6% (3)
  • D
    2% (1)

Why each option

The local DNS server is authoritative for the zone it directly hosts, making it the most likely source of an authoritative DNS reply for locally resolved names.

AThe local DNS serverCorrect

The local DNS server holds the actual resource records for its configured zone and responds with the AA (Authoritative Answer) flag set, meaning it can answer queries definitively without forwarding to upstream servers for those records.

BThe top-level DNS server for .com

The TLD server for .com is a referral server that delegates queries to registered authoritative name servers; it does not hold authoritative records for any second-level domain.

CThe DNS server for google.com

The DNS server for google.com is authoritative only for the google.com zone and would not be authoritative for the broader or local zone implied by the question.

DThe root DNS server

The root DNS server only refers queries to TLD servers and holds no authoritative records for any specific domain or zone.

Concept tested: DNS authoritative vs. recursive name resolution

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/dns/dns-top

Topics

#DNS#authoritative DNS#DNS hierarchy#name resolution

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