DNS outages can happen at any time and to anyone. And if all your data is on a primary DNS alone, you could be in for some very long days with frustrated IT professionals, upset customers and lost revenue.
That is why secondary DNS is available. It’s won’t solve all your DNS problems but it helps keep them to a minimum.
So what is secondary DNS?
Secondary DNS or Backup DNS as it is sometimes called is a setting that allows other DNS servers to transfer copies of files from the Primary DNS. It’s a pretty basic feature and typically allows IP addresses of the secondary server to tap into the primary server before making transfers.
What are the benefits of secondary DNS?
> One obvious benefit is that you can increase DNS redundancy by deploying more DNS servers including replicating DNS among all servers.
> Most domain registrars want you to have two name servers anyway so the second one fills that purpose. If one DNS servers are down, the second one or several more will still be up.
> Typically cost-effective and promotes business continuity and optimal resolution performance.
But with every good thing comes some downsides and secondary DNS has a few?
> Obviously, there is more DNS server to be concerned about. A dedicated IT professional may be able to manage these including mitigating any issues that arise.
> Special features may not always update as quickly which results in delays in updating the total secondary server.
