Root nameservers

13 named root servers globally (anycast to hundreds of physical). Know only the TLD nameservers (.com, .org, etc.).

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Root nameservers

13 named root servers globally (anycast to hundreds of physical). Know only the TLD nameservers (.com, .org, etc.).

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TLD nameservers

Manage each top-level domain. .com NS knows nameservers for every .com domain. Verisign runs most.

Authoritative nameservers

Your domain registrar or DNS host. Serves the actual A/AAAA/CNAME records. Route 53, Cloudflare, Google Cloud DNS.

Recursive resolvers cache

ISP + public resolvers (8.8.8.8, 1.1.1.1). Cache aggressively based on TTL. Most queries never reach root or TLD.

Propagation isn't magic

DNS 'propagation' is just cache expiry. Lower TTLs = faster changes but more queries. Balance for your use case.