ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

DNS zone transfer

Okay kiddo, so imagine you have a big book of phone numbers for all your friends. This book is like a phone directory. Now, what if you have a best friend who also has a similar book of phone numbers? You might want to share your directories with each other so you can have the same updated phone numbers for all your mutual friends, right?

Now imagine this book of phone numbers is like a DNS zone file. A DNS zone file contains all the information about a specific domain name like its IP address, subdomains, and other important information. Just like how you and your best friend might want to share phone numbers, sometimes different DNS servers need to "talk" to each other to share information about a certain domain name.

This process is called DNS zone transfer. It's when a primary DNS server (that's the main directory holder) shares its DNS zone file with a secondary DNS server (that's the friend receiving the directory) to keep both DNS servers up-to-date with the latest information about a domain name.

But wait, there's more! Just like how you might only want to share your phone numbers with your best friend and no one else, DNS zone transfer can be restricted to avoid unauthorized access or hacking. Think of it like a secret code that only you and your best friend know, so that nobody else can peek into your phone directory.

So, DNS zone transfer is just a fancy term for sharing important information about domain names between different DNS servers. It's like sharing phone numbers with a friend, but with more security measures to keep it safe.