Chapter 1: Introduction to AWS Route 53

AWS Route 53 is a service provided by Amazon Web Services that enables the translation of human-friendly domain names, like example.com, into numerical IP addresses, such as 192.0.2.1. These IP addresses are essential for computers to communicate, but end-users typically don’t need to be aware of them.

The process of converting domain names into IP addresses is referred to as DNS (Domain Name System). DNS servers handle these translations, linking user-friendly names to their corresponding IP addresses whenever a request is made.

Route 53 also features health-check services that monitor the status of endpoints, ensuring they are functional. If an endpoint is found to be down, Route 53 can intelligently redirect traffic to operational endpoints or notify the website administrators about the issue.

Additionally, Route 53 allows users to register domain names like example.com and automatically set up the necessary DNS configurations. Competing services include Cloudflare, Google Cloud, Azure, and GoDaddy.

A key advantage of Route 53 is its built-in capabilities to direct users to various AWS resources, including Amazon EC2 instances, Amazon S3 storage, and Elastic Load Balancing. However, Route 53 is not limited to AWS services; it can also route traffic to external locations.

For those with an existing domain name such as example.com, it is possible to transfer management to Route 53.

When managing DNS records, these are organized in Route 53 within "hosted zones." This concept might delve into more complex territory, but essentially, hosted zones support various DNS record types, including:

• A (Address Record)
• AAAA (IPv6 Address Record)
• CNAME (Canonical Name Record)
• CAA (Certification Authority Authorization)
• MX (Mail Exchange Record)
• NAPTR (Name Authority Pointer Record)
• NS (Name Server Record)
• PTR (Pointer Record)
• SOA (Start of Authority Record)
• SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
• SRV (Service Locator)
• TXT (Text Record)

Moreover, Route 53 supports alias records specifically designed for AWS resources. These records facilitate traffic routing to AWS services as mentioned earlier.

According to AWS’s Route 53 FAQ, alias records can link a user-defined record name (like example.com) to the DNS name of an AWS resource (e.g., elb1234.elb.amazonaws.com).

Another crucial aspect of Route 53 is its pricing structure. This model is aligned with the general AWS pricing approach. Importantly, there are no upfront costs or requirements to forecast the number of queries a domain might receive.

Instead, users are billed based on actual usage. Monthly charges apply for each hosted zone, and fees are incurred for each query handled by Route 53, with exceptions for "Alias A records" associated with certain AWS services, which incur no additional costs.

To summarize the pricing structure:

• Hosted Zones
  • $0.50 per month for the first 25 hosted zones
  • $0.10 per month for additional hosted zones
• Queries
  • Standard Queries: $0.40 per million queries (first 1 billion queries/month); $0.20 per million queries (over 1 billion queries/month)
  • Latency-Based Routing Queries: $0.60 per million queries (first 1 billion queries/month); $0.30 per million queries (over 1 billion queries/month)
  • Geo DNS and Geoproximity Queries: $0.70 per million queries (first 1 billion queries/month); $0.35 per million queries (over 1 billion queries/month)

There are additional fees associated with Route 53 services, so it's advisable to review the pricing details before making significant decisions.

For a more comprehensive understanding of Route 53, consider checking the official Route 53 FAQ for further insights.

The video titled "What is ROUTE 53? How does ROUTE 53 work? Visual Explanation | Simplified" provides a visual overview of how Route 53 operates and its key functionalities.

Another informative video, "What is AWS ROUTE 53? How does ROUTE 53 work? Visual Explanation #aws #route53," further elaborates on Route 53's capabilities and advantages.