Difference between Azure Private DNS zones vs. DNS Zones ?

Question

Hi Folks,

What are the differences between Azure Private DNS zones vs. DNS Zones?

When to use one over the other.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi @EnterpriseArchitect

Azure Private DNS zones
Azure Private DNS manages and resolves domain names in the virtual network without the need to configure a custom DNS solution. By using private DNS zones, you can use your own custom domain name instead of the Azure-provided names during deployment.

Private zones work along with virtual networks. You use them to manage domains for virtual machines or other resources within and across virtual networks. Internet connectivity isn't required for name resolution.

To resolve the records of a private DNS zone from your virtual network, you must link the virtual network with the zone. Linked virtual networks have full access and can resolve all DNS records published in the private zone. You can also enable autoregistration on a virtual network link. When you enable autoregistration on a virtual network link, the DNS records for the virtual machines in that virtual network are registered in the private zone. When autoregistration gets enabled, Azure DNS will update the zone record whenever a virtual machine gets created, changes its' IP address, or gets deleted.

Create an Azure private DNS zone using the Azure portal

DNS ZONES
A DNS zone is used to host the DNS records for a particular domain. To start hosting your domain in Azure DNS, you need to create a DNS zone for that domain name. Each DNS record for your domain is then created inside this DNS zone.

For example, the domain 'contoso.com' may contain several DNS records, such as 'mail.contoso.com' (for a mail server) and 'www.contoso.com' (for a web site).
Azure DNS supports all common DNS record types: A, AAAA, CAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SOA, SRV, and TXT.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/dns/dns-zones-records

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Answer 2

Azure DNS:

• Azure DNS is a public DNS service that allows you to manage DNS zones for public domains. With Azure DNS, you can create and manage public DNS records for your domains, making them globally accessible through public DNS servers.
• Typically, Azure DNS is used when hosting public internet services and when your domains need to be accessible over the internet.

Azure DNS Private Zones:

• On the other hand, Azure DNS Private Zones enables you to create and manage private DNS zones for your Azure resources. These private zones are accessible only within your virtual network (VNET) or through peering connections and are not publicly visible on the internet.
• This service is particularly useful for scenarios where you are hosting internal resources and need DNS for internal communication within a private network.

In summary:

• Azure DNS is for public domains and global internet access.
• Azure DNS Private Zones is for private domains and internal communication within Azure networks.

It's also possible to use Azure DNS and Azure DNS Private Zones together to address both public and private DNS requirements, depending on the specific needs of your applications and infrastructure.