An NS record is a DNS record that lists an authoritative name server for a domain. A domain name can have multiple NS records. For example, the dnscheck.co domain has two NS records pointing to the guy.ns.cloudflare.com and chan.ns.cloudflare.com name servers.
NS records are also called "name server records" and "nameserver records". "Name servers" are also called "DNS servers".
NS records are defined in RFC 1035.
DNS Check can monitor your NS records, and notify you if they become unresolvable, or start pointing to the wrong name servers.
Fields
Here are the fields that make up an NS record:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name | A fully qualified domain name (FQDN). | dnscheck.co. |
| Type | The DNS record type. Always set to "NS". | NS |
| Value | The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of an authoritative name server for the domain specified in the Name field. | guy.ns.cloudflare.com. |
DNS Zone File Examples
Here's an example of how NS records look in a DNS zone file:
; Name Type Value
dnscheck.co. NS guy.ns.cloudflare.com.
dnscheck.co. NS chan.ns.cloudflare.com.
The Name ends in a period in the above example, so it's a fully qualified domain name.
Alternatively, you can create an NS record that's relative to the zone file's $ORIGIN. Here's an example of how to do this to create DNS records that are equivalent to what's shown in the previous example:
$ORIGIN dnscheck.co.
; Name Type Value
@ NS guy.ns.cloudflare.com.
@ NS chan.ns.cloudflare.com.
Additional Resources
- RFC 1035 - this RFC defines NS records.