Basics
DNS allows us to use names rather than numbers for destinations on the network. Without DNS we would have to specify an IP address such as 99.84.221.69 rather than www.usgs.gov.
The most common DNS resource records define:
- one or more IP addresses for a hostname
- an alias of one hostname for another
- one or more hostnames for an IP address
The first two resource records are “forward records” and the third is a “reverse record”.
Internal Services
- Active Directory provides DNS records for domain gs.doi.net.
- IPControl provides DNS records for domain usgs.gov.
Public Services
- DOI provides public DNS for the Bureaus using vendor Cloudflare.
- USGS has contracted for a DNS service which provides load-balancing and failover capabilities based on server wellness, Total Uptime.
- CHS manages Public DNS resolution within DOI approved, USGS managed cloud infrastructure
The usgs.gov domain is defined independently for internal use and for the public. All public records for this domain also have a separate internal definition. This separation of public and internal DNS for domain is called “split horizon” and is a security best practice.
The DNS Team manages a separate web page, which contains more details on USGS DNS services as well as a listing of all public USGS managed DNS domains: DNS-Overview (sharepoint.com)