Resource Records
A DNS zone contains various types of entries, called resource records. Resource records are the meat of a DNS zone, providing information about hostnames, IP addresses, and in some cases the services offered by a particular machine. There are several different classes of record types, the most common of which I'll define now.
Host (A) Records
Host records, or A records, simply map a hostname to an IP address. You generally create host records for each machine in your network.
A sample A record looks like this in a zone file:
colossus A 192.168.0.10
Using host records, you can implement a load-balancing technique known as round-robin DNS. Round-robin DNS involves entering multiple A records, all configured with the same hostname, but with different IP addresses that correspond to different machines. This way, when computers contact a nameserver for a certain hostname, they have an equal chance of receiving any one of the number of machines with A records. For example, if I have a web site at www.hasselltech.net and I have three web servers at 192.168.0.50, 192.168.0.51, and 192.168.0.52, I can configure three A records, all named "www," but with the three IP addresses mentioned earlier. Now, when client computers come to the nameserver and ask for the IP address of www.hasselltech.net, they have a 33% chance of receiving 192.168.0.50 as the web server of choice, a 33% chance of receiving 192.168.0.51, and a 33% chance of receiving 192.168.0.52. It's a poor man's load-balancing ...