Domains Help

What is Secondary DNS?

Secondary DNS allows you to have your domain's zone file backed up automatically onto a second set of nameservers. If the first set of nameservers goes down, it'll automatically send requests to the backups, which will have a zone file identical to the primary nameservers. You must have Premium DNS on your domain to use Secondary DNS. You cannot use DNSSEC and Secondary DNS on the same domain name.

Note: Using Secondary DNS requires in-depth understanding of setting up and using your own nameservers.

When enabling Secondary DNS, select GoDaddy nameservers as your primary or secondary nameservers. DNS updates will depend on how you configure Secondary DNS.

  • GoDaddy nameservers as the primary set: All DNS updates will be made for you, and the secondaries (your nameserver set) will pick them up.
  • GoDaddy nameservers as the secondary set: Your own primary nameservers will make the DNS updates, and you must configure them to send notifications to our secondary nameservers to pick up the changes.

To use Secondary DNS, you must use DNS server software to configure your own nameserver set. We are compatible with this software:

  • BIND v9.1.0 or later
  • NSD
  • Windows Server 2008 and later
  • Power DNS

You can configure Secondary DNS with or without transaction signatures (TSIG), which secures communications between the nameserver sets. Your own nameserver set must support NOTIFY (zone change notification) requests and AXFR (full zone transfer). Use the following transfer server information during configuration:

  • 97.74.112.1
  • 97.74.112.2

Related step

  • Set up Secondary DNS with GoDaddy nameservers as primary or secondary nameservers.