Migrating DNS to Amazon Route 53 Public Hosted Zone

SAA-C03 By islever Editorial Last updated

Design secure access to AWS resources.

Short answer

A Create an Amazon Route 53 public hosted zone for the domain name and import the existing zone file.

Question

The DNS provider that hosts a company's domain name records is experiencing outages that cause service disruption for a website running on AWS. The company needs to migrate to a more resilient managed DNS service and wants the service to run on AWS. What should a solutions architect do to rapidly migrate the DNS hosting service?
  1. Create an Amazon Route 53 public hosted zone for the domain name. Import the zone file containing the domain records hosted by the previous provider. Correct Answer
  2. Create an Amazon Route 53 private hosted zone for the domain name. Import the zone file containing the domain records hosted by the previous provider.
  3. Create a Simple AD directory in AWS. Enable zone transfer between the DNS provider and AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory for the domain records.
  4. Create an Amazon Route 53 Resolver inbound endpoint in the VPC. Specify the IP addresses that the provider's DNS will forward DNS queries to. Configure the provider's DNS to forward DNS queries for the domain to the IP addresses that are specified in the inbound endpoint.

Key Takeaways

The question tests the ability to distinguish between public and private hosted zones in Route 53 based on whether the service is internet-facing or internal-only.

This guide explains how to rapidly migrate a company's domain name records from an external provider to the resilient managed DNS service, Amazon Route 53, for public website access.

Common mistake: Candidates often confuse public and private hosted zones, incorrectly selecting Option B (Private) because they overlook that the website serves the general public.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

Option A is correct because Amazon Route 53 is AWS's scalable and highly available cloud DNS web service. For a website accessible via the public internet, you must create a public hosted zone. The process involves creating this zone in Route 53 and then importing the existing zone file from the current provider, which preserves all existing record configurations while migrating to AWS's resilient infrastructure.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Option B creates a private hosted zone, which is designed exclusively for resources within one or more VPCs and cannot be used to route traffic for a public website. Option C suggests using Simple AD with zone transfers, which is overly complex, not a managed DNS solution for public domains, and lacks the high availability of Route 53. Option D describes configuring Route 53 Resolver inbound endpoints, which is used for forwarding DNS queries from on-premises networks to AWS, not for hosting a public domain's authoritative records.

Community Comment Notes

The community consensus strongly supports Option A. As user BillaRanga noted, "A -> Correct as we need to route to a Company in public network." Another user confirmed the official documentation link for migrating domains in use, validating the import process described in Option A.

Official Reference

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/migrate-dns-domain-in-use.html

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

Always check if the service is public-facing or internal. If it's for the public internet, choose 'Public Hosted Zone'. If it's strictly for VPCs, choose 'Private Hosted Zone'. This distinction is critical for questions involving DNS migration or setup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I use a private hosted zone for my public website?

Private hosted zones are only accessible from within specified VPCs. They cannot resolve records for users on the public internet.

Does importing a zone file change my domain registrar settings?

No, importing the zone file only updates the DNS records in Route 53. You must also update your domain registrar's NS records to point to Route 53 name servers.

More SAA-C03 FAQ →

Community Votes

A
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 3 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 3

  1. BillaRanga 👍 7 Answered A
    A -> Correct as we need to route to a Company in public network. B -> No, because it routes only within one or more VPC C -> Added as a distractor D -> Inbound resolver is for traffic from On-Prem to VPC
  2. ccceb01 👍 2 Answered A
    A is the answer https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/migrate-dns-domain-in-use.html
  3. Andy_09 👍 9
    Option A

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