How does a forward zone differ from a stub zone?

• A. Forward zone forwards to upstream servers
• B. Stub zone maintains NS records of the zone's delegation and helps locate authoritative servers
• C. Forward zone contains NS records
• D. They are the same

Answer: (A)

The key distinction is how DNS resolution for that zone is handled. A forward zone is set up to send queries for the zone to specified upstream forwarders, so your DNS server hands off the query and returns the answer it gets from those forwarders rather than resolving the data itself. This centralizes resolution and can simplify policy and caching for that zone. A stub zone, by contrast, contains only the delegation information for the zone—its NS records (and the corresponding glue if needed)—so the resolver can discover the zone’s authoritative servers quickly. It does not hold or serve the zone’s data and doesn’t forward queries for resolution; its purpose is to enable fast referral to the true authorities. So, the forward zone forwards to upstream servers, while the stub zone helps locate authoritative servers using delegation data.