"A" record The DNS record that points a domain or hostname to an IP address

cache The last results of looking to the authoritative servers for a give domain stored so that nameservers can respond more quickly to requests.

DNS records The records kept on the nameservers that tell other machines online how to reach any given function of the domain.

dynamic IP A type of connection to the internet where the numeric address, or IP, changes when you re-connect or at other intervals.

MX record Short for Mail Exchanger, the MX record is a DNS record specifying which mailserver is responsible for the domain.

nameservers The machines which direct domain names to the IPs and servers that make them function. There are 2 ways nameservers are used. Authoritative nameservers keep the records for a given domain name which are the final authority on where it resides. Local resolution nameservers are the machines that look for a domain name when you try to access it through your ISP.

Port number Besides the IP of the server itself, any given function of the server would also have an associated port number specifying which port to connect to. HTTP connections are made through port 80, smtp through port 25, and each other type of service has it's own port number.

propagation The process by which changes to a domains DNS settings are picked up through the internet.

resolution The process by which a domain name points to the numeric address of the physical connection.

SOA settings The Start Of Authority tells nameservers which nameserver is authoritative for the domain and contains information about how long to store information and other values which control how nameservers communicate about the domain.

static IP A connection where the numeric address does not change, even if you disconnect and reconnect.

TLD Top Level Domain, the final identifier in a domain name, eg. .com, .net, .org, .ca, .biz, .info. In some cases, most commonly country code domains, has 2 levels in it, such as .org.uk or .com.au.

TTL Time To Live, another name for the Minimum SOA setting which controls how long non-autoritative nameservers keep information cached.

zone file The type of file that contains A records, SOA settings and other DNS information.