What is Amazon Route 53? - Amazon Route 53
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

What is Amazon Route 53?

Amazon Route 53 is a highly available and scalable Domain Name System (DNS) web service. You can use Route 53 to perform three main functions in any combination: domain registration, DNS routing, and health checking.

Important

Be aware that you can't use Amazon Route 53 to register or transfer domains in the China Regions. However, you can create a hosted zone in one of the China Regions, and associate the name servers for that hosted zone with a domain that you registered using a global account or that you registered with another domain registrar.

If you choose to use Route 53 for all three functions, be sure to follow the order below:

1. Register domain names

Your website needs a name, such as example.com. Route 53 lets you register a name for your website or web application, known as a domain name.

2. Route internet traffic to the resources for your domain

When a user opens a web browser and enters your domain name (example.com) or subdomain name (acme.example.com) in the address bar, Route 53 helps connect the browser with your website or web application.

3. Check the health of your resources

Route 53 sends automated requests over the internet to a resource, such as a web server, to verify that it's reachable, available, and functional. You also can choose to receive notifications when a resource becomes unavailable and choose to route internet traffic away from unhealthy resources.

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