Name Server Types

Master Name Server

-gets zone information from local files
-formerly called the Primary Name Server, sometimes called a Primary Master

Slave Name Server

-gets zone information via a zone transfer from an authoritative server, usually a master
-formerly called the Secondary Name Server, sometimes referred to as a Secondary Master

Caching-only Name Servers

-not authoritative for any zones
-have no zone files only cached information

There are some other types of Name Servers such as Forward-Only and Stealth but these are not accessed by the general public and are usually part of corporate or private networks.

There are some internal zones that are not discussed here because they apply to the computer itself. These are referred to as localhost.localdomain and 127.0.0.0