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Each zone contains one SOA-record, which holds the following properties for the zone:

• Name of primary DNS server
  The domain name of the primary DNS server for the zone.
  The zone should contain a matching NS-record.
  
• Mailbox of responsible person
  The email address (replace @ with a dot) of the person responsible for maintenance of the zone. The standard for this is the "hostmaster" username - such as "hostmaster.worldwidedns.net" (= hostmaster@worldwidedns.net).
  
• Serial number
  Used by secondary DNS servers to check if the zone has changed. If the serial number is higher than what the secondary server has, a zone transfer will be initiated. This number is automatically increased by our servers when changes to the zone or its records are made. You should never decrease (lower) a serial number.
  
• Refresh Interval
  How often secondary DNS servers should check if changes are made to the zone.
  
• Retry Interval
  How often secondary DNS server should retry checking if changes are made - if the first refresh fails.
  
• Expire Interval
  How long the zone will be valid after a refresh.
  Secondary servers will discard the zone if no refresh could be made within this interval.
  
• Minimum (default) TTL
  Used as the default TTL for new records created within the zone.
  Also used by other DNS server to cache negative responses (such as record does not exist etc.).