Updated Date: 07/07/2026
DNS Dimensions and Metrics
The following list defines the metrics gathered to monitor DNS load balancing services and the dimension aspects from which data is observed. The information provided is found in the dimensions pane tables with the screens that display DNS GSLB data. You use this information to filter the on-screen data by specific dimension objects. For example, if you would like to view data that pertains to specific virtual servers. It is important note that all metric data is displayed as a unit over the time period selected for the screen.
The following defines the dimensions found in the dimensions pane that report DNS service data.
- BIG-IP Host Names
- The name of each BIG-IP system that processed the monitored transactions.
- Wide IP Names
- The unique names assigned to your wide IPs.
- Sync Groups
- The names of configured BIG-IP DNS synchronization groups. These are a collection of multiple BIG-IP DNS systems (running the same version) that synchronize and communicate BIG-IP DNS configuration settings and metrics information.
TCP metrics reflect the connection volume, connection duration, responses, and contents of the TCP connections to your managed BIG-IP systems. Metric sets categorize the metric data according to an aspect of the TCP connection. The table below defines the metric set and the kind of metric data collected.
| Metric Set | Metric Set Description | Metric | Metric Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Load Balancing Decisions | The pool-level load balancing method applied to DNS name resolution requests | Preferred | The first load balancing method BIG-IP DNS uses to return the IPaddress of a virtual server in response to a DNS name resolution request. The preferred method can be either static or dynamic. |
| Alternate | The load balancing method for DNS requests when the preferred method fails. The alternate method can be only static. | ||
| Fallback | The load balancing method for DNS requests when the alternate fails to return a valid resource in response to a DNS name resolution request. The fallback method can be either static or dynamic. | ||
| CNAME Resolution | The DNS name resolution requests with a CNAME query against a CNAME wide IP. The request was applied to topology load balancing at the wide IP level to make a pool selection. | ||
| Return to DNS | BIG-IP DNS immediately distributes DNS name resolution requests to an LDNS for resolution. | ||
| Return from DNS | DNS name resolution requests that are immediately returned to the LDNS for resolution. | ||
| Requests | The status of requests to your DNS server. | Requests | The overall average number of DNS requests over the selected period of time. |
| Persisted | The average number of DNS requests that maintained a persistent connection over the selected period of time. | ||
| Dropped | The average number of dropped DNS requests over the selected period of time. | ||
| Resolved | The average number of resolved DNS requests over the selected period of time. |