Amazon Route 53, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) offering, simplifies the management of domain names and their association with online resources. It translates computer-friendly IP addresses into easily recallable domain names. Route 53 comes equipped with features such as routing regulations based on performance or geography and seamless integration with other AWS services.

Notably, it provides automatic failover capabilities during outages. Additionally, Route 53 offers logging of DNS requests for research purposes and ensures a global network for swift and reliable DNS responses worldwide. Clients can also conveniently register and manage domain names using this service. Route 53 proves to be a versatile solution within the AWS environment, excelling in the efficient management of DNS and domain registration.

Why do we need AWS Route 53

Amazon Route 53 plays a pivotal role in the AWS ecosystem by handling DNS and domain name management, performing several key operations. The importance of AWS Route 53 primarily stems from the following reasons:

1. Scalable and Reliable DNS Service: Route 53 offers a DNS service that is both highly scalable and dependable, guaranteeing constant availability of your domain's DNS records and the capacity to process a substantial number of queries with minimal delay.
   
   
2. Global Anycast Routing:  Leveraging a worldwide network of DNS servers, Route 53 employs Anycast routing to deliver DNS responses with low latency and high performance across the globe. This guarantees that users worldwide can access your applications with the least possible delay.
   
   
3. Traffic Routing Policies: You have the ability to set up traffic routing policies considering various elements like latency, geolocation, weighted round robin, and failover. This adaptability enables you to fine-tune the direction of traffic to your resources according to specific requirements and circumstances.
   
   
4. Health Checking and Failover: Route 53 facilitates health checks on your resources. In the event of a resource becoming unhealthy, Route 53 has the capability to automatically reroute traffic to healthy endpoints, thereby offering a degree of fault tolerance and assuring a dependable user experience.
   
   
5. DNS Query Logging: Route 53 can log DNS queries to Amazon CloudWatch Logs. This feature is valuable for monitoring and analyzing DNS query patterns, aiding in troubleshooting, performance optimization, and enhancing security.

Risks involved if we do not enable AWS Route 53

Not enabling AWS Security Hub can result in reduced security visibility, operational inefficiencies, compliance challenges, and increased security risks which include:

1. Reliability Concerns: Using a less reliable or poorly configured DNS service may result in increased downtime or slower DNS resolution times. Route 53 is designed for high availability and performance, and not leveraging it might compromise the reliability of your applications.
   
   
2. Limited Global Reach: Route 53 employs a global network with Anycast routing, which helps reduce latency and improve performance for users worldwide. If you opt for a less robust DNS service, your global users might experience slower response times and less efficient routing.
   
   
3. Missed Traffic Management Opportunities: Route 53 allows for advanced traffic routing based on various factors such as geolocation, latency, and health checks. Without utilizing these features, you might miss opportunities to optimize the distribution of your traffic and enhance the overall user experience.
   
   
4. Increased Downtime Risk: Route 53 supports health checks and automatic failover, ensuring that traffic is directed to healthy endpoints. If you don't have these capabilities, you might experience longer downtimes during instances of resource failures, potentially impacting your application's availability.
   
   
5. Security Risks: DNS is a critical component of cybersecurity. Route 53 provides features like DNS query logging, which can help in monitoring and analyzing DNS activity for security purposes. Without these features, you might have limited visibility into potential security threats.
   
   
6. Integration Challenges: Route 53 seamlessly integrates with other AWS services, allowing for efficient traffic routing to various resources. Choosing an alternative DNS service may result in integration challenges, requiring additional configuration and management overhead.
   
   
7. Limited DNS Management Features: Route 53 offers a comprehensive set of DNS management features. Opting for a less feature-rich DNS service may limit your ability to implement advanced DNS configurations and may hinder your ability to adapt to changing requirements.
   
   
8. Inefficient Resource Utilization: Route 53 integrates with other AWS resources, such as load balancers and storage services, allowing for efficient resource utilization. Not leveraging these integrations may lead to suboptimal resource usage and increased costs.

Prerequisites 

When dealing with Route 53 Resolver Query Logs in AWS, it's essential to be mindful of prerequisites and considerations. Here are the key points:

1. Route 53 Resolver Configuration
   • Ensure Amazon Route 53 Resolver is set up and configured for your Amazon VPC, and have either a Resolver Rule or Forwarding Rule in place.
     
     
2. Amazon VPC
   • Route 53 Resolver Query Logs are associated with the VPC in which your Resolver rule is configured. Make sure that the VPC settings and configurations are correct.
     
     
3. Permissions
   • Ensure that the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user or role used to access Route 53 Resolver Query Logs has the necessary permissions. The user or role should have the route53resolver:CreateResolverQueryLogConfig permission.
     
     
4. Query Logging Enabled
   • Query logging needs to be enabled for your Resolver rule. This involves creating a Resolver Query Logging Configuration.
     
     
5. CloudWatch Logs
   • Specify an Amazon CloudWatch Logs destination for your query logs. You should have a CloudWatch Logs group and log stream configured to receive the logs.
     
     
6. Log Group Permissions
   • Ensure that the IAM user or role also has the necessary permissions for writing logs to the specified CloudWatch Logs group.
     
     
7. Encryption
   • If you want to encrypt your query logs, you can configure encryption settings for the CloudWatch Logs group.
     
     
8. Log Retention
   • Decide on the retention period for your logs in CloudWatch Logs. This determines how long the logs will be retained before they are automatically deleted.
     
     
9. Region
   • Ensure that you are working in the correct AWS region. Route 53 Resolver Query Logs are specific to the region in which they are configured.
     
     
10. Log Analysis
    • Plan for how you will analyze and make use of the query logs. You might want to set up log analysis tools or services to gain insights from the logs.
      
      
11. Cost Considerations
    • Be aware of the cost implications of using Route 53 Resolver Query Logs and CloudWatch Logs. Understand the pricing model and monitor your usage.
      
      

Always refer to the AWS Official Documentation for the most up-to-date information and detailed instructions on setting up and using Route 53 Resolver Query Logs.

Enabling VPC DNS queries with Route 53 Resolver Query Logs

To set up the alerting system, this comprehensive procedure will guide you through the following essential steps which are :

1. Over in the Route 53 Console, near the Resolver menu section, you will see a new item called Query logging. Clicking on this takes you to a screen.
   
2. . Scroll down to the Query logging.
3. The dashboard shows the current configurations that are setup. Click on Configure Query Logging.
4. When prompted, a new window will appear for you to provide essential details, such as a Name and Destination for query logs.
5. Navigate down and choose the CloudWatch Logs log group, and create a log group with your desired name. For example, in this instance, we've named the log group as "/aws/route/demothebeebsnet."
6. Next, choose the VPC for logging queries. DNS queries for any resources within the selected VPCs will be logged.
7. Finally, click the "Configure query logging" button to save the configuration. Within a few moments, the service will successfully enable query logging in your VPC.
8. After a few minutes, log into the Amazon CloudWatch Logs console, and you'll notice the logs have started to appear.

Conclusion

Amazon Route 53 is a key part of the AWS ecosystem, offering strong DNS and domain registration services. Its ability to integrate with other services, reach worldwide through Anycast routing, and manage traffic effectively makes it crucial for improving app performance, ensuring dependability, and boosting security. If you don’t use AWS Route 53, you might face several issues such as reduced reliability, limited global accessibility, missed opportunities to manage traffic, more downtime, security risks, integration problems, and inefficient use of resources. By using Route 53, you can overcome these issues. It’s not only cost-effective and scalable, but also integrates smoothly with other services. This makes it a must-have for any organization that wants to maintain a strong and secure online presence within the AWS environment.