TECHNICAL HIRING CHALLENGE
SiteHost 4960
A Python diagnostic exercise covering domain, DNS-zone, and record retrieval, private A-record diagnosis, and hostname-to-public-IP verification.
Project context
Problem and constraints
- Determine why a hostname did not resolve to the expected public address.
- Trace domain and DNS record data to identify a technically grounded correction.
Personal contribution
- Built a Python standard-library client for domain, DNS-zone, and record retrieval.
- Diagnosed the private A record and verified hostname-to-public-IP behaviour.
- Provided a specific correction recommendation.
Architecture and workflow
- A Python standard-library client retrieves domain, DNS-zone, and record state through HTTP APIs.
- The diagnostic path compares the private A record with hostname-to-public-IP behaviour before recommending a correction.
Implementation decisions
- Use HTTP APIs to retrieve the relevant domain and DNS-zone state.
- Compare the returned A record with the expected public-IP outcome.
- State the correction as a focused DNS recommendation.
Technology map
Implementation
Interfaces
Verification and evidence
- Retrieved domain, DNS-zone, and record data through HTTP APIs.
- Diagnosed a private A record and checked hostname-to-public-IP resolution.
- Produced a specific DNS correction recommendation.
- Domain, zone, and record retrieval were exercised.
- Hostname-to-public-IP behaviour was checked as part of the diagnosis.
Limitations and unfinished work
- This was a technical hiring challenge, not employment.
- The scope was DNS diagnosis and recommendation rather than operational ownership of a live environment.
Lessons and next steps
- Technical diagnostics improve when the observed state and expected state are compared directly.
- A narrow, evidence-based correction is more useful than a vague infrastructure conclusion.