Refresh, Retry, Expire, Minimum TTL These settings tell the secondary when to come and retrieve the DNS data from the primary, for example, every 6 hours (REFRESH). If for some reason the secondary is unable to pull at that 6 hour interval then (RETRY) every 1 hour for up to 20 days (EXPIRE) and if it is unable to pull the data from the primary after the 20 days, we should delete the DNS data as they are two old. Also, the primary server is telling all caching servers to hold the data for 6 hours (MINIMUM) and after 6 hours, then to come back and get the new data. Here is an example: @ IN SOA ns.bobspizza.com. hostmaster.bobspizza.com. ( 2001112024 ; Serial Number 21600 ; Refresh every 6 hours 3600 ; Retry every hour 1728000 ; Expire every 20 days 21600 ) ; Minimum 6 hours