DNS records

DNS records are instructions that live in authoritative DNS servers providing information about a domain including its IP address.

What is a DNS record?

DNS records are instructions that live in authoritative DNS servers and provide information about a domain including what IP address is associated with that domain and how to handle requests for that domain.

Common DNS record types

A record

The most fundamental DNS record type — it maps a domain name to an IPv4 address.

AAAA record

Like the A record but maps to an IPv6 address instead of IPv4.

CNAME record

A canonical name record points a domain or subdomain to another domain. It does NOT provide an IP address.

MX record

Mail exchange records direct email to a mail server according to SMTP.

TXT record

Text records let administrators enter arbitrary text into DNS. Used for email verification, domain ownership, and security policies like SPF and DKIM.

NS record

Nameserver records indicate which DNS server is authoritative for that domain.