When visitors enter a domain name into their browser, the request is sent to a DNS server which determines where to send the request. You can think of DNS records like an internet phone book, translating domain names, such as example.com, into a machine readable Internet Protocol (IP) address. It’s these records that allow browsers to find and display your website.
DNS records contain these critical pieces of information
Name: The domain name, such as example.com.
Type: There are types of DNS records. See the table below for details:
| Record Type | Function | Example |
| A | Maps a domain name (or subdomain) to an IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) address. This is the most common record for websites. | Translates example.com to 192.0.2.1. |
| AAAA | Maps a domain name (or subdomain) to an IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) address. IPv6 was developed to allow a larger number of IP addresses | Translates example.com to 2001:db8::1. |
| CNAME | Creates an alias, mapping one domain or subdomain to another domain name (not directly to an IP address). | Translates www.example.com to example.com. |
| MX | Specifies the mail server responsible for accepting emails on behalf of the domain. Includes a priority value. | Translates emails sent to @example.com to 10 mail.example.com |
| SRV | A specialized record that defines the location (the hostname and port number) of servers providing specific services for a domain. | _sip._tcp.example.com. 3600 IN SRV 10 50 5060 sipserver.example.com translates to:Service: _sip (Session Initiation Protocol, used for VoIP)Protocol: _tcp ( Transmission Control Protocol)Priority: 10Weight: 50Port: 5060Target: sipserver.example.com |
| CAA | A DNS record type that enhances the security of SSL/TLS certificates for a domain. These records are basically a whitelist of Certificate Authorities for your site. CAA records have three parts:Flag: An integer (usually 0). Controls the Certificate Authority’s behavior when it encounters a tag it doesn’t understand. 0 means non-critical, and the CA can proceed.Tag: Defines the policy type being set.Values: The data associated with the tag (usually the domain name of the authorized CA). | example.com. IN CAA 0 issue “myca.org”Only allows myca to issue certificates for the domain. |
| TXT | Allows an administrator to store arbitrary text data for various purposes, such as verifying domain ownership or setting up email security policies (like SPF and DKIM). | To use Google services, you must add a TXT record provided by Google. |
