{"id":364,"date":"2025-05-27T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaugehosting.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/05\/27\/how-dns-records-work-a-aaaa-cname-mx-txt\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T05:13:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:13:00","slug":"how-dns-records-work-a-aaaa-cname-mx-txt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaugehosting.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/05\/27\/how-dns-records-work-a-aaaa-cname-mx-txt\/","title":{"rendered":"How DNS Records Work: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

DNS is one of the parts of the internet that most website owners never have to think about until something breaks. A website suddenly stops loading, email stops arriving, or a new subdomain refuses to work, and the problem often turns out to be a DNS record.<\/p>\n

DNS, or the Domain Name System, translates names such as example.com<\/strong> into information that computers can use. DNS does much more than point a domain at a web server. Different record types tell DNS resolvers where websites live, where email should be delivered, which hostnames are aliases, and how other systems should treat a domain.<\/p>\n

\"Network
DNS is part of the infrastructure connecting domain names to internet services.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What Is a DNS Record?<\/h2>\n

A DNS record is an entry in a DNS zone. Each record has a name, a type, a value, and usually a TTL, or time to live. The exact interface varies between registrars and hosting providers, but the underlying concepts are the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Record<\/th>\nPurpose<\/th>\nTypical value<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
A<\/td>\nMaps a hostname to an IPv4 address<\/td>\n203.0.113.10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
AAAA<\/td>\nMaps a hostname to an IPv6 address<\/td>\n2001:db8::10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CNAME<\/td>\nMakes one hostname an alias of another<\/td>\nwww.example.com<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MX<\/td>\nSpecifies mail delivery servers<\/td>\nmail.example.com<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TXT<\/td>\nStores text used by many services<\/td>\nSPF, verification, policy data<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NS<\/td>\nIdentifies authoritative nameservers<\/td>\nns1.example.com<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

A Records<\/h2>\n

An A record<\/strong> maps a hostname to an IPv4 address. For example, an A record for example.com<\/code> might point to 203.0.113.10<\/code>. When a browser needs the IPv4 address for that hostname, a recursive resolver can obtain the answer from the authoritative DNS servers.<\/p>\n

A records are commonly used for the root domain and for hostnames such as www<\/code>, shop<\/code>, or app<\/code>. If you move a website to another server and DNS is managed separately from your hosting account, changing its A record is one way to direct traffic to the new server.<\/p>\n

AAAA Records<\/h2>\n

An AAAA record<\/strong> performs the equivalent job for IPv6. If your server has both IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity, you may have both A and AAAA records for the same hostname.<\/p>\n

Do not add an AAAA record simply because IPv6 exists. The IPv6 address needs to be correctly configured and reachable. A broken AAAA record can cause some visitors to experience failures even though the IPv4 configuration works.<\/p>\n

CNAME Records<\/h2>\n

A CNAME<\/strong> record makes one hostname an alias of another hostname. For example, www.example.com<\/code> can point to example.com<\/code>. The important distinction is that a CNAME points to a name, not directly to an IP address.<\/p>\n

CNAME records are also common when using third-party services. A provider may tell you to create something such as verify.example.com CNAME token.provider.example<\/code>. The exact value must be copied from the provider because the target is usually service-specific.<\/p>\n

MX Records and Email<\/h2>\n

MX records<\/strong> tell sending mail servers where email for a domain should be delivered. An MX record contains a hostname and a priority value. Lower numerical preference values are normally attempted first.<\/p>\n

For example, a domain might have:<\/p>\n

example.com.    MX    10    mail.example.com.<\/code><\/pre>\n
The MX record does not contain the mail server’s IP address. The mail server hostname must itself resolve through A or AAAA records. That is why a mistake in either the MX record or the address record can break mail delivery.<\/p>\n
TXT Records<\/h2>\n
TXT records<\/strong> are flexible text records used by many systems. They are commonly associated with domain verification and email authentication.<\/p>\n