Have you ever looked at your domain settings and thought to yourself, “What in the world are all these A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, and TXT records?” Don't feel bad, many people have found themselves thinking the same thing. The first time I saw them, I had no idea what those records meant. But after you learn what all of these records mean, browsing around becomes easier.
For example:
example.com - 192.0.2.1
Without this record, no one would be able to find your website. This is one of the most important records in your DNS.
In short, all kinds of DNS records have their purpose: A and AAAA based records send your visitors to your site, CNAME facilitates a shortcut, MX facilitates email routing, and TXT is to do with security and verification. When you find out what each type does, DNS does not seem so scary!
A Record – Your Primary Address
An A record is essentially the home address of your website. It despicts to the web where to locate your website by mapping your domain name to an IPv4 address (a long number such as 192.0.2.1). When someone types in the name of your website, then, that action gets the browser where it needs to go.For example:
example.com - 192.0.2.1
Without this record, no one would be able to find your website. This is one of the most important records in your DNS.
AAAA Record – The More Current Address
The AAAA record works pretty much the same as the A record, except it is pointing to a newer version of an internet address called IPv6. Since the older IPv4 addresses are being depleted, we have to consider this upgrade (especially because new devices use IPv6). If you add this record, your website will run better with newer devices and networks.CNAME Record - The Shortcut
The CNAME record functions as a shortcut. It allows one name to point to another name. For example, www.example.com can go to example.com without the need of creating another record. This works great when you have multiple names for the same site.MX Record - The Mail Helper
If you are using your domain for email (you@yourdomain.com), you need an MX record. The MX record is how other mail servers know which server your mail must go to. Without an MX record your email delivery would fail.TXT Record - The Info Note
TXT records are used to hold smaller bits of text based information. TXT records may include items like email delivery security (SPF, DKIM), or domain ownership verification. For example, when you connect your domain to a Google account or Microsoft 365 account, they will ask you to insert a TXT record.In short, all kinds of DNS records have their purpose: A and AAAA based records send your visitors to your site, CNAME facilitates a shortcut, MX facilitates email routing, and TXT is to do with security and verification. When you find out what each type does, DNS does not seem so scary!