{"id":16447,"date":"2018-06-20T13:31:23","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T18:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/blog\/?p=16447"},"modified":"2021-11-17T02:09:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T08:09:37","slug":"understanding-dns-record-types","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding DNS Record Types and Functions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DNSAs you continue to explore more into the world of DNS<\/a> protocols, it\u2019s easy to feel even more confused. Rather than be a simple communication and connection system, this unique and multi-tiered infrastructure contains a variety of data files.<\/p>\n

If you ever need to troubleshoot your DNS connection, or simply wish to understand more about this imperative pillar of the internet, then it\u2019s essential to understand DNS record types. The following information is designed to help familiarize yourself with the most common DNS records. You can use this information when troubleshooting DNS errors, or investigating the full functionality and health of a DNS connection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SOA Records<\/h2>\n

This record type, which stands for Start of Authority, is located within Zone Files. Unlike other records, the SOA is mandatory and is typically the first record found within the file. However, $TTL or $ORIGIN records may also be located at the very beginning of the Zone File.<\/p>\n

SOA records are notoriously difficult to understand, even by experienced network administrators. Within this record are nine data values. Each line of data pertains to a different component of the DNS file, which includes the domain it\u2019s assigned to and zone-specific characteristics, such as refresh intervals and retry intervals.<\/p>\n

A or AAAA Records<\/h2>\n

Regardless of which record type found in your Zone File, this record is primarily used to create a map of an IP address host. The type of record you have depends on your IP address style. For example, IPv6 addresses<\/a> use AAAA records, while IPv4 addresses use A records.<\/p>\n

This record is used to help assist the SOA command of determining domain addresses based on IP addresses. While it may seem redundant, redundancy is key for continuity.<\/p>\n

CNAME Records<\/h3>\n

Essentially, a CNAME is an alias for the canonical identification name created by your A or AAAA records to define your server. It\u2019s important to understand that while CNAME has a purpose, using an alias for your server can lower server performance as gathering this name requires an additional request. Typically, CNAME records aren\u2019t used. Rather, this information is placed in the A or AAAA record.<\/p>\n

MX Records<\/h3>\n

This is unique type of record as it\u2019s used to define domain-level mail exchanges. Essentially, an MX record assists incoming mail to arrive in the appropriate server for end-user retrieval. What\u2019s interestingn about an MX record is its lack of host mapping. In the most fundamental sense, the reason why there is no host map is because the data included within an MX record is applicable for an entire zone. Therefore, they tend to look like a single-line of simplistic code, such as: IN MX 10 mail.yourdomain.com<\/p>\n

NS Records<\/h3>\n

NS, which stands for Name Servers, are records that are used to explicitly define your zone\u2019s name servers. This is often confusing because zone files include this information. So, why does there need to be a record within a Zone File that tells the Zone File what\/where it is? The answer is simple: redundancy. The power of DNS is because of its multi-layer cacheing ability. There are many other reasons why the NS Record is important, but safeguarding zone-specific name server information tops the list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you continue to explore more into the world of DNS protocols, it\u2019s easy to feel even more confused. Rather than be a simple communication and connection system, this unique and multi-tiered infrastructure contains a variety of data files. If you ever need to troubleshoot your DNS connection, or simply wish to understand more about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":16466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"template-url.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[40],"tags":[78],"yoast_head":"\r\nUnderstanding DNS Record Types and Functions | Dotcom-Tools Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you ever need to troubleshoot your DNS connection,then it\u2019s essential to understand DNS record types. Here are the most common DNS record:\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Understanding DNS Record Types and Functions\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you ever need to troubleshoot your DNS connection,then it\u2019s essential to understand DNS record types. Here are the most common DNS record:\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotcommonitor\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-20T18:31:23+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-17T08:09:37+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DNS-Record-Types.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dotcom_monitor\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dotcom_monitor\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Glenn Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/\",\"name\":\"Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog\",\"description\":\"Let's Make the Web a Faster Place.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DNS-Record-Types.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DNS-Record-Types.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"DNS Record Types and Functions\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/\",\"name\":\"Understanding DNS Record Types and Functions | Dotcom-Tools Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-20T18:31:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-17T08:09:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#\/schema\/person\/a18124e28e1b2c8e71f8ddf7d3e38ed4\"},\"description\":\"If you ever need to troubleshoot your DNS connection,then it\u2019s essential to understand DNS record types. Here are the most common DNS record:\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Understanding DNS Record Types and Functions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#\/schema\/person\/a18124e28e1b2c8e71f8ddf7d3e38ed4\",\"name\":\"Glenn Lee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a52a01e153d000504984c4f0853f002?s=96&d=retro&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a52a01e153d000504984c4f0853f002?s=96&d=retro&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Glenn Lee\"},\"description\":\"Glenn Lee is the chief product engineer for Dotcom-Monitor\u2019s LoadView load testing platform. Glenn is an industry expert on load\/stress testing and has appeared on numerous tech publications across the web. When Glenn\u2019s not testing the limits of websites, he enjoys cooking, flying airplanes, and racing motorcycles.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/author\/glenn-lee\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Understanding DNS Record Types and Functions | Dotcom-Tools Blog","description":"If you ever need to troubleshoot your DNS connection,then it\u2019s essential to understand DNS record types. Here are the most common DNS record:","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Understanding DNS Record Types and Functions","og_description":"If you ever need to troubleshoot your DNS connection,then it\u2019s essential to understand DNS record types. Here are the most common DNS record:","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/","og_site_name":"Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotcommonitor","article_published_time":"2018-06-20T18:31:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-17T08:09:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DNS-Record-Types.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@dotcom_monitor","twitter_site":"@dotcom_monitor","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Glenn Lee","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/","name":"Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog","description":"Let's Make the Web a Faster Place.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DNS-Record-Types.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DNS-Record-Types.jpg","width":900,"height":400,"caption":"DNS Record Types and Functions"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/","name":"Understanding DNS Record Types and Functions | Dotcom-Tools Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-06-20T18:31:23+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-17T08:09:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#\/schema\/person\/a18124e28e1b2c8e71f8ddf7d3e38ed4"},"description":"If you ever need to troubleshoot your DNS connection,then it\u2019s essential to understand DNS record types. Here are the most common DNS record:","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/understanding-dns-record-types\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Understanding DNS Record Types and Functions"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#\/schema\/person\/a18124e28e1b2c8e71f8ddf7d3e38ed4","name":"Glenn Lee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a52a01e153d000504984c4f0853f002?s=96&d=retro&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a52a01e153d000504984c4f0853f002?s=96&d=retro&r=pg","caption":"Glenn Lee"},"description":"Glenn Lee is the chief product engineer for Dotcom-Monitor\u2019s LoadView load testing platform. Glenn is an industry expert on load\/stress testing and has appeared on numerous tech publications across the web. When Glenn\u2019s not testing the limits of websites, he enjoys cooking, flying airplanes, and racing motorcycles.","url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/author\/glenn-lee\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16447"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17762,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16447\/revisions\/17762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}