Learning center

The TXT record

The TXT or “descriptive text” DNS record type was created to hold human-readable text but now plays a critical role in the prevention of spam on the Internet.

The SOA record

DNS SOA records state that authority for a zone starts at a particular point in the tree of DNS names. Learn how they work and how they impact negative caching.

The NS record

DNS NS records specify the authoritative name server for a domain. Learn how name server record works and how to configure them.

The CNAME record

DNS CNAME records are used to alias or redirect names in DNS. Learn how canonical names work in DNS, and what their restrictions are.

The MX record

The MX or “mail exchange” DNS record type is critical to the delivery of email via SMTP. MX records are used to specify a list of mail servers for a domain.

The A record

The A or “address” DNS record type maps DNS names to IPv4 addresses. Translating names to addresses is one of the most fundamental uses of the DNS.

The AAAA record

The AAAA DNS record type was created to hold IPv6 addresses. AAAA records, pronounced “quad A records” are similar to A records, but hold a 128-bit IPv6 address instead of a 32-bit IPv4 address.

DNS zone delegation

Zone delegation is how a parent zone signals to DNS resolvers that authority for a child zone is served by a different set of servers.

All DNS record types

An overview of all the DNS record types. Each DNS record type is briefly explained, and extensive explanations are available in linked articles.

How does domain name registration work?

Domain registration is the process of making a new DNS zone available on the Internet.

What is the DNS Changer Malware?

The DNS changer malware changed the DNS servers of its victims. It was shut down by the FBI, Estonian police and NASA-OIG in 2011.