From what we know, there are a lot of DNS record types. They are a critical component of the Domain Name System process. In this article, we will define them and discuss which types of records are most important.
DNS record – what is it?
DNS records are text instructions kept in zone files that allow domain names to be resolved to IP addresses (A record and AAAA record). They are very light and simple to edit (if necessary) and depend on the type of query. In view of the fact that computers are not human, they use records to understand and read texts. That is, they convert the written file into numbers that machines can interpret.
Most popular DNS record types
As noted previously, there are numerous types of records. Each of them serves a distinct purpose that is required for the normal operation of your Domain Name System (DNS). We will look at five of the most important ones, which are as follows:
- SOA record – The DNS zone’s administrative information is contained in the Start of Authority (SOA) record. This is the point at which authority begins. It contains the primary name server as well as zone-wide parameters. When performing a DNS zone transfer, people are concerned with it. Each domain must have an SOA record because it serves as the foundation for every zone file.
- A record – The A record is also known as the address record, is the simplest and most common type of record. Its distinctive feature is that it directs the domain to an IPv4 address. When a user requests a domain name(for example, www.exampleDNS.com), the A record must be exact in order to display the correct IP address. As a result, the A record converts the domain name www.exampleDNS.com to an IP address 21.23.56.234
- PTR record – Now that we know what an A record is, we can say that a PTR, or Pointer record, is the inverse of the procedure mentioned above. That is, it uses the IP address to determine whether or not it has a reverse zone. А pointer record contains information about the reverse IP address(in our example above, it would look like this: 234.56.23.321.in-addr.arpa). With PTR it makes sure that messages we send to targeted users don’t end up in their spam folder.
- MX Record – The mail exchanger DNS record identifies which mail server is responsible for accepting emails for the domain. It contains information for the domain name, the TTL(Time to live), the type (MX), the mail receiving server, and the mail priority. There can be one or more Mail Exchange records in a zone.
- CNAME Record – The CNAME record shows an actual, canonical domain name for the domain or subdomain, not an IP address. Its distinguishing feature is that it is self-contained and cannot be combined with other records. For example, it could map www.exampleDNS.com to the actual website exampleDNS.com.
Conclusion
As you may have concluded, different types of records make your business easier to operate. If you want your users to easily access your website, receive your emails, etc., you need to have DNS records. Furthermore, they instruct servers on how to respond to a DNS query. We can deduce that they are an important element of all the Domain Name System.