What are DNS, A, AAAA, CNAME, MX and TXT?

DNS (Domain Name System) is a hierarchical naming system that translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses that computers use to identify each other on the internet. DNS servers maintain a database of domain name records that provide information about the domain’s IP address, as well as other related information such as email servers, web servers, and security policies.

Here are the most common types of DNS records:

1. A (Address) record: A type of DNS record that maps a domain name to an IPv4 address. It is used to associate a domain name with a specific IP address. For example, an A record for “example.com” might map to the IP address “192.0.2.1”.
2. AAAA (IPv6 Address) record: A type of DNS record that maps a domain name to an IPv6 address. It is used to associate a domain name with a specific IPv6 address. For example, an AAAA record for “example.com” might map to the IPv6 address “2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334”.
3. CNAME (Canonical Name) record: A type of DNS record that maps one domain name to another. It is used to create an alias for an existing domain name. For example, a CNAME record for “www.example.com” might map to “example.com”.
4. MX (Mail Exchanger) record: A type of DNS record that specifies the mail server responsible for accepting email messages for a domain. It is used to route email messages to the appropriate email server. For example, an MX record for “example.com” might specify “mail.example.com” as the mail server.
5. TXT (Text) record: A type of DNS record that allows you to add arbitrary text to a domain name. It is commonly used to include additional information about a domain name, such as SPF records for email authentication.