What are DNS Records?
DNS (Domain Name System) is the internet's phone book. It translates human-readable domain names (like example.com) into machine-readable IP addresses.
Common Record Types
| Type | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points domain to an IPv4 address | 93.184.216.34 |
| AAAA | Points domain to an IPv6 address | 2606:2800:220:1:: |
| CNAME | Alias — points to another domain | www → example.com |
| MX | Mail server for the domain | 10 mail.example.com |
| NS | Nameservers that manage the domain | ns1.provider.com |
| TXT | Text data (SPF, DKIM, verification) | v=spf1 include:... |
What can DNS records tell you?
- Where the site is hosted — A records point to the server
- Who handles email — MX records show the mail provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.)
- Who manages DNS — NS records reveal the DNS provider (Cloudflare, Route53, etc.)
- Security configuration — TXT records contain SPF, DKIM, and DMARC policies