DNS Record Types Explained

DNS is Domain Name system. As the name suggests it is basically a system that has been created to manage the domains. Simply put, Domains are basically the name of the website on which the users are visiting. Although the computers dont understand the human language like english but for the users its very difficult to remember the websites in the computer understandable language. Hence this system got in place which basically converts the name of the website into computer understandable language internally called as IP addresses.

So every website is given an IP address which is nothing but the address where the code of the website is deployed on which server in the world. Just like we humans live in houses and each house has an address associated to it which helps us in identifying the location of that house in the world, we have IP addresses which helps us in identifying the address where our code is deployed/living in the server’s world.

Now there are Different types of different records in DNS and each solve a particular purpose. Let’s see them one by one-

A record : This is basically the record that gives the address where our website have been deployed, so it gives the IP address associated with that domain . its usually a key value pair where key is like “@” and there is value associated to it like 1212.12.12 .The IP that used to be given for A records was IPv4

AAAA record: This is similar like the A record , its just that instead of giving IP of the type IPv4 , we give here IPv6. This we have started doing bcz IPv4 Limit was to reach bcz the number of IP provided reached to its maximum capacity and hence a new version was designed to cater the ever-growing need of the new IP addresses. This also tells the IP address associated with the domain.

NS record: NS record as the name suggest is Name Server record ie it is the one who handles the authority of your domain. Let’s say you bought your domain from hostinger for your website but when you wrote the frontend and the backend of your website and wanted to deploy it to make it live, You realised that i dont want to use hostinger server's for deployment instead you want to deploy them on Vercel server bcz they provide you CDN and also ssl certificate ie security related stuffs which otherwise you would have to do by yourself by implementing nginx, firewall etc, so in order to skip that headache u chose to use vercel as they are free and at the same time provide the security features that otherwise u would have implemented by yourself whihch again is a tedious job, so u chose vercel. Now since u have bought the domain from the hostinger u need to go to hostinger account and go to dns records of your purchased domain and there update the ns record given by vercel. This basically tells the whole internet that "Hey, hostinger isn't the boss of this domain anymore, go ask Vercel where the website is." So it doesn't host the code itself, it just points to the "manager" (Vercel) who knows where the code is living. This is pro customer as customer is having complete freedom on which service to use for deploying the code .

CNAME: This is the record that gives the owner the option to add aliases, like multiple subdomains can be added on a single domain. So it gives the customer this ability to put different different names and they all will be internally pointing to the server having code of domain that is hosted on the server, so no matter which name is hit on the domain name internally the domain inside which the CNAME is given, only that domain will open up.

MX record: these records are essential for receiving the mails that are linked to a particular domain. This is best used for the case when we have Professional emails that don’t end with @gmail.com or @zohomail etc instead they end with the domain name, example the domain gaurangpods.com has an official mail as consultant@gaurangpods.com, so in order to receive mails at this mail, we will have to update the MX records at the DNS records section where we have purchased the domain for our website.

TXT record: TXT record is a type of DNS record that is used to store extra information about a domain. This information is mostly meant for verification and security purposes rather than for directly opening a website. For example, when you want to connect services like Google Search Console, email providers, or any third-party tool with your domain, they often ask you to add a TXT record. By doing this, you are basically proving that you are the real owner of the domain.

TXT records are also used for email security. Things like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are added as TXT records to tell other mail servers that emails coming from your domain are genuine and allowed. So when an email is sent from your domain, the receiving server checks these TXT records to verify whether the email should be trusted or not. In simple words, TXT records act like an ID proof for your domain on the internet.

How all DNS records work together for one website:

For a single website, multiple DNS records work together, each solving a different problem. When a user types your website name in the browser, the first thing that happens is that the browser checks the NS record to know which name server is responsible for your domain. That name server is the one that has all the correct DNS information for your website.

Once the correct name server is found, it then looks at the A record or AAAA record to find the actual IP address where your website is hosted. If your domain is using aliases or subdomains, the CNAME record helps in pointing those names to the main domain without needing separate IP addresses. If someone is trying to send an email to your domain, the MX record tells the internet which mail server should receive those emails. At the same time, TXT records sit in the background to help verify domain ownership and ensure that emails and services linked to the domain are trusted.

So instead of thinking of DNS as a single setting, it is better to think of it as a small system where each record has a specific role. Together, they make sure that your website opens correctly, your emails get delivered properly, and your domain stays secure and verified on the internet.