DNS record types explained simply

Updated 10/23/2026

DNS is the internet's address book: it translates domain names into IP addresses and routes services. Here are the record types you will use most.

A and AAAA

Link a domain to an IP address. A for IPv4, AAAA for IPv6.

example.com.       A       203.0.113.10
example.com.       AAAA    2001:db8::10

An alias that points one name to another name (not directly to an IP):

www.example.com.   CNAME   example.com.

Tells where email for the domain is delivered:

example.com.       MX  10  mail.example.com.

Free text, used for verification and email security (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), see SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.

Points to the name servers that manage the domain. You set these at the registrar when you move DNS (for example to Cloudflare).

To link a domain to your server, see How to point a domain to your VPS.

EU cloud servers, billed hourly, ready in minutes, with one-click installs for dozens of apps.

Find your public IP address in a second and your local IP from Settings, Command Prompt or PowerShell, on Windows 10 and 11.

Find your public and local IP address on Linux: ip addr, hostname -I, GNOME Settings and the right way on a headless server.

Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC so your emails reach the inbox, not spam.