Section One • A records and Cnames

The next type of record is the A record, sometimes called a host, which directs hosts and domain names to the numeric IP addresses that a computer needs to find the servers. These records are very simple, consisting only of the domain name or host being defined on the left, and the "IN A" designation which tells us what kind of record we are looking at followed by the IP which that name points to.



The other main record involved in DNS is the Cname, otherwise known as an alias. Rather than pointing a name to an IP, these records point a name to another name, so that in effect both names point to the same IP address. These are structured the same way as the A record, except instead of an IP on the right you will have a hostname, and the designation will be "IN CNAME."



These are the records which direct requests to the correct machine. The nameservers look to the zone file and see what record is there for it. If there is an A record the nameserver returns that IP and the computer making the request contacts the machine at that IP. If there is a Cname, the nameservers look to the host pointed to by the Cname and find its A record, and return that IP. If there is neither, or if the name pointed to by the Cname does not have an A record associated, the servers will return an error.

 





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