What is a DNS A Record?
The 'A' in A record stands for **Address**. It is the most fundamental type of DNS record, creating a direct link between a domain name (like www.example.com) and its corresponding IPv4 address (like 93.184.216.34). When you type a domain name into your web browser, your computer performs a DNS lookup to find the A record, which tells it the IP address of the server to connect to.
Why are A Records Important?
- Website Accessibility: Without a correct A record, browsers and other services cannot locate your website's server on the internet. It's the primary key to making a website reachable.
- Service Pointing: A records are used to point to web servers, FTP servers, and other services hosted on a specific IP address.
- Load Balancing: A single domain can have multiple A records, each pointing to a different IP address. This technique, known as DNS round-robin, can distribute traffic across several servers to improve reliability and performance.
A Record Format
An A record has a simple structure:
[Domain Name] [TTL] IN A [IPv4 Address]
- Domain Name: The hostname, such as
www.example.com or just example.com (the root domain).
- TTL (Time To Live): The duration in seconds that the record can be cached by DNS resolvers. A lower TTL means changes propagate faster.
- IN: Stands for Internet (a standard class for DNS records).
- A: Specifies that this is an Address record.
- IPv4 Address: The 32-bit IP address of the server (e.g.,
192.0.2.1).
Our tool queries DNS servers to find and display these IPv4 addresses for the domain you enter.
