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DNS overview

Domain name system

A DNS (Domain Naming System) is a distributed system that resolves a host domain to an IP address. In other words, it's a database that matches domain names against IP addresses. Under the hood, it involves a huge number of servers interacting using a specific protocol.

In practice, after you open the "example.com" page in your browser, a set of actions will start:

  • Your browser appeals to a DNS server to get an IP address of "example.com"

  • A DNS server provides your browser with an IP address: X.X.X.X (where X is a number)

  • Your browser makes an HTTP request to X.X.X.X

  • A server X.X.X.X sends an HTTP response to your browser

With our DNS hosting service, you can delegate the management of domain resource records to the authoritative servers.com name servers.

DNS Records

The key entity operating within the DNS system is a DNS record. A DNS record is set of instructions, stored on a DNS server, providing information about a domain. 

  • A record - an address record that links a domain name and IPv4 address

  • AAAA record - an address record that links a domain name and IPv6 address

  • ALIAS record – a record that points a domain to a hostname but not an IP address

  • CNAME record – a canonical name record server for redirection to another domain name

  • MX record – a record that points to mail exchange servers for the domain

  • NS record - a name server record that defines DNS servers for the domain

  • PTR record - a reverse DNS record that links an IP address to a canonical name (used in mailing to reduce spam)

  • SOA record - a Start of Authority record points to administrative data about your domain zone

  • SRV record -  a server selection record is intended to point servers for services like Jabber or Active Directory

  • TXT record -  a free text associated with the domain

Health checks

The servers.com customer portal allows you to set up a domain health check using one of the following protocols:

  • HTTP

  • HTTPS

  • Telnet

  • ICMP

Price

The servers.com DNS service and its features are completely free.

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