Record Set

Overview

A record set provides information about a domain name, including the IP addresses associated with and how to handle requests for the domain name and its subdomains.

If you have created a zone on the DNS console, you can add record sets to define how you want to route traffic for the domain name or its subdomains.

Table 1 describes the record set types and their application scenarios.

**Table 1** Record set usages
Type	Where to Use	Description
A	Public and private zones	Maps domains to IPv4 addresses.
CNAME	Public and private zones	Maps one domain name to another domain name or multiple domain names to one domain name.
MX	Public and private zones	Maps domain names to email servers.
AAAA	Public and private zones	Maps domain names to IPv6 addresses.
TXT	Public and private zones	TXT record sets are usually used to record the following: DKIM public keys to prevent email fraud The identity of domain name owners to facilitate domain name retrieval
SRV	Public and private zones	Records servers providing specific services.
NS	Public and private zones	Delegates subdomains to other name servers. For public zones, an NS record set is automatically created, and you can add NS record sets for subdomains. For private zones, an NS record set is automatically created, and you cannot add other NS record sets.
SOA	Public and private zones	Identifies the base information about a domain name. The SOA record set is automatically generated by the DNS service and cannot be added manually.
CAA	Public zone	Grants certificate issuing permissions to CAs. CAA record sets can prevent the issuance of unauthorized HTTPS certificates.
PTR	Public and private zones	Maps IP addresses to domain names.

Usage

Record sets are used in following scenarios:

Routing Internet traffic to a website
A and AAAA record sets are usually used to map domain names used by websites to IPv4 or IPv6 addresses of web servers where the websites are deployed.

Figure 1 Accessing a website over the Internet using domain name
Private domain name resolution
On a private network, A and AAAA record sets translate private domain names into private IP addresses.

Figure 2 Private domain name resolution
Email domain name resolution
MX, CNAME, and TXT record sets are usually used for email services.

Figure 3 Email domain name resolution
Reverse resolution on a private network
PTR records translate private IP addresses into private domain names.

Figure 4 Reverse resolution on a private network