Getting Started: What is a DNS Record? : FatCow Knowledgebase

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Getting Started: What is a DNS Record?

Configuring: Configuring the MX record for handling mail via FatCow's mail server for domain hosted elsewhere.

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Domain Registration and Services

Custom DNS Record

Question/Problem
Getting Started: What is a DNS Record?

Answer/Solution
A DNS (Domain NameServer) record (also known as a zone file) is a small set of instructions for resolving specified Internet domain names to the appropriate number form of an Internet Protocol address (an IP address).

Each domain needs to have a DNS record on the machine controlling the IP address on which a domain is hosted (nameserver). The company hosting your domain may or may not be hosting your website.

If you registered your domain through FatCow, your domain is most likely hosted by us. At FatCow, DNS records are located on our nameservers ns1.fatcow.com and ns2.fatcow.com.

A DNS record is basically a list of directions for where to send the web user. The three main types of requests from the user are:

HTTP - Web page requests.

FTP - FTP servers can be directed to the same or a different server than the web requests.

Mail - The email can be sent to the same or a different server than the web requests. The mail entries in a DNS record are also known as MX records.

Updated 05/24/13