Each DNS zone contains a number of records. These records are requested when a computer translates a domain name (like www.example.com) to an IP number. Web browsers, mail clients, and other network applications rely on zone records to contact the correct server.
Primary zone records are queried by others across the Internet so they can connect to your network services.
Several types of DNS records are available for configuration using the Server app:
DNS record | Description |
|---|---|
Address (A) | Stores the IP address associated with a domain name. |
Canonical Name (CNAME) | Stores an alias in connection with the real name of a server. For example, mail.example.com might be an alias for a computer with a real canonical name of MailSrv473.example.com. |
Mail Exchanger (MX) | Stores the domain name of the computer used for mail in a zone. |
Name Server (NS) | Stores the authoritative name server for a zone. |
Pointer (PTR) | Stores the domain name of an IP address (reverse lookup). |
Text (TXT) | Stores a text string as a response to a DNS query. |
Service (SRV) | Stores information about the services a computer provides. |
Hardware Info (HINFO) | Stores information about a computer’s hardware and software. |
OS X Server simplifies the creation of these records by focusing on the computer being added to the zone, rather than the records. When you add a computer record to a zone, OS X Server creates the zone records that resolve to a computer address. With this model, you can focus on what your computers do in your domain, rather than which record types apply to their functions.