Understanding DNS Records: How the Internet Finds Your Website

Amardeep Kumar — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 13:02:18 GMT

Introduction

This blog explains how a browser knows where a website lives. We use websites every day, but we rarely think about how a website actually loads or what happens behind the scenes.

When we type google.com, the browser doesn’t understand names, Computers and networks only understand numbers (IP addresses).

What is DNS?

DNS (Domain Name System) is like the phonebook of the internet. We usually think that when we type a website name (Domain name) into the browser, the browser directly loads the website.
But the browser cannot load a website by name.

After typing the domain name, the browser first goes to DNS and asks: What is the IP address of this domain?

DNS replies with the IP address of the website, and only then the browser can connect to the server.

A real-life example:

When you want to call someone, you type a name, not a number.
But your phone does not understand names, it actually calls the phone number saved behind that name.

The same thing happens on the internet.

Browser understands: 142.250.206.14
Humans understand: google.com

google.com → 142.250.206.14

You don’t need to remember IP addresses, DNS handles everything internally.

Why DNS records are needed

DNS does not use only for searching the IP addresses. A domain name needs many different instructions:

Where the website is hosted
Which server handles emails
How security and verification work
How traffic can be distributed (load balancing)

What Are DNS Records?

A DNS record is a set of rules or instructions. These instructions tell the DNS server what to do with a domain. You can think of DNS records as entries inside the internet’s phonebook.

Just simple comparison:

A phonebook entry contains some record like

Name
Phone number

Same thing with DNS records, it contains

Domain or subdomain name
Record type (A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, etc.)
IP address or server name
TTL (how long the record is cached)

Each record solves some specific problem. That’s why DNS records are needed. Now explain each record one by one.

What is an NS Record?

NS (Name Server) record – NS record doesn’t give an IP of a Domain name. It tells which DNS server is responsible for that Domain. without NS DNS doesn’t know whom to ask. it is a first step in DNS resolution.

Real-Life Example:

Imagine a society with many buildings. If you want any information about that society, you first ask: Where is the society office?

The society office doesn’t give you the flat number directly, but it tells you where to get the correct details. That’s exactly what an NS record does.

What is an A Record?

An A record stores the exact address of a website. It connects a domain name to an IPv4 address.

After DNS finds the A record, the browser finally knows where to go to load the website.

In simple words: domain name → IPv4 address

what is IPv4?

IPv4 stands for internet protocol version 4. it uses 32 bits, which means it can create: 2³² ≈ 4.3 billion IP addresses.

That’s why IPv4 addresses looks like this: 142.250.206.14

What is an AAAA Record?

An AAAA record works exactly like an A record, but it stores an IPv6 address instead of an IPv4 address.

In simple terms: domain name → IPv6 address

The only difference between A and AAAA records is the IP version.

What is IPv6?

IPv6 stands for internet protocol version 6. it uses 128 bits, which means it create: 2^128 IP addresses. This number is extremely large, So IPv6 addresses are considered almost infinite.

And the format of IPv6 addresses looks like this: 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334

What is a CNAME Record?

A CNAME (Canonical Name) record points one domain name to another domain name. It does not point to an IP address. it tells DNS: This name is an alias of another name.

In simple terms: one domain → another domain → IP address

Why is CNAME Record Used?

CNAME records are useful when multiple domain names should point to the same website.

If the main domain’s IP address changes, you only update the A record of the main domain.
All subdomains using CNAME will automatically work without any change.

For example:

example.com -> 142.250.206.14
example2.com -> CNAME -> example.com
www.example.com -> CNAME -> example.com

It used for easy DNS management.

What is an MX Record?

An MX (Mail Exchange) record is used only for emails. It has no direct relation to loading a website. The MX record tells the internet which mail server should receive emails for a domain.

In simple words: If someone sends an email to this domain, where should it go?

How MX Record Works

When an email is sent to an address like: user@example.com

The email system:

Checks the MX record of example.com
Finds the mail server address
Delivers the email to that server

Even if the IP address changes, emails will still go to the correct mail server. MX records control email delivery, not websites.

What is a TXT Record?

A TXT record is plain text that contains some information about the domain. There is no relation to loading a website.

It is mainly used to share extra information about the domain with other services, especially for security and verification purposes.

It used for:

Domain verification
Email security
Ownership proof

How all DNS records work together for one website

For a particular domain each DNS record work something. and they work together; each record solves one specific question about the domain.