Nslookup
How a DNS lookup travels from a resolver to the authoritative nameserver, with a directory of record types

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How DNS actually works

Every domain leans on a handful of record types. Here is what each one does, what it looks like in a real lookup, and when you would reach for it.

A

A Record

A Records are used to point a logical domain name, such as "google.com", to the IP address of Google's hosting server, "74.125.224.147".

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AAAA

AAAA Record

An AAAA record does the same job as an A record, but points a domain name at an IPv6 address such as "2607:f8b0:4004:c07::71" instead of an IPv4 one.

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CNAME

CNAME Record

A CNAME record is an abbreviation for Canonical Name record and is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System that specifies that the domain name is an alias of another, canonical domain name.

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MX

MX Record

A mail exchanger record (MX record) is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System that specifies a mail server responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of a recipient's domain.

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TXT

TXT Record

Provides the ability to associate some arbitrary and unformatted text with a host or other name. The TXT record is used to define the Sender Policy Framework and DomainKeys Signed Mail.

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NS

NS Record

Name server (NS) records determine which servers will communicate DNS information for a domain. Generally, you will have primary and secondary name server records for your domain.

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SOA

SOA Record

A Start of Authority (SOA) record indicates which DNS server is the best source of information for the domain and contains administrative information about the zone.

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