Record Types: A, CNAME, Alias, and More
~10 min read
The common DNS record types you'll actually use, and Route 53's special Alias extension.
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Key points
- •A/AAAA: name to IPv4/IPv6 address directly
- •CNAME: name to another name, extra lookup, cannot be used at the zone apex
- •Alias (Route 53-specific): behaves like A at the apex, no extra lookup, auto-tracks AWS resource IPs
- •MX and TXT serve mail routing and verification/security purposes, not web traffic routing