DNS Records Explained: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT and NS

Published 2026-11-01 · 8 min read

You bought a domain for your business, your host asked you to "add some DNS records", and now you are staring at a table full of A, CNAME, MX, TXT and something called TTL, unsure what to touch and what to leave alone. This guide gives you DNS records explained one by one in plain language, with real examples, the mistakes that take a website or mailbox offline, and a table of exactly what you need to connect your domain to Orderatk.

What is DNS, and why do DNS records matter?

DNS is the internet's phone book. People remember names like clinic-mansoura.com, but computers talk to numeric addresses like 87.98.131.73. When someone types your domain into a browser, their device asks DNS servers "what is the address for this name?", and the answer comes from the records you published.

The domain itself is just a name registered to you at your domain registrar. Your website and email live on hosting servers. DNS records are the bridge: they tell the world where the website is, where mail should be delivered and who may send mail in your name. If the difference between a domain and hosting is still fuzzy, read domain vs hosting explained first.

Every record has four parts:

Type: A, CNAME, MX, TXT and so on.
Name (Host): the part before your domain. @ means the bare domain itself; www means www.yourcompany.com.
Value (Points to): the address or text the record holds.
TTL: how long the answer is cached, explained below.

A record: your website's address

An A record maps a name to an IPv4 address, the numeric address of a server. It is the single most important record for a website. An A record on @ with the value 87.98.131.73 sends anyone typing yourcompany.com to that server.

One name should not have two A records pointing at two different hosts; visitors would be split randomly between the old and the new site. When you move, edit the existing record instead of adding a second one.

AAAA record: the same idea for IPv6

An AAAA record does the A record's job for longer IPv6 addresses (such as 2001:db8::1). The classic trap: you move your site and update the A record, but an old AAAA record still points at the previous host, so some visitors, often on mobile networks with IPv6, see the old site or an error. Rule of thumb: if your new host has not given you an IPv6 address, delete any old AAAA record.

CNAME record: an alias

A CNAME points to another name rather than a number. For example www points to yourname.orderatkeg.com; if the server address ever changes, you do not need to edit anything because the target name follows it automatically.

You cannot put a CNAME on the bare domain (@), because the root also needs MX and TXT records. That is why the root uses an A record and www uses a CNAME.
A name holding a CNAME cannot hold any other record. If www already has an A record, delete it before adding the CNAME.

MX record: where your email is delivered

The MX record tells the world which server receives mail for your domain. Without it, nothing reaches info@yourcompany.com. Each MX has a priority number and lower numbers are tried first. At Orderatk the value is mail.orderatkeg.com with priority 10.

An MX value must be a host name, not an IP address, and old MX records from your current provider must be removed after a move, otherwise mail is split between providers and some of it goes missing. Setting up mailboxes for the first time? How to create an email with your company name walks through it.

TXT record: verification and protection

A TXT record holds free text, but in practice it has a few specific jobs:

SPF: the list of servers allowed to send as you, starting with v=spf1.
DKIM: the public key that verifies your signed messages, on a name like s1._domainkey.
DMARC: your policy for forged mail, on the name _dmarc.
Ownership proof: services like Google Search Console may ask you to add a TXT record to prove the domain is yours.

Several TXT records on the same name are perfectly normal (for example SPF plus a Search Console verification). What is not allowed is more than one SPF record.

Why you must never have two SPF records

Business owners often add a new service, such as an invoicing app or a newsletter tool, which asks for an SPF record, so they create a second record starting with v=spf1. The standard says two SPF records make the whole check fail, and suddenly all your mail starts landing in spam. Merge them into one instead:

v=spf1 include:_spf.orderatkeg.com include:spf.other-service.example ~all

We cover this in depth, along with DKIM and DMARC, in emails going to spam? SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained.

NS records: who manages your DNS at all?

NS (name server) records decide which provider holds all the DNS records for your domain. Usually that is your domain registrar, and that is where you add A, MX and the rest. If you change the NS to another provider, every existing record stops mattering and must be recreated at the new provider.

Many people get caught here: someone tells them to "change the nameservers" to launch a website, the website starts working, and email quietly stops because MX and SPF were never recreated. With Orderatk you do not need to change nameservers at all; a handful of records added wherever you manage DNS today is enough.

TTL and propagation: why changes are not instant

TTL (time to live) is a number of seconds telling resolvers how long to cache an answer before asking again. A TTL of 3600 is one hour, so after you change an A record some visitors may keep seeing the old address for up to an hour.

This delay is called propagation. Most changes show up within minutes to a few hours; some internet providers lag longer, and nameserver changes in particular can take more time. Before any move:

A day ahead, lower the TTL of the records you will change to something small like 300 seconds.
Make the change at a quiet time, for example late at night.
Once everything is stable, raise the TTL again.

To check for yourself, run nslookup yourcompany.com on Windows, dig yourcompany.com A on Linux or Mac, or use any online DNS lookup tool.

Website and email with different providers? No problem

DNS records are independent. A and CNAME decide where the website lives; MX, SPF and DKIM decide where email lives. You can keep your website with your current host and move only email to Orderatk business email, or the other way round.

Simple rule: when moving the website, do not touch MX or mail records. When moving email, do not touch A or CNAME. Changing nameservers is the only action that moves everything at once, which is why we avoid it.

The real DNS records to connect your domain to Orderatk

These are the records for a website and email on Orderatk. Replace yourname with your account name. The DKIM value is unique to your domain, so copy it from the control panel.

Purpose	Type	Name	Value
Website (root)	A	@	87.98.131.73
Website (www)	CNAME	www	yourname.orderatkeg.com
Incoming mail	MX	@	mail.orderatkeg.com (priority 10)
SPF	TXT	@	v=spf1 include:_spf.orderatkeg.com ~all
DKIM	TXT	s1._domainkey	Copy from the control panel
DMARC	TXT	_dmarc	Copy from the control panel

After adding the two website records, open Websites, then Domains in the panel and press "Check now". Once the records are confirmed, a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate is issued and renewed automatically, and if your site runs WordPress its URL is moved to the new domain automatically. The full walkthrough is on connect your domain.

You do not need a domain to start: sign-up gives you a free yourname.orderatkeg.com address that works immediately over HTTPS, so you can build first and connect the domain when ready.

Common DNS mistakes and how to avoid them

Typing the domain twice: many registrar panels append the domain automatically, so entering www.yourcompany.com as the name creates www.yourcompany.com.yourcompany.com. Enter just www.
Putting http:// in the value: values are names or numbers only, with no protocol and no trailing slash.
Leaving an old A record next to the new one: replace, do not add.
Deleting MX by accident while tidying up, so email stops and nobody notices for days.
Pasting a truncated DKIM key: the value is long and some panels cut it off; make sure the full text is there.
Impatience: editing a record again five minutes later because "it did not work". Give propagation time.

A real-world example: a clinic in Mansoura

A dental clinic in Mansoura had an old domain, an outdated website and a mailbox on the domain that reception used to send appointment confirmations. It wanted a new site with a booking form and a WhatsApp button. Here is what it did:

Built the new site on the free clinic.orderatkeg.com address with the website builder and checked it on mobile.
Changed the A record on @ to 87.98.131.73, added the CNAME on www and deleted an old AAAA record.
Left MX and SPF untouched, so email kept working with no interruption.
Pressed "Check now", the SSL certificate was issued, and the site went live on the domain over HTTPS.

A month later the clinic moved email too: it updated MX and SPF and added DKIM and DMARC, without touching the website records.

Summary

DNS records are not complicated once you know each one's job: A and AAAA for addresses, CNAME for aliases, MX for incoming mail, TXT for verification and protection, NS for who manages it all, and TTL for caching time. Edit rather than duplicate, and move website and email separately if you prefer.

If you are putting together a website for your business with email on your own domain in one place, the Orderatk panel shows every record you need, ready to copy. See plans and pricing and start with the free trial.

FAQ

What is the difference between an A record and a CNAME?

An A record points directly to a numeric IP address, while a CNAME points to another name and follows its address automatically. Use A for the root domain and CNAME for www.

How long does DNS propagation take?

Most changes appear within minutes to a few hours depending on the TTL. Some providers lag longer, and nameserver changes can take more time.

Can my website and email be with different providers?

Yes. A and CNAME records decide where the website lives, while MX, SPF and DKIM decide where email lives, and they are independent.

Do I need to change nameservers to connect my domain to Orderatk?

No. Adding A and CNAME records for the website, and MX and TXT records for email, wherever you manage DNS today is enough.

Why did my email stop after changing nameservers?

Changing nameservers moves management of all records to a new provider. If MX and SPF are not recreated there, incoming mail stops.

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