There are a variety of differnt DNS Resource Records. What are they and when do you use one or the other? Keep reading!
When working with Active Directory there are certain record types you need to be familiar with.
Start of Authority (SOA) records are used to identify the primary name server for the domain. This record also sets such parameters as expiration times and TTL as well as the settings required for zone transfers.
Host (A) records are used to identify the IP address for a host. These are the most common type of resource record and can be created manually or clients can register themselves with DNS with Dynamic DNS registration.
Mail eXchanger (MX) records are used to identify email servers. You would normally create an MX record on your external DNS server(s) to help external resources locate the mail server(s) for your domain.
Name Server (NS) records identify the name servers for the domain.
Pointer (PTR) records are the opposite of Host (A) records. They are used to specify the hostname for a specified IP address.
Canonical Name (CNAME) records are also referred to as aliases. They are used to specify an alternate name for a host in the domain.
i.e.
webmail CNAME owa.thelazyadmin.lab
owa A 10.0.0.20
Service Locator (SRV) records are used to locate services, like Domain Controllers, in a domain. These are the most important records required for AD to function.
For more information see:
The Lazyadmin's DNS Tips