To access the DNS Manager function, select “Website Management” from the main menu, and select “DNS Manager” from the Website Management menu.
DNS Manager allows you to edit your domain’s zone file, including A (address) records, CNAME (canonical name) records and MX (mail exchange) records. This is a powerful application that should only be used by advanced users and with extreme care. Please read the following information before making any changes to your zone file.
Default Zone File
If you select “Edit Zone File” and click “Next,” your current zone file will be displayed at the top of the screen. By default, your zone file will contain several important records. Any changes to these records may cause serious problems with your website and email performance.
Example: Default Zone File for yourname.com
|
Default Record |
Purpose |
|
IN A 216.251.32.98 |
yourname.com points to 216.251.32.98 |
|
www IN A 216.251.32.98 |
www.yourname.com points to 216.251.32.98 |
|
mail IN A 216.251.32.97 |
mail.yourname.com points to 216.251.32.9 |
|
IN MX 10 mail.megamailservers.com. |
mail will be delivered to mail.megamailservers.com first |
|
IN MX 100 mx2.megamailservers.com. |
mail will be delivered to mx2.megamailservers.com second |
|
IN MX 110 mx3.megamailservers.com. |
mail will be delivered to mx3.megamailservers.com third |
Resource Record Abbreviations
Your domain name is called your “origin.” The origin is appended to all names in the zone file that do not end in a dot. For example, if your domain is yourname.com, the entry “www” in the zone file is equal to “www.yourname.com.” A blank space is equal to “yourname.com.”
A (address) Records
An address record uses the following format to set an IP address to correspond with your domain:
<prefix for domain> IN A <web server IP address>
This determines where someone will be sent when they are looking for your domain. Address records are also typically used with MX records so that “mail.yourname.com” points to the IP address of the mail server that will be accepting email for your domain.
CNAME (canonical name) Records
The canonical name record uses the following format to specify an alias for an existing A (address) record:
<prefix for domain> IN CNAME <existing address record>
Note that an address record maps to an IP address directly, while a canonical name record maps to an IP address indirectly, by referring to existing address records.
Example: CNAME Record for yourname.com
|
Record |
Purpose |
|
www IN A 216.251.32.98 |
www.yourname.com points to 216.251.32.98 |
|
ftp IN CNAME www |
ftp.yourname.com is an alias for www.yourname.com |
|
ssl IN CNAME anotherplace.com. |
ssl.yourname.com is an alias for anotherplace.com |
MX (mail exchange) Records
Like a canonical name record, a mail exchange record must reference an existing address record. Mail exchange records also include an extra parameter called a “preference value” in the following format:
<blank (origin)> IN MX <preference value> <existing address record>
The preference value is a number in the range of 0-65535 that indicates the mail exchanger's priority. Mailers will attempt to deliver mail to the exchanger with the lowest preference value. If delivery fails, the mailer will then attempt to deliver mail to the exchanger with a higher preference value.
In your default zone file, the MX records point to the megamailservers.com domain. The existing address records for these MX records are located in a different zone file. Note that in DNS Manager, the left side of an MX record must be blank, indicating your origin (domain name). Any entry on the left side of an MX record will be ignored.
Please click the “Related Topics” button, and select the action you are considering.