Find DNS Records: Check Domain Name System Records Online

Introduction

But how does it exactly work? What are DNS Records? And how can I look them up?

The Toolibex Find DNS Records tool was created with a sole purpose: to check DNS records of any domain in a reliable, quick, and trustworthy way. The tool can help you if you are having issues with your website or emails and you have no idea why. It can provide you with some answers.

Knowing the DNS, and specifically DNS Records can help you understand why emails are not reaching the destination, or something similar, like your domain name is redirected to a different page and not your website. You need to be aware of what your domain is actually saying about you to the internet. We can guide you through this discovery process and show you what to do next.

About the Find DNS Records tool

The purpose of the Find DNS Records tool is straightforward: to help you check DNS records of your domain. The records contain information and instructions that the domain provides for use in a multitude of ways. For instance, if you want to look up a particular domain and the result shows some strange entries, such as your domain pointing to a different IP address or your website being under a suspicious hosting, the tool can help you take care of it.

Website owners and managers frequently use it to make sure that their site works properly. The same can be said about site developers, network administratores, SEO specialists, and email admins. They check the DNS records and make sure there are no errors that could affect their work. It can also be used to look up the domain’s IP address, nameservers, email hosting, and website name validation.

Here are some of the basic things you can check with the Free DNS Lookup tool:

• What is the DNS A record of my website?
• What does my name server (NS) indicate?
• What is the MX record of the domain?
• What DNS AAAA record does the domain have?
• And much more.

The specific tool depends on the particular DNS records check you are going to make. It really is useful to look over all the information provided that is relevant to the domain.

DNS Lookup: Types of Records

It is necessary to understand the language the DNS speaks in. Every record has a unique function; it is indicated by an abbreviation. Let’s take a look at some basic DNS records and see what they mean:

A record:

An A record is associated with an IPv4 address. It is usually used to indicate the web server that the domain is pointing, to show the location of the host. Having a wrong IP address in the record can result in the website redirecting differently or not working at all. This might be a case if one has chosen to set up a CDN (Content Delivery Network), or they are using a particular web host.

AAAA record:

The IPv6 address that the host is associated with. The AAAA records have the same functionality as A records.

CNAME record:

This record stands for Canonical Name. It is used to establish aliases, which usually point to other names rather than IP addresses. It is important to ensure that the target hostname is valid as well.

MX record:

An MX record is associated with the Mail eXchange, and it establishes the servers to which the emails sent to the domain will be delivered. They can also define the priority levels if there are multiple MX records for the domain. Having incorrect MX records will result in emails being delivered to a different server than intended.

TXT record:

TXT records can have various functions. In most cases, they are used to store text information relevant to a specific domain. They are often employed to indicate possession of a particular domain, usually for emails: TXT records can provide SPF, DKIM specifications, or they can show authorization to use the DMARC standard. Their use case is not limited to that: some organizations utilize TXT records to store any additional information.

NS record:

NS stands for Name Server – in the DNS configuration, these specify which Nameservers are responsible for a certain zone. They are important to set up properly, as they allow to provide the correct DNS information further down the line.

SOA record:

SOA means “Start of Authority”. It stores certain administrative information regarding the zone. Among other things, it can be used to locate the authoritative nameserver of the zone.

Examples of the Tool’s Common Uses

Example 1: Migration support

A business decided to migrate to a new website. They had to update some of their DNS entries, but after making all the changes, their emails stopped working for some users. Website admins decided to use Free DNS Hosting Lookup tool to see what the problem was. They saw that the A and AAAA records pointed to an unexpected location, which resulted in the emails not being delivered. After they double-checked and made sure all the DNS records looked valid, they found out that the records did change, but the nameserver pointed to the old location (they updated the A records but not the AAAA). Once this issue was resolved, the emails started working for everyone.

Example 2: DNS entry verification

A company changed their domain and started getting lots of complaints about not receiving any emails. They used the MX records lookup tool to make sure they configured everything correctly. There was a discrepancy between the expected configuration and the actual outcome – in particular, the DNS configuration listed the servers that were no longer compatible with the email service. After verifying that the problem was in the MX records, they were able to make the necessary adjustments and fix the issue.

Example 3: Website redirection and validation

A person received an email from a popular website saying that they need to update their website address. When the user went to their current website, it simply redirected them to another page. The users were concerned about this behavior – after all, it could mean that they have been hacked. Fortunately, a simple DNS lookup tool identified there is another reason why a website would redirect – in this particular case, the CNAME records pointed there instead of the A record.

Example 4: Troubleshooting DNS issues

A person had to work with a particular set of servers, but their DNS information did not point at that location, which caused confusion on both sides. One server claimed the domain name was redirected somewhere else, which was causing the connection to fail. A single look at the SOA records confirmed that this was actually an expected procedure: another server was responsible for the DNS records at this moment and, consequently, it did not know about the changes.

Quick How-to Guide

First of all, make sure you are looking at the correct record: for instance, make sure you have a valid domain name, or that the Host record has been specified correctly. There are several key aspects to consider when learning how to look up DNS records.

What to look at

When trying to determine how to run a DNS lookup, you should have a good idea what you are looking for. One type of DNS record can help you troubleshoot DNS issues and email configuration problems, whereas another record might help you with domain name registration concerns.

If you are not sure if anything is wrong, double-check with another resolver, and make sure that it is not caching the old information. Another option is to simply verify that your configuration looks okay.

Interpreting the results

Most DNS lookup results are relatively intuitive to understand: they specify an IPv4 or IPv6 address, a website server location, an email server, or another record.

However, make sure that the result corresponds to what you were expecting to see. If the email says to deliver it to Server A, but the MX records say otherwise, double-check the information and make sure that you have entered everything correctly. If the tool returns an unexpected result in any other case, it is a good idea to make sure that an issue actually exists before trying to find out what is wrong.

The DNS information can be misleading or incomplete, and it is not always an accurate source of truth.

DNS Records: Tips and Tricks

When running a DNS lookup and examining the result, it is important to keep in mind several vital details, such as the following:

• Make sure you are examining the right domain and name. The Host record should also match the website or the email server you are trying to access
• Make sure you are looking at the right DNS record. In other words, make sure that you are using the correct DNS lookup tool and that it specifies the right types of records.
• Be aware that information might get cached at some point, at which point you might get incorrect information for up to several days. This is a normal occurrence, and it is why some changes take time before they propagate throughout the DNS system
• Verify that the right nameservers are used. Another important thing to note is that you need to make the changes at the provider used for the zone
• Make sure you copy the information correctly, as typos and incorrect notations can lead to configuration errors
• Be mindful that in some cases DNS cannot provide a complete truth on the matter – sometimes, extra diagnostics are required
• Separate configuration and functionality: In particular, DNS is not directly involved in how your website works – even if the website address is correct, it might still fail due to an error on the server side
• In a similar manner, emails are handled by multiple components that all have to work together. Make sure that your emails work properly by using the correct tools to check the SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings, in addition to the MX records