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TASK

Parse and understand DNS records

DNS records map domain names to IPs, mail servers, and other data. Learn A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, and SOA record types.

  1. 1

    DNS (Domain Name System) translates domain names to IP addresses. Record types: A (IPv4 address), AAAA (IPv6), CNAME (alias to another name), MX (mail server with priority), TXT (arbitrary text, used for SPF/DKIM/DMARC), NS (name server), SOA (start of authority), PTR (reverse lookup), SRV (service locator).

  2. 2
    IP Address Info →

    Look up an IP address to understand its reverse DNS and network information. This complements DNS forward lookups — given an IP, find the hostname; given a hostname, find the IP.

  3. 3
    URL Parser →

    Parse a domain name from a URL to extract the hostname for DNS lookup. The hostname is what DNS resolves — the URL may include port, path, and query that are not part of DNS.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between A and CNAME?
An A record maps a name directly to an IP address. A CNAME maps a name to another name (alias). Use A records for root domains (example.com) and direct mappings. Use CNAME for aliases (www.example.com → example.com). A name cannot have both A and CNAME records.
What are TXT records used for?
TXT records store arbitrary text, commonly used for: SPF (sender policy framework — which IPs can send email), DKIM (email signing key), DMARC (email policy), domain verification (Google, Microsoft), and MTA-STS. They are the Swiss Army knife of DNS.

Workflows that solve this

Punycode Decode and URL Parse
Decode Punycode domain then parse the full URL.
PIPELINE
URL Decode and Parse
URL-decode then parse the URL into components.
PIPELINE

Learn more

Want to understand why?

How to Build Network Packets
An advanced-level guide covering packet, network, binary. Includes step-by-step instructions, common errors, troubleshooting tips, and security considerations for packet.
TUTORIAL
How to Calculate Netmasks
An intermediate-level guide covering netmask, subnet, ip-address. Includes step-by-step instructions, common errors, troubleshooting tips, and security considerations for netmask.
TUTORIAL
CIDR
CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) expresses a network as IP/prefix length (e.g., 10.0.0.0/8), replacing IPv4 address classes with flexible network partitioning.
GLOSSARY
IP Address
An IP address is the numeric identifier assigned to a network interface—32 bits for IPv4 (four decimal octets) and 128 bits for IPv6 (eight hexadecimal groups)—used for network addressing.
GLOSSARY

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