DNS (Domain Name System)

What is DNS?

DNS (Domain Name System) is the phone book of the Internet: it translates human-readable domain names (like mydomain.ovh) into IP addresses that machines understand. Without it, you would have to remember a string of numbers to reach each website or online service.

At OVHcloud, the DNS configuration of a domain name relies on three building blocks:

• the DNS servers, which host and broadcast your domain's information;
• the DNS zone, the file that gathers all of your records;
• the DNS records, each line associating a name with a value (IP address, mail server, text, etc.).

How does DNS work?

From your domain name down to each record, DNS resolution follows a chain of four links.

The DNS server

DNS servers host and broadcast your domain's information across the Internet. When a user requests your website, they respond by indicating where to find it. By default, your domain uses the OVHcloud DNS servers. Everything you need to know about DNS servers.

Browser

mydomain.ovh ?

203.0.113.10

DNS server

The DNS zone

The DNS zone is the configuration file attached to your DNS servers. It gathers all of your domain's records: this is where you add, edit or delete your entries. Everything you need to know about DNS zone.

Add an entrySearch...All types

	Subdomain	Type	Target	TTL
	@	A	203.0.113.10	Default TTL
	www	CNAME	mydomain.ovh.	Default TTL
	@	MX	1 mx1.mail.ovh.net.	Default TTL
	@	TXT	v=spf1 include:mx.ovh.com ~all	Default TTL

DNS records

Each record is a line in the zone that associates a name with a value: an IP address, a mail server, text, etc. Its type determines its role, shown below by its colour. Select the one you want to configure to open the matching guide.

Manage and secure your DNS