Common DNS Terms and Definitions

A Record

Points your domain or subdomain to an IP address (the “street address” of your website).

Example:
yourstudio.com → 104.26.3.2

CNAME Record

Points a subdomain (like www) to another domain name instead of an IP address.

Example:
www.yourstudio.com → yourstudio.com

MX Record (Mail Exchange)

Tells the internet where to deliver email sent to your domain.

Example:
If you use PhotoBiz Mailbox, your MX records point to Rackspace mail servers.

TXT Record

Stores plain text used for verification or email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

Examples:

• Verifying your domain with Google

• Connecting to Facebook Business

• SPF record for email reputation

Nameservers

Nameservers control where your DNS is managed.

Examples:

• If your nameservers point to PhotoBiz AWS, you manage DNS inside your PhotoBiz account.

• If your nameservers point to GoDaddy, DNS updates must be made at GoDaddy.

TTL (Time To Live)

Tells how long DNS records are cached before the internet checks for updates again.

Example:
A TTL of 3600 = changes may take up to 1 hour to fully update.