Glossary
CNAME Record
A CNAME record is a DNS alias that points one hostname to another, so the target resolves the destination name instead of an IP address.
A CNAME record (Canonical Name) creates an alias: it points one hostname at another hostname rather than directly at an IP. The resolver then follows the chain to find the final a-record or aaaa-record.
Example
www.example.com. 3600 IN CNAME example.com.
Here www is an alias for the apex example.com.
Rules and gotchas
- A name with a CNAME cannot carry other records (no separate
mx-recordon the same name). - Classic DNS forbids a CNAME at the zone apex (
example.comitself); providers offer "CNAME flattening" orALIAS/ANAMErecords to work around this.
Why it matters for hosting
CNAMEs are how you point a custom domain at a cdn, a managed platform, or a SaaS endpoint without hard-coding its IP — the provider can change the underlying ip-address freely and your domain keeps working.
See also
A Record
An A record is the DNS entry that maps a domain name to an IPv4 address, telling browsers exactly which server hosts the website.
AAAA Record
An AAAA record maps a domain name to an IPv6 address, the IPv6 equivalent of an A record used for modern internet addressing.
DNS (Domain Name System)
DNS is the internet phone book that translates human-readable domain names like example.com into the IP addresses computers use to connect.
CDN (Content Delivery Network)
A CDN is a worldwide network of edge servers that cache and serve your site close to visitors, cutting latency and absorbing traffic spikes.