An A (Address) record is used to point a domain or subdomain to an IP address. An A (Address) record is one of the most fundamental types of DNS records you can create because it connects an easy-to-remember domain name to an Internet address.
You use an A record, often in combination with a CNAME. You will create a CNAME Record for a domain sub-domain that often (certainly not always) points to the same location as the root domain.
A subdomain is a division or alias of your domain that can organize your existing website into a separate site. Typically, subdomains are used if there is content that is distinct from the rest of the site.
With an A-record, you can only assign an IPv4 address. If you want to designate an IPv6 address, you need to create an AAAA record.
This procedure shows you the steps you need to take to create an A-record. Please note that the domain for which you are doing this is active on ArkHost.
Create an A record
Navigate to Domains, expand the sub-menu, and click on Manage DNS
Click the pencil icon to edit the DNS zone in the DNS Manager.
On the DNS Zone page, scroll down a bit, and click the 'Add Record' button.
Select the record type, and leave the name alone for a naked domain reference (e.g. arkhost.org - as DNS managers do not accept an empty field, you have to use the @ to define an empty name field). Fill in the details (Time-to-live and IP address) and click Add Record.
Add Record Form
The Add Record form contains the following fields:
1. Type: A dropdown menu, currently set to "A" (Address record). There is a help icon (?) next to the label.
2. Name: A text input field, pre-filled with "@". There is a help icon (?) next to the label.
3. TTL (Time To Live): A text input field, pre-filled with "3600". There is a help icon (?) next to the label.
4. Address: A text input field, containing the IP address "144.91.85.5".
At the bottom of the form, there are two buttons:
- Confirm: A green button on the left
- Cancel: A light red button on the right
Verify that the record is created successfully.
Now we've got this in place when someone browses pokemonshop.eu via their web browser.
(IP Address used is an example that does apply to your web hosting package)
You can easily find the IP address of your web hosting product on the product's Overview page. This IP address must be provided as the value for the A-record to point your domain to your web hosting package.