AAAA record facts for kids
An AAAA record is like a special entry in the internet's phonebook, the Domain Name System. It helps your computer find websites and online services by translating a website's name, like "example.com", into a unique address called an IP address. Specifically, an AAAA record gives you an IPv6 address, which is a very long, unique number for a device connected to the internet.
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What is an AAAA Record?
An AAAA record is a key part of how the internet works. When you type a website name, like "google.com", into your browser, your computer needs to find the actual server where that website lives. It does this by looking up the website's IP address. An AAAA record provides the IPv6 version of this address.
How Does the Internet Find Websites?
Imagine the internet as a giant city. Every house (website server) has a street address (IP address). But people remember names better than numbers. So, we use names like "wikipedia.org" instead of a long number.
The Domain Name System (DNS) is like the city's phonebook or directory. When you type a website name, your computer asks the DNS for the correct IP address. This is how your browser knows where to go.
IP Addresses: The Internet's Street Numbers
There are two main types of IP addresses used today:
- IPv4 addresses are shorter, like 192.168.1.1.
- IPv6 addresses are much longer, like 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334.
IPv6 addresses are newer and can handle many more devices. An AAAA record specifically gives you an IPv6 address. It's a 128-bit number, which means it can represent a huge number of unique addresses.
How AAAA Records Work
When you try to visit a website, your computer first checks the DNS. If the website uses IPv6, the DNS will look for an AAAA record. This record tells your computer the exact IPv6 address for that website.
For example, if you want to visit www.example.com, the AAAA record might point to the IPv6 address 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:0000:3257:9652. If you wanted to send an email to mail.example.com, another AAAA record could point to 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:0000:3257:9653. This way, different parts of a website or service can have their own unique IPv6 addresses.
Many websites and internet services are now using IPv6. This helps the internet grow and connect even more devices around the world. AAAA records are essential for this modern internet to function smoothly.
Related pages
External Links
- The domain name RFC
