In order to find resources on the network, computers need a

system to look up the location of resources. This video looks at

the DNS records that contain information about resources and
services on the network. The client can request these records
from a DNS server in order to locate resources like web sites,
Active Directory Domains and Mail Servers just to name a few.

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In this video
This video will look at the following DNS records:
Host (A and AAAA): Contains IP Addresses for IPv4 and IPv6
hosts
Alias (CNAME): Works just like a shortcut for files except for DNS
records.
Mail Exchange (MX): Holds the address of mail servers for that
domain.
Service Record (SRV): Holds the address of services on the
network. E.g. Active Directory DCs.
Start of Authority (SOA): Contains information and configuration
for a zone file.
Name Server (NS): Contain the address of other DNS servers for
that zone.
Pointer (PTR): Reverse look up record allowing a hostname for
an IP Address to be look up.

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Host (A and AAAA)

The host record is used to store the address of a hostname. A
is used for IPv4 and AAAA (Quad A) for IPv6. These can be
created manually in DNS or if dynamic DNS is enabled and the
client can register its hostname and thus its IP Address with the
DNS server.

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Alias (CName)
A canonical name or CName record provides an alias service in
DNS. A CName effectively points to another A or Quad A record.
When the client requests the hostname that is contained in the
CName, they are given the IP Address that is contained in the A
record or Quad A record. The advantage of a CName is that it
can provide a simple name to the user rather than a more
complex server name. For example, instead of having to
remember FS27 for the local file server, a CName of FS could be
used to point towards the server FS27. CNames can also be
used to transparently redirect network traffic. For example, if
you changed you mind and wanted to redirect the user to FS28
you would only need to change the CName record to point to
FS28 rather than FS27. It should be remembered that the old
record may exist in the client cache and may take some time to
expire.

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Mail Exchange (MX)

The mail exchange record contains a mail server that is able to
process mail for that domain name. When a mail server wants
to deliver mail, it will perform a DNS lookup asking the DNS
server for an MX record for that DNS Domain name. The mail
server will then attempt to deliver mail to that server. The mail
server does not need to have the same DNS name as the mail
that is being delivered, it simply needs to understand how to
process mail for that DNS domain name.

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Mail Exchange (MX)

The MX record also has priority value that can be configured. If
two or more MX Exchange records exist for the same DNS
Doman name, the MX record with the lowest priority will be
tried first. If this fails, the MX record with the next lowest value
will be tried until the mail is delivered. Often large companies
will have multiple mail severs for incoming mail. In some cases,
these additional mail servers may be located on different sides
of the globe in case there is a long network outage.

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Service Record (SRV)

Service records allow clients on the network to find resources
on the network. Active Directory creates a number of service
records in DNS to allow clients to find resources like Domain
Controllers. This is why Active Directory cannot operate without
DNS. A single service record has a number of data fields
associated with it. These include, service, target, port and
priority. Service records are normally created automatically by
applications assuming that your DNS server allows dynamic
updates.

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Start of Authority (SOA)

There is one start of authority record (SOA) for each zone. Even
though the SOA is technically a DNS record, essentially
modification of the SOA record is performed through the
properties of the DNS zone. Looking at the data in the SOA
record, you can configure options for the zone like the primary
name server for that zone (DNS servers that hold the master
records for the zone), the e-mail address of an administrator,
serial number (Incremented each time a change is made in the
DNS zone) and the refresh time for the zone (How often a
secondary zone should query a master for changes).

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Name Server (NS)

This contains DNS servers for that zone that contain primary
data or have been copied from a primary zone. This means it
does not contain DNS servers that have cached DNS records. In
other words, name servers contain servers that contain the
most up to date records for that DNS domain name

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Pointer (PTR)
A pointer record performs the opposite function of a host record. If the
client was to give the DNS server an IP Address, the DNS server would
response back with the hostname. Pointer records are not required for
day to day functions, like running Active Directory. They are mainly used
for troubleshooting tools.
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References
MCTS 70-640 Configuring Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Second
edition pg 458 459
Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 Exam Ref 70-410 pg
236-237
SRV record http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRV_record

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