What does a DNS A record do?

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Multiple Choice

What does a DNS A record do?

Explanation:
A DNS A record translates a hostname into an IPv4 address. When your device looks up a domain like www.example.com, the resolver asks for the A record of that hostname and receives the IPv4 address to use for routing the connection over IPv4 networks. This is why the A record is essential for normal web access on IPv4. Note that an IPv6 counterpart exists as an AAAA record for the same hostname, and other options described don’t perform this host-to-IP mapping: a MAC address is a local-network identifier, not something DNS maps; a hostname-to-domain-name mapping would be a CNAME alias; and mapping an IP back to hostnames uses reverse DNS with PTR records, not A records.

A DNS A record translates a hostname into an IPv4 address. When your device looks up a domain like www.example.com, the resolver asks for the A record of that hostname and receives the IPv4 address to use for routing the connection over IPv4 networks. This is why the A record is essential for normal web access on IPv4. Note that an IPv6 counterpart exists as an AAAA record for the same hostname, and other options described don’t perform this host-to-IP mapping: a MAC address is a local-network identifier, not something DNS maps; a hostname-to-domain-name mapping would be a CNAME alias; and mapping an IP back to hostnames uses reverse DNS with PTR records, not A records.

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