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An MX (Mail Exchange) record is a type of DNS record that specifies the mail server responsible for receiving email messages on behalf of a domain. It tells email servers where to deliver emails sent to addresses under a specific domain.
How MX Records Work:
When you send an email, the sender’s email server looks up the recipient's domain name in DNS to find the associated MX record. The MX record provides the hostname of the mail server, and emails are then routed to that server.
Key Components of an MX Record:
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Priority: The priority value (a number) determines the order in which mail servers should be used. A lower number indicates higher priority. If there are multiple MX records for a domain, email servers will try the one with the lowest priority first, then move on to the next one if the first one is unavailable.
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Mail Server: This is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the mail server that will handle email for the domain. It’s usually a subdomain, like
mail.example.com, pointing to an actual mail server.
Example of an MX Record:
In this example, email would first be sent to mail.example.com (priority 10), and if it is unavailable, the email will be sent to backup-mail.example.com (priority 20).
Key Considerations:
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TTL (Time to Live): Similar to other DNS records, MX records have a TTL value, which determines how long DNS resolvers should cache the record.
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Multiple MX Records: You can have multiple MX records to ensure redundancy and load balancing, so if one mail server is down, another can handle the mail delivery.
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DNS Propagation: Changes to MX records, like adding or modifying them, can take time to propagate across the DNS system, so changes might not take effect immediately.
Setting Up MX Records:
If you're configuring email for your domain, you’ll need to set the correct MX records through your DNS provider. Many email services (like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.) will provide the necessary MX records that you need to add to your domain's DNS settings.
Posted : 08/04/2025 5:42 pm
