DNS lookup
See every important DNS record of a domain in one query: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT and NS, for the apex and www.
What is a DNS lookup?
A DNS lookup asks the domain name system which servers and services a domain points to. It is the fastest way to confirm where a website is hosted, which servers receive its mail, and which nameservers control the zone.
This tool resolves the domain live, straight from DNS. Values are sorted and TTLs stripped, so two checks of the same zone always compare cleanly.
The record types we check
- A
- IPv4 address of the host. This is where the browser connects when it opens the site.
- AAAA
- IPv6 address of the host, the modern counterpart of the A record.
- CNAME
- Alias pointing one name at another, common for www and for SaaS-hosted subdomains.
- MX
- Mail servers for the domain with their priority. Wrong MX records mean lost mail.
- TXT
- Free-form text used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC and ownership verification.
- NS
- The nameservers that answer for the zone. If these change unexpectedly, investigate.
Checking by hand gets old fast
Domain Sentinel runs this exact check on your domains every night and emails you a diff when a record changes.