CNAME record
A CNAME (Canonical Name) record is a DNS entry that makes one domain name an alias for another, telling resolvers to look up the other name instead of returning an address directly. Defined in RFC 1035, it's the standard way to point a subdomain at a service you don't control the IP address for -- a custom domain pointed at a CDN, a SaaS vendor's hosting, or an email-marketing platform's tracking domain are common examples -- since the target's own address can change without the CNAME needing to be updated. RFC 1035 also means a CNAME record cannot coexist with any other record type on the same name, and most DNS providers don't allow a domain's root/apex record to be a CNAME at all, which is why services needing root-domain aliasing use provider-specific ALIAS or ANAME records instead.
By AdminKit team, Netbase JSC · Updated