The definition of “hosting” doesn't describe only one service, but a number of services that offer various functions to a domain name. Having a website and e-mails, for example, are two separate services even though in the general case they come together, so most of the people think of them as one single service. In fact, every domain has a several DNS records called A and MX, which show the server that manages each specific service - the first one is a numeric IP address, which defines where the site for the domain is loaded from, while the latter is an alphanumeric string, which shows the server that manages the emails for the domain address. As an illustration, an A record can be 123.123.123.123 and an MX record can be mx1.domain.com. Every time you open a website or send an email, the global DNS servers are contacted to check the name servers that a domain address has and the traffic/message is first directed to that company. If you have custom records on their end, the web browser request or the email will be sent to the correct server. The reasoning behind using separate records is that the two services use different web protocols and you may have your site hosted by one service provider and the emails by another.
Custom MX and A Records in Cloud Website Hosting
If you have a cloud website hosting account through our company and you would like to point either your site or your emails to a different company, it'll take you literally simply 2 mouse clicks to do it. Our Hepsia CP provides an easy-to-use DNS Records tool, where all your domains and subdomains will be listed alphabetically and you're going to be able to see and change the A and/or MX records for any of them. If you choose to use a different email provider and they ask you to set up more MX records than the standard 2, it is not going to take more than a few clicks either to add them. You can even set different latency for these records and the lower the latency, the greater the priority a certain MX record will have. The propagation of each record that you modify or set up isn't going to take more than a few hours and if required, you will also be able to set the so-called Time-To-Live value, that reveals how long a record will stay active after it's changed or deleted.
Custom MX and A Records in Semi-dedicated Servers
If you acquire a semi-dedicated server plan through our company, you're going to be able to view and edit the A and MX records for each of the domain addresses or subdomains that you host in the account. The Hepsia Control Panel, which you'll get to handle the account, provides an advanced, albeit easy-to-use tool in which all hosts are going to be listed in alphabetical order and you are going to be able to change their records with no more than a couple of clicks. If you have to create a new record, it's going to be equally easy - select the domain/subdomain, enter the IP address or mail server record and you're going to be ready. Additionally, you'll be able to set different priority for the MX records you create in case you choose to use a third-party e-mail provider and they ask you to create additional records aside from the 2 standard ones. In case you experience any difficulties, you will find a detailed Help section with videos in which you can see first-hand how to setup or change any record.