{"id":248,"date":"2023-10-06T08:39:39","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T08:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.hostitsmart.com\/manage\/knowledgebase\/?p=248"},"modified":"2023-10-16T12:11:04","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T12:11:04","slug":"A-Brief-Guide-to-Understanding-MX-Record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.hostitsmart.com\/manage\/knowledgebase\/248\/A-Brief-Guide-to-Understanding-MX-Record.html","title":{"rendered":"A Brief Guide to Understanding  MX Record"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"kb-article-content\">\n<h2><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostitsmart.com\/manage\/images\/kb\/285_MX-Record.png\" alt=\"MX Record\" width=\"650\" height=\"458\"><\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the word <\/span><strong>MX Record<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sounds complex, this guide is for you. We will attempt to understand \u201cWhat an MX Record is\u201d with relevant details. So without further ado, let&#8217;s dive into the topic.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is an MX Record in DNS?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MX Record stands for Mail Exchanger Record. A mail exchanger record specifies which server is responsible for receiving emails (messages) on behalf of your domain name and to which location the emails should route. The MX record is considered an important resource for the DNS or Domain Name System.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>You will not receive emails unless your MX Records point to the correct location.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px dotted black;\">\n<p><strong>Also Read: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostitsmart.com\/manage\/knowledgebase\/93\/WHAT-IS-DNS.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WHAT IS DNS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px dotted black;\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;<strong>Parts of MX Record with Example<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MX Record can mainly be divided into 2 parts, which play significant roles in delivering emails to your Inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first part is the <\/span><strong>\u201cPriority,\u201d<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the second is the <\/span><strong>\u201cName of your Mail Server.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your domain name is <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mycompany.org<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, your mail server will look like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mail.mycompany.org<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. So the structure will be &#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<p><strong>MX Record<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> = Priority + Name of the Mail Server<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Priority is an Integer Number or a Whole Number ranging from <\/span><strong>0 to 65535<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where 0 is the lowest number yet has the highest priority. <\/span><strong>So lower the number is, the higher will be the domain\u2019s priority.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Here the Priority value is used to determine which MX server connects first to reach your inbox. It establishes random connections if multiple records have the same priority.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px dotted black;\">\n<p><strong>Also Read:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostitsmart.com\/manage\/knowledgebase\/60\/What-is-a-PTR-record.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is a PTR record?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px dotted black;\">\n<h2><strong>What is MX Preference<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The primary benefit of using MX preferences is that they allow you to specify multiple mail servers for a single domain name. They also help you define which one should be accessed first. This opens up an opportunity for faster email delivery than a single server. This increased capacity helps you manage more incoming email traffic across multiple physical servers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MX Record Preference helps you determine which mail server (from the bunch of mail servers) must connect to your domain. The lower the Preference Number higher the priority.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a remote client queries an MX lookup for the domain name, he will receive a list of servers along with their first-choice numbers. Whenever an email is sent, the MX Record bearing the smallest first choice number receives the highest priority and will become the first server to be tried for sending emails.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The remote client will loop through a list of servers until the message is delivered successfully or permanently rejected due to an inaccessible server.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px dotted black;\">\n<p><strong>Also Read: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostitsmart.com\/manage\/knowledgebase\/245\/NGINX-Explained-Know-its-Working-and-What-is-it-Used-For.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NGINX Explained! Know its Working &amp; What is it Used For?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px dotted black;\">\n<h2><strong>What is MX Priority 0?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As explained above, priority is an essential component of the MX record structure. The lowest priority value or number is favored the most. Experts recommend having at least 2 MX records for a single domain name.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s understand this with an example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider your 1st MX server has priority <\/span><strong>3<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while the 2nd MX server has priority <\/span><strong>9<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Here, 1st MX server is used to send emails.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>For <\/em><strong><em>M<\/em><\/strong><em>aile<\/em><strong><em>X<\/em><\/strong><em>changer <\/em><strong><em>(MX)<\/em><\/strong><em>, the priority value \u201c0\u201d (zero) is an undisputed winner representing the highest priority in an MX record. <\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px dotted black;\">\n<p><strong>Also Read: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostitsmart.com\/manage\/knowledgebase\/246\/What-is-HSTS-and-How-to-Implement-on-your-website.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is HSTS &amp; How to Implement on your website?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px dotted black;\">\n<h2><strong>Who Controls Your MX Record?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The simplest answer to this million-dollar question is your \u201cHosting Company,\u201d to which your nameservers point. Consider your domain uses the nameserver services from <a title=\"Host IT Smart\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostitsmart.com\">Host IT Smart<\/a>. In that case, all the changes made to your DNS, including custom MX records, will get executed from the Host IT Smart&nbsp;Panel.&nbsp; <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Wrapup<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After such an exhaustive discussion, you would have had a fair idea of what an MX record is and the significant details encapsulating this concept.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction If the word MX Record sounds complex, this guide is for you. We will attempt to understand \u201cWhat an MX Record is\u201d with relevant details. So without further ado, let&#8217;s dive into the topic.&nbsp; What is an MX Record in DNS? MX Record stands for Mail Exchanger Record. A mail exchanger record specifies which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-e-mail"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Brief Guide to Understanding MX Record<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MX Record is critical to your email delivery system. It routes the emails to their correct mail server. 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