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MX Record

MX Record or Mail Exchanger Record is set in the Domain Name System to the point where the emails for a certain domain name should be delivered. This means that when somebody sends an email to your domain, the MX records determine to which server the email will be delivered, stored, and then retrieved by you. You can create more than one MX record pointing to other servers (usually backup servers) to make sure that your emails will be received if one of the servers fails. In this case, one domain uses multiple email servers, which secure your email messages while providing better and faster email delivery. MX records are always required when an email is sent over the Internet and they are pre-configured when you register your domain.

 

How Can I Set My MX Records?

To edit your MX records or add new ones you need to go to your domain name provider, enter your Control Panel and find your DNS settings. There you have to fill in the Name field where you must type your domain name. The other necessary fields are Type, which is always MX, the Class field that is set to IN (Internet), and the TTL (Time to Live) field – which indicates the time needed for the update of the record, which is set in seconds. Another key field is Priority (Preference) that’s important when you set more MX records because it enables you to give different priorities to all servers, so when one of them is down, the next one will receive the email, and so on. The email server with the lowest rank will be contacted first if the connection fails the next one is approached. And finally – the Data/Server field contains the hostname of your domain’s mail server.

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