MX Record

Mail exchange (SMTP)

  • MX Records point to the incoming smtp server for a domain
  • the record indicates how email messages should be routed (in accordance with SMTP)
    • ex. When a user sends an email to john.smith@gmail.com, the Message Transfer Agent (MTA) sends a DNS query to identify the mail servers for that email address. The MTA establishes an SMTP connection with those mail servers, starting with the prioritized domains
  • must point to an A record
  • priority - lower number indicates preference. In the result of a send failure, the next priority domain will be attempted
    • mailhost1.tycholiz.com might have priority of 10, and mailhost2.tycholiz.com might have priority of 20, which would mean mailhost2 only gets used when the first message fails to send.
    • if we use the same priority, then both servers will receive equal amount of mail (effectively a load balancer)
    • priority exists to prevent mail-routing loops

MX records specify a mail exchanger for a domain name: a host that will either process or forward mail for the domain name (through a firewall, for example)

  • Processing the mail means either delivering it to the individual to whom it’s addressed or gatewaying it to another mail transport, such as X.400
  • Forwarding means sending it to its final destination or to another mail exchanger closer to the destination via SMTP