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What is an SRV Record

Summary

An SRV (Service) record points one domain to another domain name using a specific destination port.

SRV (Service) Records

SRV (Service) Records

SRV records allow specific services, such as VOIP or IM, to be be directed to a separate location.

Example:

Enabling your domain to use Google's xmpp server is a good example to showcase. Google's help article states that the SRV record should be in this format:

            _xmpp-server._tcp.gmail.com. IN SRV 5 0 5269 xmpp-server.l.google.com.

Under "Add DNS Record", you will need to enter the settings this way:

Service: _xmpp-server
Protocol: _tcp
Host: chat (If you want to use the chat subdomain. Replace this with the subdomain that you want to us, or @ for the root domain.)
TTL: 14400
Type: SRV
Priority: 5
Weight: 0
Port: 5269
Points To: xmpp-server.l.google.com

Glossary

Zone File: This is where all the DNS records are stored for a domain.
Service: This is the symbolic service name. e.g. _http, _ftp, _imap, ect.
Protocol: The Protocol used by the service, usually either TCP or UDP.
Host Record: This is the domain or subdomain you wish to use. The @ symbol is used to indicate the root domain itself. In our example the Host Record 'ftp' would be for the subdomain ftp.google.com and '@' would be google.com itself.
Points to: This is the destination server that the domain or subdomain is sending the traffic to.
TTL: The 'time to live' value indicates the amount of time the record is cached by a DNS Server, such as your Internet service provider. The default (and lowest accepted) value is 14400 seconds (4 hours). You do not normally need to modify this value.
Priority: This controls the order in which multiple records are used. As with MX Entries, lower numbers are used before higher numbers.
Weight: This is similar to priority, as it controls the order in which multiple records are used. Records are grouped with other records that have the same Priority value. As with MX Entries, lower numbers are used before higher numbers.
Port: This is used by the server or computer to process traffic to specific services, ensuring that all traffic comes through the door that it's expected on.
Target: This is the destination that the record is sending the traffic to. In the above example, the record would send traffic from chat.example.com to xmpp-server.l.google.com over port 5269. SRV records generally require advanced knowledge of server administration to use.
Action: This allows you to modify or remove existing records.