The word “hosting” doesn't describe just one service, but a set of services which offer numerous functions to a domain address. Having a website and e-mails, for instance, are two independent services even though in the general case they come together, so many people see them as one single service. In reality, every single domain has a several DNS records called A and MX, which show the server that handles each specific service - the first one is a numeric IP address, that specifies where the site for the domain address 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 is mx1.domain.com. Every time you open a site 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 forwarded to that company. When you have custom records on their end, the web browser request or the email will then be forwarded to the correct server. The concept behind working with separate records is that the two services use different web protocols and you could have your website hosted by one company and the emails by another.
Custom MX and A Records in Hosting
If you have a hosting account through our company and you would like to switch either your website or your emails to a different provider, it's going to take you literally only two mouse clicks to do this. Our Hepsia Control Panel offers an easy-to-use DNS Records tool, where all your domain names and subdomains are going to be listed alphabetically and you will be able to see and change the A and/or MX records for any of them. If you decide to use a different email provider and they ask you to create more MX records than the standard 2, it will not take more than a couple of mouse clicks either to add them. You may also set different latency for these records and the lower the latency, the bigger the priority a given MX record is going to have. The propagation of every record that you modify or set up will not take more than several hours and if needed, you'll also be able to set the so-called Time-To-Live value, that indicates how long a record will stay active after it's modified or deleted.
Custom MX and A Records in Semi-dedicated Servers
If you acquire a semi-dedicated server plan through our company, you'll be able to see and change the A and MX records for every one of the domains or subdomains which you host within the account. The Hepsia Control Panel, which you'll get to take care of the account, provides an advanced, although easy-to-use tool in which all hosts will be listed in alphabetical order and you're going to be able to change their records with no more than a couple of mouse clicks. If you have to set up a new record, it will be equally easy - choose the domain/subdomain, enter the IP address or mail server record and you will be ready. Additionally, you will be able to set different priority for the MX records that you create in case you want to use a third-party email provider and they ask you to create additional records besides the 2 default ones. If you encounter any troubles, we have a comprehensive Help section with videos in which you can see first-hand how to create or edit any record.