CNAME

A CNAME (Canonical Name) record is a DNS entry that maps one hostname to another hostname, instead of to an IP address. When a browser looks up the CNAME, DNS follows the alias to the target hostname, then resolves that target normally. CNAMEs are the standard way to point subdomains at managed services: www.example.com to a CDN, blog.example.com to a hosted platform, shop.example.com to a SaaS storefront. They cannot be used on the apex domain (example.com itself); for that, modern DNS providers offer ALIAS or ANAME records that behave like CNAMEs at the apex.

How it works

A CNAME record has a hostname and a single target hostname. When the source is queried, DNS returns the target name and the resolver looks up that name in turn. The target must itself resolve to A or AAAA records eventually.

Why it matters

CNAMEs let you point a friendly subdomain at a managed service without ever knowing or maintaining the underlying IP address, which is essential when the service uses many IPs that change over time (CDNs, load balancers, serverless platforms). They are the safest way to wire third-party services to your domain.

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