We have recently received several requests for the ability to add SRV DNS records to domains, and we were happy to oblige. For those who don’t know, DNS stands for Domain Name System and is how a computer translates a domain name like heartinternet.uk to the address of the actual computer that the website lives on.

There are many types of DNS records that describe how to find different services such as the web, and email servers. SRV records let some more modern programs find out how and where to connect to potentially any service. SRV records have only been widely adopted in relatively new protocols like SIP and XMPP, but it is expected that they will become more commonplace as additional protocols are developed.

With an SRV record you can specify different servers for the same service and split the requests between them in whatever ratio you decide. This is called load-balancing and is mostly only used for services with a high volume of users. It is also possible to specify two servers and have the second only be used if the first becomes unreachable. This is called redundancy and helps to prevent downtime on important services.

Our DNS management page now includes sections for managing your SRV records, but you should only use them if you need the records and are confident with what you are doing. You could potentially break your entire site in just a few wrong clicks. If you need an SRV record and are confident of your ability then click on the link, choose the domain to manage and click on the shiny new DNS Management icon.

Our support database has a more technical description of SRV records, which is advised reading if you are going to be adding records.