Knowledge Base

ANAME records are alias records that allow you to map the apex (root record) or any other record within your domain to a target host name. Creating an ANAME record is as simple as creating a CNAME record and only requires providing a name and the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that you would like used as the ANAME’s target. When an ANAME record is created, DNS Made Easy resolves the target FQDN to an IP address or set of IP addresses. We then synthesize A records within the domain that points to the IP address(es) of the FQDN. ANAME record targets are constantly monitored and if the IP address(es) of the target change, the synthesized A records within your domain are updated immediately across all DNS Made Easy name servers.

• ANAME records can be used as the root record for a domain as the resulting records created are A records which bypass the limitation of allowing the alias at the root record.
• Multiple ANAME records can be configured with the same name and all additional IPs will be added in a round robin configuration in DNS Made Easy.
• ANAME records increase DNS performance as the correct IP address is returned on the first lookup rather than requiring multiple queries. Faster DNS lookups result in faster website load times which improves SEO.

1. Navigate to Managed DNS

2. Select your Domain 

3. Click the Plus Button

Under “ANAME Records” click the plus sign to add a new record.

4. Enter Record Information 

We will add an ANAME record for the root record which maps to the hostname of the CDN provider this domain is using.

The TTL of an ANAME record will be used as the TTL of the synthesized A records within your domain.

Best Practice Tip

If the target of an ANAME will change its address(es) often or has a low TTL for an operational reason, then you will want to set a comparatively low (or possibly the same as the target) TTL on the ANAME record. DNS Made Easy will change the value of the synthesized A records for an ANAME whenever the target’s address(es) are changed, but resolving name servers will cache the synthesized A records for an ANAME for the amount of time set in the TTL like all other DNS records.