The word “hosting” doesn't describe one service, but a set of services which offer various functions to a domain. Having a site and e-mails, as an illustration, are two independent services though in the general case they come together, so most people see them as one single service. Actually, each domain has a couple of DNS records called A and MX, which show the server that deals with each particular service - the first one is a numeric IP address, that defines where the website for the domain name is loaded from, while the latter is an alphanumeric string, which shows the server that manages the emails for the domain name. For example, an A record would be 123.123.123.123 and an MX record is mx1.domain.com. Whenever you open a site or send an email, the global DNS servers are contacted to check the name servers that a domain has and the traffic/message is first directed to that company. When you have custom records on their end, the web browser request or the email will be sent to the correct server. The concept behind employing separate records is that the two services use different web protocols and you can have your site hosted by one provider and the emails by another.
Custom MX and A Records in Cloud Hosting
If you have a cloud hosting account through our company and you want to switch either your website or your emails to another provider, it's going to take you literally simply 2 clicks to do this. Our Hepsia Control Panel comes with an easy-to-use DNS Records tool, where all your domain names and subdomains will be listed alphabetically and you are going to be able to see and edit the A and/or MX records for any of them. If you want to use a different email provider and they ask you to create more MX records than the standard two, it won't take more than a couple of mouse clicks either to add them. You can also set different latency for these records and the lower the latency, the bigger the priority a particular MX record will have. The propagation of any record that you modify or create isn't going to take more than a few hours and if required, you will also be able to set the so-called Time-To-Live value, that reveals how long a record will remain active after it's changed or deleted.
Custom MX and A Records in Semi-dedicated Hosting
If you purchase a semi-dedicated server plan from us, you will be able to see and edit the A and MX records for any of the domain names or subdomains you host in the account. The Hepsia Control Panel, which you'll get to manage the account, comes with an state-of-the-art, albeit easy-to-use tool in which all hosts are going to be listed in alphabetical order and you are going to be able to edit their records with no more than a few clicks. If you have to set up a new record, it's going to be equally easy - pick the domain/subdomain, enter the IP address or mail server record and you will be ready. You will also be able to set different priority for the MX records you create in case that you choose to use a third-party email provider and they ask you to set up additional records apart from the 2 default ones. In case you experience any problems, we have a in-depth Help section with videos in which you can see first-hand how to create or edit any record.