DNS Configuration

Domain Name System (DNS) is an Internet protocol and distributed database that maps domain names and hostnames to the appropriate IP addresses. When an Internet application sends a request to access your domain, DNS translates the domain name, which is usually alphabetic, into its corresponding IP address, which is numeric.

In order to transition to the AspireSoft Email Service, you must first meet these requirements:

• You must register your domain name with an official registrar.

For information about domain names in general, registering a domain name, or domain name availability, visit http://www.domaindirect.com/ or the registrar of your choice.

• You must have access to a DNS server.
  • If you do not have a DNS server, a registrar such as www.godaddy.com or your Internet provider can provide this service. However, not all registrars host MX or CNAME records, which are required for email services. See "Types of DNS records" below. Once these requirements are met, you can configure your DNS records to point to the AspireSoft servers.

NOTE Do not make any DNS changes until the domains and mailboxes are set up on the Asp[ireSoft Email
Service system.

Types of DNS records

There are many types of records that the DNS system maintains. The important record types for the AspireSoft Email Service are MX and CNAME records.

Email Exchange (MX) records

The Email Exchange (MX) record is the line within the DNS zone file that directs email for a specific domain to the appropriate email server. It tells the rest of the world where a mailbox is located.

Zone file: A file on a root server that contains domain name registration information. Zone files contain information that is needed to resolve domain names to IP addresses and also contain all the information related to one domain. Zone files are also called master files.

MX: Short for mail exchange record, an entry in a domain name database that identifies the mail server that is responsible for handling emails for that domain.

When more than one MX record is entered for any single domain name that is using more than one mail server, the MX record can be prioritized with a preference number that indicates the order in which the mail servers should be used. This enables the use of primary and backup mail servers.

Canonical Name (CNAME) records

A Canonical Name (CNAME) record is a record in a DNS database that indicates the true or canonical host name of a computer. A computer hosting a Web site must have an IP address in order to be connected to the World Wide Web. The DNS resolves the computer's domain name to its IP address, but sometimes more than one domain name resolves to the same IP address, and this is where the CNAME is useful. A machine can have an unlimited number of CNAME aliases, but a separate CNAME record must be in the database for each alias. AspireSoft uses CNAME records to identify the AspireSoft POP, IMAP, and SMTP server. It allows users to access email at <yourdomain>.com instead of <yourdomain>.cust.hostedemail.com, which is the active domain on the AspireSoft system.

NOTE Do not use A records or IP addresses in place of CNAME hostnames. If an A record is used to identify the AspireSoft email server, email service will be disrupted if AspireSoft changes the IP address.

Example Mail DNS configurations

Examples are provided for DNS configuration in both the Test and Live environments.

Example Filter-only DNS configurations

Examples are provided for DNS configuration in both the Test and Live environments.

White Listing AspireSoft

If you want to ensure that filtered mail reaches your users, include our IPs from which we send the filtered mail in your while list.
As of May 1, 2008, the filtering IPs are: 66.151.177.10