AAAA Record (IPv6 Address Record) (AAAA Record)
The Importance of AAAA Record
IPv6 adoption continues to grow as IPv4 addresses become scarce. Major ISPs and mobile carriers increasingly use IPv6, and some networks are IPv6-only. Without AAAA records, visitors on IPv6-only networks cannot reach your site unless their network provides NAT64/DNS64 translation, which adds latency and potential points of failure.
Adding AAAA records is straightforward if your hosting provider supports IPv6, which most modern providers do. Cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Cloudflare provide IPv6 support by default. Having both A and AAAA records (dual-stack) allows your site to be reached over both IPv4 and IPv6.
From a security perspective, IPv6 records should receive the same attention as IPv4 records. If you configure security measures (firewalls, rate limiting) on your IPv4 address but forget the IPv6 address, attackers may bypass those protections by connecting over IPv6.
Checking Your Setup
A DNS health checker shows whether your domain has AAAA records alongside A records. If your hosting supports IPv6, add AAAA records pointing to the IPv6 address. Verify the IPv6 address is correct and the server accepts connections on it.
Key Parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Record Type | AAAA |
| Points to | IPv6 address (e.g., 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946) |
| Common TTL | 300-3600 seconds |
| Required for | IPv6 connectivity |
| Dual stack | Use alongside A record for IPv4+IPv6 |