What is CNAME?

A CNAME (Canonical Name) record is a type of DNS record that maps an alias hostname to a canonical (real) hostname. It's commonly used to create an alias for a website, application, or service, allowing it to be accessed under multiple names while pointing to the same underlying server. For example, you might use a CNAME to point 'www.example.com' to 'example.com' or to a cloud service endpoint. CNAME records are also used with CDNs to map your domain to the CDN's edge servers. It is important to understand that a CNAME record cannot co-exist with other records (like an A record) at the same name.