DNS lookup: what do the records of a name say?
Enter a name or a web address. Beamfar asks public resolvers for its address, alias, name server and mail records and shows the answers.
What the lookup returns
birch.example
- A
198.51.100.4Note - AAAA
2001:db8::7Note - NS
ns1.dns.exampleNote - MX
10 mail.birch.exampleNote - CNAME of www
birch.exampleNote
What the check looks at
The same probes Beamfar uses to monitor a client site, run once, from this server.
- Address records (A and AAAA)
- The IPv4 and IPv6 addresses the name points to: where visitors connect.
- Alias (CNAME)
- Another name this name stands for, often a CDN or a hosting platform.
- Name servers (NS)
- The servers that answer for the domain: who controls its DNS.
- Mail servers (MX)
- Where e-mail for the domain is delivered.
How to read the result
Each reading gets one of the words of the free check, with its mark.
Fine means the name resolved to public addresses.
Look at this or Problem means the name does not resolve, has no address record, or something in the answer deserves a look.
Records are what the resolvers answered at this moment. A change made at the DNS provider can take up to the record’s time-to-live to show everywhere.
DNS changes that break sites and e-mail
- Name servers changed
- a domain moved to another DNS provider without copying every record. Compare the records before and after the move.
- Address record to an old server
- after a hosting move the A record still points to the old host. Update it, and lower the time-to-live before the next move.
- Mail records lost
- MX records were not copied to the new DNS provider: the website works, e-mail stops. Restore them from the old provider.
- Alias to a removed resource
- a CNAME points to a CDN or app that no longer exists, which can let someone else take the name over. Remove or fix the record.
What happens to the address you enter
One check, then nothing kept. Only public websites, only the standard web ports.
- Nothing is stored
- The address is used for this one check and then forgotten: no database row, no log line, no cookie, no link to share the result. Only rate-limit counters are kept: hashed counts per network range and overall, for at most two days, never an address of a site.
- Only public websites
- Addresses on private networks, loopback, link-local and cloud-metadata ranges are refused, and so are redirects to them. Only the standard web ports 80 and 443 are used. Each name is looked up once and the connection goes only to the address that passed. Checks are limited per network and overall, share the budget of the free site check, and need a short puzzle to be solved by your browser.
Only the public resolvers see this lookup; the site itself is not contacted. Beamfar compares a monitored site’s records on every check and tells you what was added and what was removed.
Questions
Is this DNS lookup free?
Yes. No account and no payment. It shares the rate limits of the free site check.
Which resolvers are asked?
Public resolvers, the same ones the monitoring checks use. The answer can differ from your own network’s resolver while a change spreads.
Does it show TXT, SPF or DMARC records?
Not in this tool. A Beamfar DNS check of a monitored site watches name servers, mail servers, SPF, DMARC and CAA and alerts you when they change.
Can I look up a private or internal name?
No. Only public names are looked up; local and private names are refused.
Is the name I enter stored?
No. It is used for this one lookup only. Only hashed rate-limit counters are kept, for at most two days.
Guides that go with this page
Longer reads on the same ground, in plain words, each with its sources.
- DNS changes that break client websitesThe DNS mistakes that take sites and email offline, how TTL hides them for hours and a safe change checklist.
- Email stops after a DNS change: SPF, DKIM, DMARCWhy a website DNS change can break a client’s email and the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks to run around every edit.
- Domain expiry and RDAP: never lose a client domainHow domains lapse, what registrars must warn about, how RDAP exposes the expiry date and a routine for agencies.
More free tools
One live check each, no account. The free site check runs all of them at once.
- SSL certificate checkerWho issued a site’s certificate, which name it covers, when it expires and the days left.
- Domain expiry checkerWhen a domain name’s registration ends, from the registry’s public RDAP record.
- Indexability checkernoindex in the robots meta tag or X-Robots-Tag, robots.txt blocks, the canonical and redirects.
- Security headers checkerHSTS, Content-Security-Policy, nosniff, frame protection, Referrer-Policy and more.
- The free site checkEvery check at once: the page, redirects, certificate, DNS, search settings and the domain registration date.
See the DNS change before the client does.
Beamfar watches the records of every client site and tells you what changed, confirmed from two regions.
No card for the trial.