AAAA is a domain record, which is basically the IPv6 address of the server in which the domain name is hosted. The IPv6 system was introduced to replace the present IPv4 system in which each IP address is comprised of 4 groups of decimal digits between 1 to 255 e.g. 5.168.208.143. In comparison, an IPv6 address has eight sets of four hexadecimal digits - which range from 0 to 9 and from A to F. The reason behind this change is the considerably smaller selection of unique IPs which the existing system supports as well as the fast increase of products which are connected to the Internet. A good example of an IPv6 address is 2101:1f34:32e2:2415:1365:4f2b:2553:1345. If you'd like to direct a domain to a machine that uses this type of an address, you need to set up an AAAA record for it, not the commonly used A record, which is an IPv4 address. The 2 records deliver the same exact function, but different notations are used, in order to differentiate the two forms of addresses.
AAAA Records in Web Hosting
If you are using a service through a third-party provider and you have to set up an AAAA record to forward a domain address or a subdomain to their system, you'll be able to do that with only a couple of mouse clicks within the Hepsia Control Panel, supplied with our web hosting packages. Once you log in, you have to go to the DNS Records section where you will find all of the records for every domain or subdomain hosted within the account. Setting up a new record is as easy as clicking on a button, selecting the type from a drop-down options menu, that is to be AAAA in this case, and then entering the value, or the actual IPv6 address, within a text box. As an additional option you can edit the TTL value (Time To Live), which determines how long the record will be live after you modify it or delete it in the future. The new AAAA record is going to be active in just an hour and will propagate globally a few hours later, so the hostname for which you have created it will start pointing to the new hosting server.
AAAA Records in Semi-dedicated Servers
If you have a semi-dedicated server account from our company and you have to set up an AAAA record for a domain you have hosted in it or a subdomain you've created, it is going to take you just a few mouse clicks within the Hepsia CP to do that. Even when you have never had a web hosting account before, you will not encounter any issues since you will use a very simple and easy-to-use interface. All of the DNS records for your domains are going to be listed in a section of the CP with the exact same name, so once you go there, you will notice all records which have been created automatically or manually and you'll be able to create a new one by simply clicking the corresponding button. A little pop-up shall appear, so with only a couple of clicks you can select the type of record that you need and for which domain or subdomain it's going to be set up. Next, just paste the IPv6 address inside a text box, save the modification and an hour later the new AAAA record is going to be fully functioning. As an optional setting, you can choose the time this record shall be active after you change it or erase it in the future. That is the so-called TTL, or Time To Live value of the record, which you can change from the standard 3600 seconds in case the other provider requires it.