An AAAA (pronounced “quad-A”) record is a type of DNS (Domain Name System) record that maps a domain name or subdomain to its corresponding IPv6 address. It is similar to an A record, which maps domain names to IPv4 addresses, but it is specifically used for IPv6 addressing.

As the IPv6 protocol is being adopted to accommodate the increasing demand for IP addresses, AAAA records are used to associate domain names with their corresponding IPv6 addresses, allowing clients and applications to connect to IPv6-enabled servers.

Here’s an example to illustrate the usage of an AAAA record:

Suppose you have a domain name called example.com, and you want it to point to the IPv6 address 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334. You would create an AAAA record for example.com with the IPv6 address specified. When a client attempts to connect to example.com, the DNS resolver looks up the AAAA record for the domain and retrieves the associated IPv6 address. The client then uses that IPv6 address to establish a connection with the server.

AAA records, on the other hand, are used for mapping domain names to IPv4 addresses.

It’s important to note that while the adoption of IPv6 is increasing, not all networks and devices support IPv6 yet. In such cases, DNS resolvers may fall back to querying A records to obtain IPv4 addresses when AAAA records are not available.

When configuring DNS records, it is common to include both A and AAAA records to support both IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity for a domain or subdomain. This ensures that clients with IPv4 or IPv6 capabilities can access the appropriate IP address based on their network configuration.