MX record or mail exchanges record is basically a type of DNS record that specifies the mail server responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of the particular domain.
When someone sends an email message to an email address associated with a specific domain, the sending mail server looks up the MX records associated with that domain to determine the destination of the mail server. The MX records the information about the mail server's hostname that receives the email message.
Let me tell you step by step how an MX record works1. First of all, the email sender's mail server queries the DNS for the MX record of the recipient's domain. The query is sent to the DNS server that is responsible for the recipient's domain.
2. Now, the DNS server will respond with the MX records for the domain, which basically includes the hostname and priority of mail servers that are responsible for handling email for that domain.
3. Then, the email sender's mail server attempts to connect to the highest priority of the mail servers and then sends the email to the server. If the first server is not available, it tries the next server in the list, and so on, until it successfully delivers the email or runs out of servers to try.
4. After that, the recipient's mail server receives the email and then processes it according to its own configuration, such as checking for spam or virus filters before delivering it to the recipient's mailbox.
This was the complete process of the MX record.
