DNS & Glossary

SRV record (Service locator)

A record that advertises where a specific service runs — host and port — with priority and weight for load balancing. Used by protocols like SIP, XMPP and Minecraft.

What it stores

An SRV record is named _service._proto.name and stores priority, weight, port and target host. Clients that support SRV discover both the server and the port to use, rather than assuming a default port.

ZONE FILE
_sip._tcp.example.com. 3600 IN SRV 10 60 5060 sip1.example.com.

Why it matters

  • It lets services move host and port without reconfiguring every client.
  • Priority and weight provide failover and weighted load balancing.

Common mistakes

  • Pointing the SRV target at a CNAME instead of a real hostname.
  • Getting the _service._proto naming convention wrong so clients cannot find it.

How WebInspect checks this

  • The Network Inspector reports SRV records discovered for a domain.