Definition and purpose
A DNS SRV record tells clients where to find a network service by advertising a target host, port, priority and weight.
Technical operation
Its name typically follows _service._protocol.domain. Priority guides server selection; weight influences selection among equal-priority records, and the port identifies the endpoint. The target must resolve appropriately.
Practical example
SIP telephony systems and Active Directory publish SRV records for service discovery. Wrong ports or targets can break registration or domain-controller discovery.
Operational considerations
Check answers using dig or nslookup, confirm the target's A/AAAA records and firewall reachability. SRV records do not perform live health checks.