A DNS record is a text instruction stored on DNS servers that indicates the IP address associated with a domain and can provide other information as well. One type of DNS record is the A record, which maps a domain name to the IP address of the computer hosting that domain. The "A" in A record stands for "address," and it shows the IP address for a specific hostname or domain. An A record only supports IPV4 addresses.

For example, if a domain name is "example.com," an A record for that domain would map it to the IP address of the server hosting the website associated with that domain. When a user types "example.com" into their web browser, the browser uses the A record to find the IP address of the server and then connects to that server to load the website.

In summary, a DNS record is a text instruction that maps a domain name to an IP address, and an A record is a specific type of DNS record that maps a domain name to the IP address of the computer hosting that domain.