Are you curious about how domain names and DNS servers work? Have you always wondered how they came about?
There are over 1.5 billion websites on the world wide web today, but only around 200 million are active. That’s a lot of sites to keep track of, and DNS servers are part of the process.
DNS stands for Domain Name System, and it’s a basic building block to the internet. Have a look at this simple guide – DNS Explained.
What Is an IP Address?
An introduction to DNS wouldn’t be clear without defining IP address. An IP address is a string of numbers that identifies any device connected to the internet.
IP stands for internet protocol. It’s a numerical label that attaches itself to everything your device does on the internet, a bit like an electronic return address on an envelope. Your IP address allows responses to return to your device when you request something on the internet.
In the beginning, the IP address was how everyone identified each other on the internet.
DNS Explained as a Translation System
We created the domain name system (DNS) in 1983 to simplify the global system of the internet. The idea was to create a phone book for the internet to make things easier to find.
It works to translate human names such as Anycast Hosting into computer names for those same places, and that translation makes the internet easier to use.
A Friendlier Internet
As the internet grew, it became harder for internet users to remember all of the numbers for their favorite websites. Domain names like ‘example.com’ were more straightforward and allowed us to expand the functionality of the internet.
The DNS system maps these website names to the IP addresses of the website. This way, humans can use the memorable domain name, and computers can use IP addresses for the exact location.
DNS Process
The domain name service is done in a series of steps.
When you type a domain name into the computer, it looks for the IP address in its storage. If it’s not there, the computer goes out and looks for the IP address on a Recursive DNS server’s cache.
A Recursive DNS server has quite a few addresses in its cache. If it doesn’t have the one you need, it will contact an Authoritative server for the answer.
An Authoritative name server is responsible for storing the IP addresses for all domains. The Authoritative server finds the address and returns it to the Recursive server.
The Recursive server gives the IP address to your computer, and it connects to the website. The process happens so quickly that you don’t realize what the computer is doing.
Knowledge Is Powerful
Having DNS explained in simple terms makes it easier to understand why it exists. Learning the history behind a system provides an insight into the brilliant minds involved in the process.
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