DNS stands for Domain Name System. It's a hierarchical and distributed naming system that translates human-readable domain names (like google.com) into machine-readable IP addresses (like 172.217.160.142). This process is called DNS resolution. Think of it like a phone book for the internet, where you look up a name and find the corresponding number.
Here's how it works:
- You type a domain name into your web browser.
- Your computer sends a request to a DNS server (usually your internet service provider's server) asking for the IP address corresponding to that domain name.
- The DNS server checks its cache to see if it already knows the IP address. If not, it queries other DNS servers to find the correct IP address.
- Once the DNS server finds the IP address, it sends it back to your computer.
- Your computer uses the IP address to connect to the website.
Why is DNS important?
- Easy to remember: Instead of remembering long strings of numbers, we can use domain names which are much easier to remember.
- Scalability: DNS allows the internet to grow without needing to change the underlying infrastructure.
- Security: DNS can help protect against phishing and malware attacks.
Here are some examples of DNS in action:
- You enter www.amazon.com into your browser.
- Your browser sends a request to your DNS server.
- The DNS server finds the IP address for www.amazon.com.
- Your browser connects to the Amazon website using the IP address.
