DNS stands for Domain Name System. It acts like the internet's phone book, translating easy-to-remember domain names (like google.com) into numerical IP addresses (like 172.217.160.142) that computers use to communicate. This allows browsers to access websites and other online resources.
Think of it this way: If you want to call a friend, you remember their name. But your phone needs their phone number to connect. DNS does this translation for you.
Here are some things DNS does:
- Translates domain names to IP addresses: This allows your computer to find the website you're looking for.
- Provides a hierarchical structure: It organizes domain names in a tree-like structure, making it easier to manage and search.
- Ensures reliability: DNS uses multiple servers and redundancy to avoid single points of failure, making it reliable and available.
In short, DNS is a critical component of the internet, enabling us to access websites and other online resources by translating human-readable names into machine-readable addresses.