What Is DNS and How Does It Work? A Simple Guide for Beginners

What is DNS and how does it work? Diagram explaining the Domain Name System and website IP resolution.


Are you aware that when you enter a web address (such as google.com) and there is no way to know how your web browser is going to locate that website on your computer?

This is where DNS comes into play.  DNS is short for Domain Name System, which is essentially a giant phone directory for the internet.

Using DNS, your computer can very quickly locate a website without having to memorize an extremely long series of numbers to connect to it.


What is DNS?

The Domain Name System (DNS) serves as a platform for transforming website domain names into their respective IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. In the case of computers, the IP address is utilized to communicate with other computers via an overall network. Instead, humans can use the much more manageable and manageable website addresses like google.com to communicate with each other.  DNS translates these human-readable website addresses into numerical IP addresses to enable your browser to connect to the site you wish to visit.


To see how DNS works, follow this step-by-step guide:

Step 1 : You visit an Internet browser on your device and enter the website address 'www.example.com.'

Step 2 : Your Internet browser contacts an internet DNS server to request the IP address for the given website.

Step 3 : The DNS server looks up the requested domain name and locates the proper IP address for that domain name.

Step 4 : connecting your computer to the Internet, your browser connects to the Web site you open using the Internet Protocol (IP) address.

When you open the Web site in your browser, your browser shows you the page you requested.


The Importance of DNS

  • DNS makes it easier to use the Internet since it remembers names rather than numbers.
  • DNS helps Web sites load quickly and reliably.
  • DNS keeps the Internet organized, which allows computers to connect.


Types of DNS

  • Primary DNS - the server you request first
  • Secondary DNS - a backup server to the primary DNS
  • Recursive DNS - requests the IP address from other DNS servers


Internet Safety and DNS

  • Certain types of DNS servers will prevent you from accessing dangerous Web sites.
  • Using trusted DNS servers will help protect you.
  • Examples of trusted DNS servers: Google DNS - 8.8.8.8 / Cloudflare DNS - 1.1.1.1


Conclusion

DNS is like your phone book; it allows you to go to a Web site by name rather than having to type a complex number.


You can learn more about DNS:

  • You can browse the Internet safely.
  • You can become a Web developer.
  • You can learn how the Internet works.

If you want to learn more about how websites load and work step by step, check out our guide: How the Internet Works: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Computers Work : A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Image
You can’t escape computers these days. They are found everywhere from the phones we carry around with us to the laptops sitting on our desks. However, have you ever thought about how these devices actually work? This guide will take you through a thorough step-by-step analysis of what computers really do in the easiest way possible so that anyone who is just starting out can grasp the concepts. A Computer Defined At its most basic level, a computer is an electronic device designed to process input and generate output. Processing consists of receiving input, performing some computation on it (e.g., arithmetic), and finally presenting the user with some valuable output. There are numerous varieties: Desktops : Traditional computers that are typically used for work and gaming Laptops : Portables designed for day-to-day activities Servers : Very powerful machines designed to manage websites or large databases Smartphones and tablets : Pocket-sized computers The Fundamental Components of a ...
Read more

How the Web Works: A Simple Guide for Everyone

Image
Are you familiar with how to use a web browser (e.g., Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, etc.) to open a webpage or URL? The web is made up of interconnected computers and servers, which allows fast access to and sharing of information (using web browsers). Understanding how the web works can help you manage, create, and troubleshoot problems related to your website(s). Simply stated, the web is a global computer network of computers and web servers, used to share and exchange information. Step 1: Browsers (Access Devices) Your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) will act as the means by which you connect to a particular website on the web. Your browser will decode the page's code (HTML, XML, CSS and JavaScript) into a format you can read. By using your web browser, you will: Request data from web servers to download web pages. Look at the layout, colours, images, and other visual elements of web pages. Use cookies and cached data when browsing th...
Read more