Here’s a simplified breakdown of how it works:
DNS, or Domain Name System, is like the phonebook of the internet. When you type a web address into your browser, like www.example.com, DNS is what translates that human-readable domain name into the actual IP address of the server where the website is hosted.
- User Input: You type a URL into your browser.
- DNS Query: Your computer sends a request to a DNS server, asking for the IP address associated with the domain you entered.
- DNS Resolution: If the DNS server has the IP address in its records, it sends that back to your computer. If not, it will forward the request to other DNS servers until it finds the information.
- Accessing the Website: Your computer now knows the IP address of the website’s server and can connect to it, fetching the web page and displaying it in your browser.
In essence, DNS acts as the internet’s address book, translating human-friendly domain names into computer-friendly IP addresses. It’s a crucial part of how we navigate the web, even though we might not think about it often.