What is DNS and how does it work?

DNS stands for Domain Name System. DNS translates human-friendly domain names, such as “google.com” or “facebook.com,” into IP addresses, which are machine-friendly numerical addresses that are used to identify network devices and communicate with them over the internet.

When you enter a domain name in your web browser’s address bar, the browser sends a request to a DNS resolver to look up the IP address associated with that domain name. The DNS resolver then queries various DNS servers until it finds the IP address for the domain name, and then returns that IP address to the browser. The browser can then use that IP address to connect to the server hosting the website or service associated with that domain name.

In simpler terms, it’s the phone book of the Internet – When you type a website address (like google.com) into your web browser, the DNS system helps your computer find the website’s “phone number” (its IP address) so that your computer can connect to it and show you the website.

DNS is essential for the functioning of the internet, and it plays a critical role in making it easy for people to access websites and other online resources by using memorable domain names instead of having to remember numerical IP addresses.