DNS (Domain Name System) — translated from English means the domain name system. This is a special computer distributed system for obtaining information about domains. DNS server (Name Server, NS) is a server that converts domains into IP addresses understandable for computers and vice versa. Usually, there is no difference between the concepts of NS and DNS servers. In our article, we will explain in simple terms how a DNS server works and why it is needed. Let's get started!
What is a DNS server in simple terms
Let's look at a simple example. Imagine that you need to send a letter to your friend in another city. What information will you write on the envelope so that the letter definitely reaches the recipient? That's right, the full postal address and name of your friend. On the Internet, all sites also have their own addresses. For example, to visit the Eurobyte website, you need to enter our domain name in the browser's address bar.
The domain of our website is eurobyte.ru.You can see our domain name here.
Take a look for yourself: eurobyte.ru is our domain, our “name” on the Internet. However, if we draw an analogy with sending letters, then the postal address on the network will be a special IP address, consisting of four numbers bosnia and herzegovina whatsapp number database from zero to two hundred and fifty-five. Let's look at a simple example. Try entering the following address in your browser: 74.125.131.100. You will be automatically redirected to the site google.com, because these numbers are one of the IP addresses of Google.
To understand what DNS is, let's draw another analogy. Imagine that you now want to call your friend. You go to your phone book and see the following entry: your friend's name and phone number. Now think about what would happen if your phone book only stored numbers without names? How much data would you have to remember? On the Internet, a name is a domain, and a phone number is an IP address. With the help of domain names, we can easily find the resources we need and remember them.
DNS is a kind of phone book on the Internet. The domain name system stores the relationship between the relatively easy names of web resources and their long numeric addresses, which are difficult for anyone to remember. However, there is a significant difference between a regular phone book and a DNS server: when you write down a new contact in your phone, you can name it whatever you like. Domain names are chosen exclusively by website owners. For example, you can only get to the Eurobyte website at eurobyte.ru. And DNS, in turn, tells the browser (or rather, the computer where the browser is installed) the necessary IP address.
DNS operation diagram.This is what an approximate diagram of how DNS servers work looks like.
What is a DNS server for?
Thus, the DNS server functions as a "notebook" on the Internet. It is necessary for storing data on which IP address corresponds to a certain domain name. There are a huge number of such DNS servers. Their main tasks are:
store the relationship between simple domains and complex IP addresses;