What do you mean by DNS and how does it work?

Dec 20
19:22

2019

janani prakash

janani prakash

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The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and decentralized naming system for computers and other resources connected to the Internet or a private network.

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What is DNS?

 

DNS,What do you mean by DNS and how does it work? Articles also known as Domain Name System, is a fundamental piece of traveling through the internet. Most utmost people don’t realize they utilize it in their day to day life to do their jobs or check email. You can assume that DNS as a directory that matches names with numbers. In the case of DNS, the numbers are IP (Internet Protocol) addresses that assist processors to communicate and interact among one another and the names are domain names. 

DNS is a fundamental foundation piece of the internet. Each time you type a domain name inside the browser, your computer connects to a DNS server to find the respective IP address. Without DNS, the internet users would have to remember every IP address to connect with the right domain. The words i.e., in the form of domain names are a lot more comfortable to remember than long and confusing number series.

 

DNS registrar:

DNS registrar or a domain registrar is a company that sells domain names and registers them.

 

DNS propagation:

DNS propagation is the time period that takes when you update the nameservers for a domain. The experts state this happens between 24 and 48 hours, but most often propagation occurs in the first 15 minutes. Propagation can load for one person but not another residing in the other region.

 

Use of DNS:

DNS allows naming websites, servers, files, email addresses and primarily anything you find being part of an internet or a local network. You don’t have to remember numeric IP numbers for every request that is made by you.

 

DNS makes feasible for an instant resolution for your request. This proceeds via the globally established root servers, which save databases of all TLD names and their respective IP addresses.

DNS is a vital element of the internet now. It’s tough to imagine how we could function without its flawlessly designed structure. Unseen to the human eye, the seamless functionality of the internet today would not exist without the DNS service. 

 

The difference between DNS and nameservers:

 

People often tend to mix up DNS and nameservers, but the function of these two properties is remarkably different. 

Nameservers serve as a single control to be capable to point the entire domain to a host. For example, if you want your email, website, and everything else to be hosted by host, nameservers are the more suitable choice. Generally, there are two nameservers: a primary domain and a secondary domain, in case the primary domain is broken. 

 

How does DNS work?

 

DNS is a name resolution service, that operates on a global range and among all operating systems. It maps the domain name to its respective IP address. 

In the past, there used to be localhost files that mapped hostnames to IP addresses. The DNS manages millions of IP addresses and it’s been the most extensively used mapping system today.

While we type a domain in a browser, we trigger a DNS inquiry. Immediately, in split seconds, a series of events happen behind the scenes.

  1. The first step in this fast journey is for the browser to transmit a request to your OS and locate the respective IP address. 
  2. The OS then transmits the request to the Internet Service Provider (ISP). Each ISP has configured DNS servers which are known as resolving servers.
  3. The resolving server may not have the data about the location of the requested IP address; but, it points the inquiry in the way of the root servers.
  4. Then, the resolving server finds the location of the top-level domain nameservers. They hold the DNS records of the inquired hostname.
  5. Allocated to each registered domain, the primary and secondary authoritative nameservers hold a set of DNS records, among which rests the IP address of the domain name that we seek.
  6. The acknowledgment given by the servers goes back to the resolving server which carries the data back to the browser and the page we requested to visit is shown.
  7. The complete DNS process goes through all the levels discussed, in less than a second. Still, the process can be even quicker than that. On every stage of the process, the local cache is recognized as a first step of the way. 

 

What is a DNS zone record?

 

When the domain is registered, you also receive nameservers space from the registering firm or you can get it from someplace else. This space generates the DNS pointers for your domain and leads several requests towards your domain. 

 

Those listings are called DNS records and your domain name needs at least some of them in order to be reachable online. There are many optional records for many purposes. We’re going to look into some of the primary DNS record types as well as some of the most widely used ones.

 

Nameserver records: 

Symbolize which authoritative nameservers are responsible for handling your domain’s DNS zone records.

 

DNS A record: 

Symbolizes the IP address of your hostname.

 

CNAME record: 

A canonical name record, bound for forwarding your domain to another name.

 

MX records:

Mail exchanger records symbolize the mail server responsible for your domain.

 

DNS TXT record: 

Resource records giving the ability to associate your hostname to human-readable text about a server, network or other data.