What is DNS?

DNS stands for “Domain Name System”.

The DNS is a naming system for computers, servers and other network devices over the Internet. It is used for resolving hostnames to IP addresses or vice versa. For e.g. hostname server.dnsknowledge.com has IPv4 address 67.228.49.226 and has IPv6 address 2607:f0d0:1002:11::9. In other words DNS is used for associating a domain name (such as dnsknowledge.com) to an IP address (such as 67.228.49.226). It just work like the “phone book” for the Internet by translating easy remember computer or server names into IP addresses.

Internet domain names are easier to remember than IP addresses such as 67.228.49.226 (IPv4) or 2607:f0d0:1002:11::9 (IPv6). Using DNS one can remember URLs such as google.com and e-mail addresses without having to know how the machine will actually locate them.

The DNS is suite of protocols that comprise TCP/IP. All major operating systems, network devices, mobile phones, and PDAs supports DNS. DNS is always implemented using two software components:

1. The DNS server.
2. The DNS client (also resolver).

Why Use DNS?

1. Each packet that is sent across an IP network over LAN or the Internet must contain a destination IP address.
2. However, users prefer to identify destination hosts by hostname rather than IP addresses.
3. Numerical IP addresses are difficult to remember.
4. Almost, all applications such as web browser, e-mail client and other apps allow users to enter destinations as hostname.
5. Your applications will automatically translate those hostnames to IP addresses using resolver library functions for communication.
6. DNS makes it easy to remember network names, server names, file server names, web site names and e-mail address for network users.

Summery

• DNS is created for us to translate human-friendly computer names into IP addresses.
• DNS is critical for the Internet.
• DNS is an essential component of the functionality of the internet including e-mail, anti-spam, distributing software updates and much more.