DNS What It Is and How It Works: A Complete Guide to the Domain Name System

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What is DNS and How Does it Work: A Complete Guide
Much like a telephone directory, a domain name system (DNS) bridges the communication gap between humans and computers by matching domain names to their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses .

In this in-depth guide, you will learn what DNS (Domain Name System) is, which DNS servers are involved in loading a website, the definition of domain nameservers , and how to change them.

Every domain name has a DNS zone that colombia phone number data it to DNS servers , so we'll also look at how to edit your DNS zone. Finally, we'll look at what DNS propagation and DNSSEC are .

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How does DNS work?
When users enter a domain name into the address bar of their web browser, they will be directed to the site they want to visit. However, this seemingly instantaneous task consists of several steps known as a DNS lookup or DNS resolution process .

Here is an example of what the DNS resolution process typically looks like to better illustrate how the Domain Name System works.

You want to be directed to the Creativemotions website, so enter the domain name Creativemotions.it into your web browser's address bar. What you are doing here is sending a DNS request .

Next, your computer will check to see if it already has a DNS record stored. of the domain you submitted locally. A DNS record is an IP address that corresponds to the domain name.

First, your computer will look for the hosts file and cache. The hosts file is a plain text file that maps host names to IP addresses in an operating system, while the cache is temporary data stored by a hardware or software component.

The corresponding IP addresses for the DNS service are commonly found in the browser cache or in the cache of the Internet service provider (ISP).

However, if no matching IP address is found in the hosts file and cache, additional steps will be added to the DNS resolution process.

Read also: What is a PTR Record and How to Perform a Reverse IP Lookup

Which DNS servers are involved in loading a website?
If your computer cannot find a matching IP address in the hosts file or cache, it will send your DNS query or query a network of four DNS servers . The following section will discuss each DNS server and how it works.

DNS Resolver
DNS resolver or recursive resolver acts as the main intermediary between a computer and other DNS servers. Its purpose is to forward a query to other DNS servers and then send it back once satisfied.

When the DNS resolver receives a request, it will first look in its cache to find a matching IP address for the domain name. If such an IP address is found, the request sent to the DNS servers ends here and you will immediately see the site you want to visit.

Otherwise, if no match is found in its cache, the DNS resolver will forward the request to the next DNS server address, the root nameserver.

Root nameserver
The root nameserver or DNS root server sits at the top of the Domain Name System hierarchy. Think of it as a reference bank.