In the first of three articles, we look at the DNS system and how it works as a directory for the internet.
When I first started in web development, I was always a little bit baffled by the Domain Name System and DNS records in general. Fumbling away in my hosting provider’s Domain Manager trying figure out what record was what and whether it was needed or just junk, seemed to happen every time I deployed a new website, until finally id dawned on me… maybe I should make some notes for next time?
This article looks specifically at what DNS is, but over the course of three articles, I will provide a summary and explanation of the notes I have made in relation to DNS which will hopefully make it easier for you the next time you need to add, update or remove DNS records associated with a domain.
So what is DNS?
DNS or Domain Name Server is a shorthand label for the DNS system that acts as a directory for websites similar to the now defunct phonebook – If you’ve never seen a phonebook, you’re making me feel old right now. Computers talk to and find one another via this ‘DNS directory’ only they don’t use names and phone numbers, they use Internet Protocol (IP) addresses like 203.168.10.1 if using IPv4 (IP version 4), and 2001:db8:0:1:1:1:1:10 if the DNS is using IPv6 (IP version 6). Devices on the internet connect and communicate with each other via these unique IP addresses and because people are better at remembering strings of words as opposed to a string of many numbers, a method was required to map these human readable strings of words i.e. domain names to the IP addresses that computers use to talk to each other.
So the DNS system was created to provide a network of interlinked servers that store and share information with one another. DNS records show mappings between domain names and IP addresses, where to locate devices, where DNS information is stored for domain resources and how to direct or redirect requests made for resources.
In conclusion, DNS is just a directory of interlinked servers that allow people to use domain names instead of IP addresses to make requests for resources over the internet.
In the next article in this series, I will look at what actually happens when you type a domain name into a browser and press enter.
