{"id":8433,"date":"2020-06-08T09:32:49","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T09:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/?p=8433"},"modified":"2023-12-06T15:18:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T15:18:55","slug":"what-is-a-dns-server-and-why-the-internet-wouldnt-work-without-the-dns-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/software-ux-ui\/what-is-a-dns-server-and-why-the-internet-wouldnt-work-without-the-dns-system\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is a DNS Server and Why the Internet Wouldn\u2019t Work Without the DNS System"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Here\u2019s an in-depth look at the domain name system and its components \u2014 we\u2019ll cover everything from what a DNS server is and how it\u2019s used to how it benefits you and your customers<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When\u2019s the last time you dialed your best friend\u2019s phone number to call them? If you\u2019re like me (and most people nowadays), you already have your friend\u2019s name and phone number programmed into your cell phone\u2019s contact list. This way, you can call anyone on your list simply by tapping on their name, and you don\u2019t have to wrack your brain to remember their individual phone number.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the tech world, this is also the beauty of the domain name system (DNS). A DNS server works in much the same way. It\u2019s the modern equivalent of a phone book or old school phone operator, but for websites instead of phone numbers. Every website has a \u201cphone number\u201d called an IP address\u2026 but we don\u2019t want to type in the IP address, so we use the website domain name instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what does DNS actually stand for and how does it work to simplify life on the internet?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the article, we\u2019ll answer your question \u201cwhat is a Domain Name System\u201d and break down how it’s used to translate domain names to IP addresses. We\u2019ll also cover the role of DNS caching, and how you can either host a DNS server on your network or use a third-party DNS server.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What Does DNS Stand For? Let\u2019s Break Down the Meaning of a Domain Name System\u2026<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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If you\u2019ve ever wondered \u201cwhat is a DNS server\u201d or \u201cwhat is a domain name system,\u201d then you\u2019ve come to the right place. The domain name system, which is comprised of individual DNS servers, is a term that describes a series of computers and servers that translates hard-to-remember IP addresses into human-friendly domain names. So, when people ask what DNS means, essentially, they\u2019re asking about a system that simplifies complex processes to provide an easy user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DNS was first introduced at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 1983 as RFC 883<\/a> and was later implemented in 1985. It\u2019s been in use ever since in a very important way: it helps users connect to websites without having to remember long and challenging IP addresses.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Every website domain has a corresponding internet protocol (IP) address that is associated with a hosting server. This is where the files and information of your website actually reside on the internet. Web servers use IP addresses to connect to the right web server, which enables it to use the domain name and request path to retrieve the correct files for every website connection request.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Types of IP Addresses: IPv4 and IPv6<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The most common type of IP address (IPv4) consists of four sets of digits that are separated by periods (which would look something like 192.51.100.55). Each IPv4 address is 32 bits. IPv6 IP addresses<\/a>, on the other hand, consist of eight groups of four hexadecimal numbers that are separated by colons. There are three types: unicast, anycast, and multicast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IPv6 addresses, which are 128 bit each, were created out of fear that we\u2019d eventually run out of IPv4 IP addresses (4,294,967,296 may sound like a lot, but it\u2019s really not in the span of the internet). Experts estimate that the total number of available IPv6 addresses is 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 (which, honestly, I\u2019m not even sure how to say). So, as you can see, this is vastly different larger pool of available addresses to pull from!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are two examples of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses:<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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All of This Is to Say\u2026<\/h3>\n\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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So, the simplified version of this means that every time you type your favorite website into your browser, your computer\u2019s DNS client reaches out to one or more DNS servers to find out the corresponding IP address for the website you want to display it for you. The more complicated version involves several other steps in-between that get you from point A to point B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember those old school phone operators I mentioned earlier? It\u2019s kind of like how they would serve as mediators and connect your call. But imagine that there are several of those operators working together to connect your request with the appropriate IP address.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How DNS Servers Benefit Users<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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So, why is a DNS system really necessary? Let\u2019s take a moment to put this in perspective. NetCraft\u2019s April 2020 Web Server Survey<\/a> reports that there are 1,246,121,153 sites across 260,089,947 unique domains in existence on the internet. Internetlivestats.com<\/a> reports that there were 1,770,921,180 websites in existence when I wrote this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, take a moment to think about how many websites you personally visit when you surf the web each day. Do you think you\u2019d be able to remember even a minute fraction of those IP addresses?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, considering that the official number of websites changes every second, it\u2019s safe to say that there are far more websites \u2014 and corresponding IP addresses \u2014 in existence than any one person could ever hope to remember.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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DNS servers mean that if you wanted to visit Apple\u2019s official website, instead of having to remember their IP address (17.254.0.91), you\u2019d be able to simply type in \u201capple.com\u201d and your web browser seemingly retrieves the correct information from the appropriate web host server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For our customers at SectigoStore.com<\/a>, it means that they can just type \u201csectigostore.com\u201d instead of 18.218.92.73. To find out the IP address of one of your favorite websites, you can use the system command tool and type \u201ctracert yourfavoritedomain.com\u201d to see for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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