How does a DNS server work?
Domain name servers are the backbone of the Internet - they make it possible to surf websites and check your e-mail. Although you make use of these servers every day, you probably have no idea how important they are. So how does a DNS server work?
Basically, the system of DNS servers that comprise the Internet is a large distributed database. Every time you go online, you use a domain to access each site you visit - for example, the address you typed into your browser to reach this website is the domain name in use for this particular IP. Real domains are numerical IP addresses (the actual domain read by computers), but because numbers are harder for people to remember, a system that uses words to mask the numbers has been developed. Instead of typing in 213.167.104.170 to reach a website, you type in something like, 'mydomain.com.'
Where does a DNS server fit into the picture? Whenever you type in a domain name, a domain name server translates the word or phrase domain into the numerical IP address computers are able to understand. As you spend time on the Internet during the course of a normal day, you're using DNS servers all the time, just to go about normal web browsing.
When it comes right down to it, a domain name server translates a domain name to an IP address. But the process involved is actually quite complicated. This is because there are literally billions of IP addresses in use at any given time, and billions of requests made on a daily basis. IP addresses can change, and new domain names are constantly being added to the roster.
The DNS system is a complex database that receives more requests every day than any other database in the world. The DNS system used for the Internet is an entity like no other. Millions of people use a DNS server to browse websites, learn new information, e-mail friends and family, and communicate online. Without a DNS server for every machine on the Internet, the web wouldn't exist and the world could not connect through computers in the way it does.
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