DNS / Domain Name System

DNS (Domain Name Process)
The Domain Name Process (DNS) is a hierarchical naming process built on a distributed database for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Net or a private network. Most importantly, it translates domains significant to humans in to the numerical identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating & addressing these devices worldwide.


An often-used analogy to report the Domain Name Process is that it serves as the "phone book" for the Net by translating human-friendly computer hostnames in to IP addresses. For example, the domain name www.example.com translates to the addresses 192.0.32.10 (IPv4) & 2620:0:2d0:200::10 (Ipv6).

The Domain Name Process distributes the responsibility of assigning domains & mapping those names to IP addresses by designating authoritative name servers for each domain. Authoritative name servers are assigned to be responsible for their particular domains, & in turn can assign other authoritative name servers for their sub-domains. This mechanism has made the DNS distributed & fault tolerant & has helped avoid the necessity for a single central register to be continually consulted & updated.

The Domain Name Process makes it feasible to assign domains to groups of Net resources & users in a significant way, independent of each entity's physical location. Because of this, World Wide Web (WWW) hyperlinks & Net contact information can stay consistent & constant even if the current Net routing arrangements modify or the participant makes use of a mobile device. Net domains are simpler to keep in mind than IP addresses such as 208.77.188.166 (IPv4) or 2001:db8:1f70::999:de8:7648:6e8 (IPv6). Users take advantage of this when they recite significant Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) & e-mail addresses without having to know how the computer actually locates them.

In general, the Domain Name Process also stores other types of information, such as the list of mail servers that accept e mail for a given Net domain. By providing a worldwide, distributed keyword-based redirection service, the Domain Name Process is a vital part of the functionality of the Net.

Other identifiers such as RFID tags, UPCs, International characters in e mail addresses & host names, & a variety of other identifiers could all potentially use DNS.
The Domain Name Process also specifies the technical functionality of this database service. It defines the DNS protocol, a detailed definition of the knowledge structures & communication exchanges used in DNS, as part of the Net Protocol Suite.