What is DNS

The DNS or Domain Name System is the system that transforms IP address numbers into domain names.

In practice, it's a system used to assign names to hosts, meaning a server service one is connected to.

Indeed, IP addresses are converted into domain names through the DNS system.

Each host is identified by a fixed or dynamic IP address with this type of format, namely: 192.168.0.1.

In essence, when you type in the name of the site you want to visit, the browser sends a request to the DNS server.

In turn, the server looks for the IP address associated with that name and communicates it to the browser.

Afterwards, the browser will use that name to send the connection request to the site.

DNS Structure

The structure of DNS has a hierarchical tree-like setup.

Each branch is divided into domains: com, org, it, and so on.

To each domain is assigned a nameserver.

Every nameserver maintains a database with all the information of the existing domains.

Every domain name ends with a dot and is also called "root domain".

Google DNS Devices

Unlike the DNS that offer the telephone line, there are others that are faster and more secure  which provide even better performance.

Among these, the most used are those of Google, CloudFlare and Open DNS.

The advantages that these servers can bring to the enterprise are numerous:

• Increased speed: the time between requests and responses is shorter because these DNS use specific technologies to minimize problems and speed up communication;
• Greater security: they employ more advanced security systems;
• Greater privacy: Google and CloudFlare ensure periodic deletion of data on the activity of connected browsers.

Generally, IP addresses are composed of 4 sets of numbers separated by dots.

These range from 0 to 255, so it's practically impossible for a user searching for a particular website to remember its IP address.

For this reason, there is the DNS system, because it can decode the web's URLs and link them to IP addresses.