3.3.8

Domain Name Service

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Domain Name Service (DNS)

When a client sends a request to the server, it has to use an Internet Protocol (IP) address so that we can find the correct server. Modern web browsers allow us to enter a domain name instead, which the DNS translates.

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Why use the DNS?

  • Domain names are much easier to read and remember than IP addresses.
  • Computers have to use IP addresses to communicate over the Internet Protocol.
  • The DNS converts these domain names into IP addresses for us.
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DNS lookup

  • When we have a domain name, we send a request to the nearest DNS server asking for the IP address associated with that domain name.
  • The DNS server responds with the correct IP address.
  • The client can then use this IP address to send their original request.
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DNS miss

  • If a DNS server does not have an IP address associated with a particular domain name (a DNS miss), then it can ask other DNS servers that it knows about.
  • By continuing to ask other, larger DNS servers, we will eventually resolve the IP address and send this to the original client.

Jump to other topics

1Components of a Computer

2Software & Software Development

3Exchanging Data

4Data Types, Data Structures & Algorithms

5Legal, Moral, Cultural & Ethical Issues

6Elements of Computational Thinking

6.1Thinking Abstractly

6.2Thinking Ahead

6.3Thinking Procedurally

6.4Thinking Logically

6.5Thinking Concurrently

7Problem Solving & Programming

8Algorithms

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