Understanding DNS Better

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Understanding DNS Better - BillLentis.com

Contents

DNS is the abbreviation that refers to Domain Name System. Whenever you connect through your internet or any other private network, all activities are performed using this Domain Name System. In older days, there was a trend of keeping a phone book to record all details. DSN serves the same purpose and is considered to be the phonebook of the internet.

All online information is accessed through different domain names. Internet Protocol (IP) addresses is used as a tool to interact through diverse web browsers. Even if a personal is logging on to a WiFi connection using any device, he/she is getting connected to private network, which is making use of a DSN.

DSN deciphers and decodes the names into IP addresses. All the devices that are being connected to the internet have their own distinctive IP address which is used by other machineries and apparatuses to find that particular device. With the aid of DSN, human beings are not bothered to commit to memory all the IP addresses. The IP addresses need not always be numerical but they are alphanumeric as well.

A hostname is a name that is readable to the human beings and that matches and is parallel to a specific device. Hosts include stuff like servers, printers, routers and even the computer itself. The meaning of a host name varies from system to system. Hostname is not always a synonym of domain name, but it can be used interchangeably. Only when a name is resolvable to an IP, it can be a hostname or a domain name. it is mandatory that it follows a specific syntax pattern. It might make use of letters, numbers and hyphens (hyphens cannot be used at the beginning and end). The task of the IP address is to recognize the host.

Host names like ‘Mikes-laptop’ and ‘Philips’ can be identified only as host names but not as domain names because they are not considered to the part of the DSN. There are millions and millions of people around the globe who share these names. Let us take an example to make the point more clear. –care.dyn.com can be identified as a domain name but it is not a host name, as it does not comply with the customary style of naming a host name. Care is a hostname but is not a host name on the internet. If the hyphen is removed from the start that is if the name does not begin with a hyphen it can act as both the host name and the domain name.

1. DSN Servers

Broadly speaking, when a website is to be loaded, it requires four DSN servers. Recursor, Root Nameserver, TLD Nameserver and the last one is Authoritative Nameserver.

2. Recursor

The way the librarian knows where a particular book is placed in the library and keeps a record of all the books, in the same way, a recursor is a DSN server that acts like a librarian who is being asked to go and find a particular book which a reader has demanded. It is especially modeled to obtain all the inquiries from the patron appliance via web browser or other applications like that. Generally, it is the responsibility of the recursor to make any sort of supplementary entreaties in an effort to satisfy the client(s).

3. Root Nameserver

The first step in the translation of a host name (that is readable to the human beings) into IP address is the Root nameserver. Generally speaking, it is like a catalogue in a library that helps the readers in finding the exact rack in which a particular book can be found. Working on the same principle, it functions as a reference to more precise and explicit locations.

4. TLD Nameserver

TLD refers to Top Level Domain. Taking the same example of the library stuff, TLD Nameserver refers to a particular and exact rack or the book shelf in which the specific book is to be found. It is the second step in searching an IP address. It is the last part of any hostname e.g. ‘.com’.

5. Authoritative Nameserver

The ultimate and concluding server is the Authoritative Nameserver. Roughly speaking, it can be referred to as a dictionary based on the racks in the library, which provides the definition and translation of different names.

6. Types Of DNS

There are three types of DNS which include System DNS, User DNS and the last one is File DNS.

7. System DNS

The information regarding DSN is stored in a specific registry. Any individual who has an access to a particular machine or a computer can use this System DSN.

8. User DNS

User DSN is the second type of DSN. Like the System DSN, the information regarding this DSN is also stored in the registry. It is created, crafted and fashioned for a specific user.

9. File DNS

It makes use of a .DSN extension to store the information and the information is being stored in a text file. The specification of DSN is usually done on the command line. Different parts of the DSN are separated by commas.

The year 1969 saw the launch of internet under the name ARPAnet. Initially there were four universities that wanted to link together so they connected their network together. Follow suit, many other companies, universities and offices started connecting themselves via networking. Within three years ARPAnet became a huge success and it became so gigantic and overcrowded that it could not handle so many IP addresses. It became an enormous and a colossal issue. An immediate solution was needed to solve this problem.

It took more than a decade to solve this problem and finally in 1983 this issue was resolved by Paul Mockapetris. Because of the fast growing APRAnet the Domain Name System was created. As APRAnet had become overburdened, so a computerized and mechanized system was needed to keep a record of host names, protocols and internet addresses.