What is the DNS server and what is it for?

What is a DNS server? What does DNS mean? What are DNS servers used for? These are some of the questions asked by the millions of people who surf the Internet every day. This network is made up of hundreds of millions of connections, which make it possible for people to view everything from complete web pages to videos and images. And this is where the DNS as a differential element.

What is the DNS server?

The DNS network (Domain Name System) can be translated as Domain Name System. Thus, it is the system that makes it possible to surf the Internet, since it points the domains to the corresponding server and serves as an interpreter between the people and the machine that translates the IP address to a domain name. In other words, it helps you get to the website you are looking for in the first place.

Thus, it can be said to be a database that has been distributed with different connection points all over the world and whose mission is to translate domain names in networks. Explained another way, it would be the translation of a web request, such as a search for 'Immune Technology' with an IP address 207.515.687.268.

What is DNS for?

In determining what a DNS server is and what it is used for, it should be clarified that all DNS servers are equipment connected to the network and every web space has an IP address assigned to it. Therefore, there are millions of IP addresses all over the world, so it is impossible to know them all. Instead, it is better to memorise names, for which domains exist. The DNS network translates these addresses into text.

However, this conversion is not only done in this direction, but also the other way round, going from translate texts into IP addresses. This makes surfing the Internet much easier, as you only have to enter the name of a website to access it.

Moreover, the text and IP address conversion is done in a way that automatic, so the user goes directly to the website he/she was looking for. In addition to knowing What is the DNS server, the following parts should be highlighted:

• DNS ClientThe customer search is installed on the search for customers, who are responsible for making resolution requests name servers to DNS servers.
• DNS server: is in charge of answering customer requests and resolves names using a tree-structured system. In this way, the DNS server is the address that is placed in the configuration of an Internet connection.
• Areas of authorityare servers or groups in charge of solving a specific set of domains, from .com to .en o .net.

How does DNS work?

Ultimately, it is a system that runs through the tree structure making consultations. That is to say, it asks for information and goes through the different branches until it resolves the name you are looking for and returns it to the request made by the browser.

Therefore, when you enter the name of a website in your browser, the DNS will translate this request into an IP address and look it up in the cache. If it is not there, you will have to check with the router and, if the search is still unsuccessful, it will continue to query until it finds what it is looking for.

Now that we have a more detailed idea of what a DNS server is, let's take a look at what it is and how to use it. DNS types that exist:

• DNS RecursorDNS server: sends recursive information from a server to query other servers for the request on behalf of the client. To do this, it launches a query to the root DNS name server.
• Root name serveris at the top level of the tree and responds to resource queries and indicates specific places to find the information you are looking for, which would be the top-level domain name servers.
• TLD name serverDomain name servers: they are in charge of collecting the information of a common domain extension. Thus, they will respond to the query made by the DNS by means of a reference to the authorised name servers.
• Authorised name serverDNS: is the one that has the original resources for a specific domain. In other words, the one that has all the information, so it can resolve the query made by the DNS by means of a translation to the IP address being searched for.

Now that you know a lot more about what is the DNS server and its relevance on the web, you might be interested in considering the possibility of broadening your knowledge in computer science and/or programming, by training in one of the Web Development Bootcamps offered by Immune Technology. For this, there is nothing better than training with our bachelor's or master's degrees specialised.

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