How to Understand the Domain Name System

The Domain Name System (DNS) translates easily remembered textual names, such as www.ehow.com, into numerical IP addresses, such as 216.34.122.81, allowing for easier Internet use.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet Access

1. Realize that when you sign up with an Internet service provider (ISP), part of your initial configuration is to specify a DNS server to use. (The ISP will tell you the DNS address to use and how to configure the DNS information.)

2. Once you're set up, type a textual URL into the Address or Go To bar of your Web browser.

3. Understand that you can access the Web page only when your ISP's designated DNS server finds the numerical IP address associated with this URL and provides you with information collected from the IP address.

4. Recognize that if you get a DNS error message, it typically means that the DNS server can't find an IP address that matches the name you typed. But DNS servers can also have problems. If you can't access any Web pages, there might be a DNS problem. If you know any IP addresses, try them. If a known IP address doesn't work, the DNS server is down. Switch to another DNS server, or call your ISP to ask for another DNS address. If the IP address doesn't work, call your ISP for more information.

Tips & Warnings

• Domain names are assigned based on the type of organization or site requesting the name. Site types are generally differentiated by the three-letter suffix at the end of the URL. Some of the more common suffixes are .com for commercial sites, .org for nonprofit sites, and .gov for sites maintained by the government.
• Countries outside the United States generally use different site naming conventions, and the name of the country that hosts a particular site is usually given by a two-letter suffix. Examples include .uk for the United Kingdom and .de for Germany.

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