What Does DNS or Domain Name Refer To?

Posted on: November 17, 2009
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Have you ever come across DNS domain name before? In today‘s fast moving world, internet is the favourite means of communication for business and personal matters. So, it will be a good idea to learn some internet terminology to keep up with times.

DNS is the abbreviation for domain name system. Domain Name System is a naming system used for computers, services or resources in connection with the internet. The Domain Name System or DNS links many types of information with regards to domain names. It makes it easier for people to locate and address other computers all over the world. In simple words, it is like an internet phone book. DNS translates computer host names into Internet Protocol or IP addresses. For example, www.yahoo.com could be translated into 208.77.188.166.

What is a domain name? To put it simply, it is the name of a computer in the world wide web. It is connected to the IP (internet protocol) address of your computer on the internet. Every computer that is connected to the computer has its own IP address and can be tracked to its owner by this very address. The Domain Name System (DNS) was created to make it easier for people to remember and use it to access a certain website. Your website will be configured, for instance www.example .com.

If you buy a domain name, your website will follow this configuration, for example www.example.com. Typical examples of top level domain names are “.com”, “.biz”, “.net” and “.org”. At times, these are called domain extensions. Both the sub domain and top level domain make up the domain name. The sub domain refers to the name you chose when you registered your domain name. The DNS is maintained by a distributed database system. It uses a client server model and can be referred to as name servers. For each domain or sub domain, there is one or more authoritative DNS server that publishes information about the domain and their respective name servers.

Since DNS was not created with security in mind, there are some security issues in relation to this. This is the very reason why spamming and hacking is possible in the internet. DNS cache poisoning is one of the security issues. It tricks a DNS server into believing that it has received genuine information although it was not. DNS Servers can also be attacked by viruses which could lead to false direction to the wrong IP address.

In order to register a DNS domain name, it is important to do it with an accredited domain name registrar. The registrars should be accredited by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). It is the organisation that is responsible for overseeing the name and number systems of the Internet for the whole world. Each top level domain (TLD) like “.com” and “.biz” are maintained and serviced technically by an administrative organisation which operates a registry.  The registry receives its registration information from each domain name registrar. The registrar is authorised to assign names in the corresponding top level domain (TLD) and to publish the relevant information using a special service called the WHOIS protocol.

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