DNS

A guide into DNS basics, how is it used in daily life and some evil tricks with it

DNS or domain name system is an important part of the web's infrastructure. It is made using three logical components, namely, a domain, a domain name and a "system".

What is a domain?

A domain is a logical boundary of a network - an administrative grouping of multiple private computer networks or local hosts within the same infrastructure.

What is a domain name?

A domain name is a unique identifier for a "domain". Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more.

So what is a DNS?

Quoting Wikipedia:

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the associated entities. Most prominently, it translates readily memorised domain names to the numerical IP addresses needed for locating and identifying computer services and devices with the underlying network protocols.

Basically, a DNS acts as a bridge between the website’s IP address and the domain name, translating "human-readable" URIs (Uniform Resource Identifier) into machine-readable IP addresses. This "magic" performed by the DNS is called "name resolution".

DNS runs on UDP port 53