The Magic Behind Your Clicks: Demystifying DNS and Website Access.
DNS Resolution Explained, How Your Browser Finds Websites.
Understanding How DNS Resolution Works When Accessing a Website 👇
Ever wondered how your web browser knows where to find the website you’re trying to visit? Let’s break down the magic behind DNS (Domain Name System) resolution:
Web Servers and IP Addresses:
Every web server is identified by a unique IP address, which is a series of numbers that computers use to locate each other on the internet. When you want to visit a website, your web browser needs to translate the human-friendly domain name into this numerical IP address.
What is DNS?
DNS is like the phonebook of the internet. It’s a network of servers that translate domain names into IP addresses, making it easier for us to navigate the web without having to memorize numbers.
DNS Servers:
When you want to visit a website, your device first looks for the site’s IP address in the local, router, and ISP DNS caches. If it’s not found there, the search continues through a series of DNS servers designed to resolve the domain name:
1. Root Name Servers:
The query starts here. Root servers don’t store the IP addresses of individual sites. Instead, they know where to find the TLD (Top-Level Domain) servers.
2. TLD Servers:
These servers manage domains under a specific extension (like .com or .net) and can direct queries to the exact authoritative name servers for each domain.
3. Authoritative Name Servers:
Typically provided by domain sellers like GoDaddy, these servers hold the actual DNS records for a domain, including the crucial IP address that your browser needs to access a website.
DNS Resolving Process:
Let’s walk through the steps of DNS resolution.
1. Device Requests IP Address:
Your device sends a query to a DNS resolver to find the IP address for a website’s domain name.
2. Query Root Server:
The DNS resolver contacts a root server, which responds with the address of the TLD server for the domain’s extension.
3. Query TLD Server:
The resolver then queries the TLD server, which directs it to the authoritative name server for the domain.
4. Query Authoritative Servers:
The resolver retrieves the IP address from the authoritative servers.
5. Access the Website:
The browser uses the IP address to establish a connection with the web server, which sends the webpage content back to your browser.