Every domain or website you visit uses one or more specific DNS. Now what is DNS and where is it located on the website and how does it work? These are the questions that may arise in the minds of users. DNS is a universal system that all websites and domains use, and without it, no website will survive. In this article, we are going to tell you What is a DNS Server and How Does it Work? We suggest that you do not miss this interesting post and stay with us until the end.
DNS stands for Domain Name System, which converts a website’s domain name to an IP address. All computers on the Internet, from smartphones or laptops to website servers, identify and communicate with each other using numbers. These are called IP numbers.
When you want to enter a website and communicate with its server, you don’t need to enter its IP address. Instead, you only need to enter the domain name of the website and leave the operation of converting the “domain name to IP” to DNS. By doing this, the human-understandable domain name becomes a machine-understandable IP.
There are various plans for a dedicated server on our website. You can do the DNS configuration on a cheap dedicated server provided on our website.
When you enter a website address, you need to connect to the server IP associated with your domain. Now, where is this information and how does the system understand which domains belong to which server? A DNS server or Nameserver acts like a phone book and records all DNS records and IPs related to them. In other words, its task is to provide DNS information related to domains.
Usually, web hosting services manage nameservers. Every host or server you buy has its own IP address that needs to be registered. Each DNS server is responsible for storing information about the domain and IP servers in itself so that it can send the information when called. The DNS inside the Nameservers are spread all over the world and it should be available to all of them for identification. Therefore, domain DNS registration may take up to 48 hours.
Each Nameserver has its own DNS address that can store records of many domains and IPs. For example:
Ns1.neuronvm.com
Ns2.neuronvm.com
Each domain name must be at least two-way bound to DNS. Because the server and the main server and subsequent servers are used for times when the main server is not available. When a website’s domain address is called, your server’s IP information is read from the DNS server and sent to the browser, and then a request to receive the information is sent to your server.
As we said, DNS is responsible for returning the IP from the domain. This operation is carried out in several steps until finally, a valid and healthy IP address reaches the user. It is a little difficult to find the IP address of the website among all the DNS servers in the world, which is made easy by the DNS architecture. Each of these steps will help you find the original DNS by sorting out where the DNS is stored. For example, first, the DNS zone and then the DNS servers related to their back-domain are checked in order to reach a suitable location.
1) DNS Recursor
In the first step, the user’s request is sent to this section. This section communicates with the set DNS servers to find the IP. To do this, it sends queries to the next three parts, i.e. Root Nameservers, Top-level Domain Nameservers, and Authoritative Nameservers, to find the right IP.
2) Root Nameservers
This section is for finding the DNS root zone or DNS from its zone. This section is responsible for responding to requests placed in the same DNS zone. Finally, a list of valid servers matching the domain’s TLD will help find the IP address.
3) Top-level Domain Nameservers
It is responsible for keeping the IP related to the TDL of the domain and sends the existing IP and reaches the fourth stage.
4) Authoritative Nameserver
Returns the real and final IP address. At this stage, there are two types of servers: the first server is the main server, which is the main IP set in the first DNS, and the second server is your alternate and backup DNS. If the primary server fails, it uses the secondary server and returns the final IP.
A cache system means temporarily storing data in a closer location, which leads to improved performance and faster response. DNS caching means storing DNS information in the closest location to the user. When sending subsequent requests, the DNS response is read from the user’s cache and no more requests are sent to the DNS chain. Finally, CPU bandwidth consumption decreases, and website loading speed increases. DNS data can be stored in various cache locations and for a specific time period in terms of TTL.
By default, web browsers support DNS caching and store information about each DNS for a certain period of time so that the DNS response can be read from the browser when it is reloaded. When you open a domain address, before sending a DNS request, the browser cache is first checked, and if there is no information, the request is sent to the DNS chain. In the Chrome browser, you can see the status of the current DNS cache by going to the following address:
chrome://net-internals/#DNS
Usually, the web hosting service provides you with DNS servers, but you can still change your domain’s DNS. There are free and paid DNS servers that are very fast and secure and use security tools such as firewalls and request filters. Next, we will introduce some of the top DNS servers.
Cloudflare: Cloudflare is one of the DNS provider services that provides many features to users. In addition to security, Cloudflare prevents DDoS attacks and other attacks and optimizes the security and loading speed of your website with security services and optimized architecture.
Google Public DNS: Google’s DNS service, which is called Google Public DNS, is slightly different from Cloudflare’s service and is designed for more experienced users. This service has its own uses and facilities that you can use if needed.
Quad9: Quad9 DNS service is famous for its speed. Also, the service claims to be able to block malicious websites and users using its data.
DNS is the communication system between the domain name and the server IP, which ultimately shows the server information to the user. DNS consists of 4 parts, all of which eventually reach the IP server. Also, there are different ways to change domain DNS records (such as NS records and A records) you can connect your server IP to your domain in different ways. Another point is that you can use DNS services to maintain security and speed.
It depends. They are always at risk of hacking and to increase security, you can use DNS services.
Yes, private DNS can provide you with more security compared to other DNS.
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