🏠 Think of DNS Like Finding Someone's Home Address
Imagine you want to visit your friend Sarah, but you only know her name and that she lives in "Springfield."
You'd need to find her exact street address to get there. DNS works the same way - when you type
"www.google.com" your computer needs to find the exact "internet address" (IP address) to connect to Google's servers.
Just like you might ask different people for directions (your neighbor, the post office, city hall),
your computer asks different "internet directories" until it finds the right address!
You type a website name into your browser. Your computer knows this name, but needs to find the actual internet address (IP address) to connect.
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Your computer first checks if it remembers visiting this website recently. If it does, it uses that saved address and skips the rest!
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Found in Cache!
Use saved address
Skip to website
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Not in Cache
Need to ask around
Continue lookup
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Your computer asks your internet provider (like Comcast or AT&T) if they know the address. They have a big directory and will help you find it.
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Your ISP asks the internet's main directory: "Where can I find .com websites?" The root server says "Go ask the .com department!"
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The .com department says "I don't have the exact address, but I know who manages all 'example.com' addresses. Go ask them!"
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Finally! The website's own directory server says "Yes, www.example.com is located at IP address 192.168.1.1"
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The IP address gets passed back through the chain to your computer. Now you can connect to the website and see the page!
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All this happens in milliseconds!