The internet is set up of a large network of computers located around the world. These networks connect underground and in some cases under the sea. DNS is a hierarchical system that works by crawling through information on a system of linked DNS servers to determine the location of a particular domain name server.
When people visit your domain name, its DNS settings determine which servers it reaches. For example, if you use Namecheap’s DNS settings, your visitors will reach the Namecheap servers hosting your website. If you change the DNS settings to another company’s DNS servers, visitors will reach them instead of us when accessing your domain.
To understand how the hierarchy is queried by your computer to produce a website on your screen, you need a basic understanding of the elements that comprise a domain name and how these relate to IP addresses.
• Third-Level Domain – Also known as the subdomain. Simply put, a subdomain is anything that appears before the second-level domain, the most common subdomain is www. But they can take many forms, such as books.google.com.
• Second-Level Domain – This is often the name of the website and the unique part of the domain name, appearing to the immediate left of the TLD. For example, the second-level domain in the URL www.namecheap.com is Namecheap sandwiched between the third and top-level domains.
• Top-Level Domain – Is the furthest point to the right of the domain. The most common TLD is .com. Within the hierarchy, TLDs are at the top with regard to domain names. ICANN oversees TLDs and facilitates the distribution of TLDs, most commonly through a domain registrar such as Namecheap.
• IP Address – An Internet Protocol address is an addressable location on the internet. Each IP is unique in its network. In relation to websites, the network is the entire internet. The most common form of IP address are known as is IPv4, and written as a set of four numbers; each set has no more than three digits, and each set separated by a single dot. 157.158.458.756, for example, would be a valid IPv4 address. The DNS maps a name to that address saving you the bother of remembering a complicated series of numbers for each website you want to visit.
• How DNS Works
• How are Domains Mapped to IP Addresses
• DNS Configuration
• DNS Hosting
• DNS Propagation
• DNS Privacy Protection
• Domain Name Elements