Domain Name System (DNS)

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the "phone book" of the internet. Instead of remembering the numeric IP addresses of websites, DNS is used to translate user-friendly domain names (like "www.example.com") into the corresponding IP addresses needed by computers to communicate. It works like a human-machine translation engine—the user enters the domain, and DNS returns the appropriate IP address.

Without DNS, surfing the internet would be almost unimaginable, as every user would have to know the IP addresses of every website by heart. DNS eliminates this challenge, allowing us to simply use easily understood names.

Today, it's absolutely crucial: every internet connection begins with a DNS request. Modern variants such as DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) or DNS-over-TLS (DoT) offer additional data protection and security.

Classification in the OSI model:

• Application Layer (Layer 7)
  DNS operates at the application layer, interacting with user-friendly names and their translation into technical IP addresses.