01/12/2024, 14:07 Domain Name System (DNS) in Application Layer - GeeksforGeeks

Domain Name System (DNS) in Application Layer

Last Updated : 27 Sep, 2024

The Domain Name System (DNS) is like the internet’s phone book. It helps
you find websites by translating easy-to-remember names (like
www.example.com) into the numerical IP addresses (like 192.0.2.1) that
computers use to locate each other on the internet. Without DNS, you would
have to remember long strings of numbers to visit your favorite websites.

Domain Name System (DNS) is a hostname used for IP address translation

services. DNS is a distributed database implemented in a hierarchy of name
servers. It is an application layer protocol for message exchange between
clients and servers. It is required for the functioning of the Internet.

What is the Need for DNS?

Every host is identified by the IP address but remembering numbers is very
difficult for people also the IP addresses are not static therefore a mapping
is required to change the domain name to the IP address. So DNS is used to
convert the domain name of the websites to their numerical IP address.

Types of Domain
There are various kinds of domains:

Generic Domains: .com(commercial), .edu(educational), .mil(military),

.org(nonprofit organization), .net(similar to commercial) all these are
generic domains.
Country Domain: .in (India) .us .uk
Inverse Domain: if we want to know what is the domain name of the
website. IP to domain name mapping. So DNS can provide both the
mapping for example to find the IP addresses of geeksforgeeks.org then
we have to type

nslookup www.geeksforgeeks.org

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Types of DNS

Organization of Domain
It is very difficult to find out the IP address associated with a website
because there are millions of websites and with all those websites we
should be able to generate the IP address immediately, there should not be
a lot of delays for that to happen organization of the database is very
important.

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Root DNS Server

DNS Record: Domain name, IP address what is the validity? what is the
time to live? and all the information related to that domain name. These
records are stored in a tree-like structure.
Namespace: Set of possible names, flat or hierarchical. The naming
system maintains a collection of bindings of names to values – given a
name, a resolution mechanism returns the corresponding value.
Name Server: It is an implementation of the resolution mechanism.

DNS = Name service in Internet – A zone is an administrative unit, and

a domain is a subtree.

Name-to-Address Resolution
The host requests the DNS name server to resolve the domain name. And
the name server returns the IP address corresponding to that domain name
to the host so that the host can future connect to that IP address.

Name-to-Address Resolution

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Hierarchy of Name Servers Root Name Servers: It is contacted by name

servers that can not resolve the name. It contacts the authoritative name
server if name mapping is not known. It then gets the mapping and
returns the IP address to the host.
Top-level Domain (TLD) Server: It is responsible for com, org, edu, etc,
and all top-level country domains like uk, fr, ca, in, etc. They have info
about authoritative domain servers and know the names and IP
addresses of each authoritative name server for the second-level
domains.
Authoritative Name Servers are the organization’s DNS servers,
providing authoritative hostnames to IP mapping for organization servers.
Aptitude Engineering Mathematics Discrete Mathematics Operating System DBMS Computer Networks
It can be maintained by an organization or service provider. In order to
reach cse.dtu.in we have to ask the root DNS server, then it will point out
to the top-level domain server and then to the authoritative domain name
server which actually contains the IP address. So the authoritative domain
server will return the associative IP address.

Domain Name Server

The client machine sends a request to the local name server, which, if the
root does not find the address in its database, sends a request to the root
name server, which in turn, will route the query to a top-level domain (TLD)
or authoritative name server. The root name server can also contain some
hostName to IP address mappings. The Top-level domain (TLD) server
always knows who the authoritative name server is. So finally the IP address
is returned to the local name server which in turn returns the IP address to
the host.

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Domain Name Server

How Does DNS Work?

The working of DNS starts with converting a hostname into an IP Address. A
domain name serves as a distinctive identification for a website. It is used in
place of an IP address to make it simpler for consumers to visit websites.
Domain Name System works by executing the database whose work is to
store the name of hosts which are available on the Internet. The top-level
domain server stores address information for top-level domains such as
.com and .net, .org, and so on. If the Client sends the request, then the DNS
resolver sends a request to DNS Server to fetch the IP Address. In case,
when it does not contain that particular IP Address with a hostname, it
forwards the request to another DNS Server. When IP Address has arrived
at the resolver, it completes the request over Internet Protocol .

For more, you can refer to Working of DNS Server .

How Does DNS Works?

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Authoritative DNS Server Vs Recursive DNS Resolver

Parameters Authoritative DNS Recursive DNS

Server Resolver

Holds the official DNS Resolves DNS queries

Function
records for a domain on behalf of clients

Provides answers to Actively looks up

Role
specific DNS queries information for clients

Responds with Queries other DNS

Query Handling
authoritative DNS data servers for DNS data

Doesn’t directly interact Serves end-users or

Client Interaction
with end-users client applications

Stores the DNS records Looks up data from

Data Source
for specific domains other DNS servers

Generally, doesn’t Caches DNS responses

Caching
perform caching for faster lookups

Actively performs
Does not participate in
Hierarchical Resolution recursive name
the recursive resolution
resolution

Has a fixed, known IP IP address may vary

IP Address
address depending on ISP

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Parameters Authoritative DNS Recursive DNS

Server Resolver

Manages a specific DNS Does not manage any

Zone Authority
zone (domain) specific DNS zone

What is DNS Lookup?

DNS Lookup or DNS Resolution can be simply termed as the process that
helps in allowing devices and applications that translate readable domain
names to the corresponding IP Addresses used by the computers for
communicating over the web.

What Are The Steps in a DNS Lookup?

Often, DNS lookup information is stored temporarily either on your own
computer or within the DNS system itself. There are usually 8 steps involved
in a DNS lookup. If the information is already stored (cached), some of these
steps can be skipped, making the process faster. Here is an example of all 8
steps when nothing is cached:

1. A user types “example.com” into a web browser.

2. The request goes to a DNS resolver.
3. The resolver asks a root server where to find the top-level domain (TLD)
server for .com.
4. The root server tells the resolver to contact the .com TLD server.
5. The resolver then asks the .com TLD server for the IP address of
“example.com.”
6. The .com TLD server gives the resolver the IP address of the domain’s
nameserver.
7. The resolver then asks the domain’s nameserver for the IP address of
“example.com.”
8. The domain’s nameserver returns the IP address to the resolver.

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Working of DNS

DNS Servers Involved in Loading a Webpage

Upon loading the webpage, several DNS Servers are responsible for
translating the domain name into the corresponding IP Address of the web
server hosting the website. Here is the list of main DNS servers involved in
loading a Webpage.

Local DNS Resolver

Root DNS Servers
Top-Level Domain (TLD) DNS Servers
Authoritative DNS Servers
Web Server

This hierarchical system of DNS servers ensures that when you type a
domain name into your web browser, it can be translated into the correct IP
address, allowing you to access the desired webpage on the internet.

For more information you can refer DNS Look-Up article.

What is DNS Resolver?

DNS Resolver is simply called a DNS Client and has the functionality for
initiating the process of DNS Lookup which is also called DNS Resolution.
By using the DNS Resolver, applications can easily access different websites
and services present on the Internet by using domain names that are very
much friendly to the user and that also resolves the problem of
remembering IP Address.

What Are The Types of DNS Queries?

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There are basically three types of DNS Queries that occur in DNS Lookup.
These are stated below.

Recursive Query: In this query, if the resolver is unable to find the record,
in that case, DNS client wants the DNS Server will respond to the client
in any way like with the requested source record or an error message.
Iterative Query: Iterative Query is the query in which DNS Client wants
the best answer possible from the DNS Server.
Non-Recursive Query: Non-Recursive Query is the query that occurs
when a DNS Resolver queries a DNS Server for some record that has
access to it because of the record that exists in its cache.

What is DNS Caching?

DNS Caching can be simply termed as the process used by DNS Resolvers
for storing the previously resolved information of DNS that contains domain
names, and IP Addresses for some time. The main principle of DNS Caching
is to speed up the process of future DNS lookup and also help in reducing
the overall time of DNS Resolution.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the Domain Name System (DNS) is an essential part of the
application layer in networking. It acts like the internet’s directory,
translating human-friendly domain names into numerical IP addresses that
computers use to communicate. Without DNS, navigating the internet would
be much more difficult, as we’d need to remember complex IP addresses for
every website. DNS makes the internet user-friendly and efficient, allowing
us to easily access websites and online services by using simple, memorable
names.

Frequently Asked Questions on Domain Name

System(DNS) – FAQs

What do you mean by level 3 DNS Server?

Level 3 can be termed as a third-party DNS Server that is completely

free and open to the public.

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Is Domain Name System (DNS) a protocol?

Domain Name System (DNS) is a protocol that is used to convert

easily readable names for communicating over the network, instead of
remembering IP Address.

How can you categorize a DNS as a TCP or UDP?

DNS is designed to be used in both the ways like as a TCP or as a

UDP. It converts to TCP when it is not able to communicate on UDP.

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