What is Domain Server?
The Domain Name server (DNS) is the file book of the Internet. Humans obtain information online through domain names such as nytimes.com or espn.com.
Web browsers interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. DNS translates the domain name to the IP address so that browsers can load Internet resources.
Each device connected to the Internet has a specific IP address that other machines use to search for the device.
DNS servers eliminate the need for humans to remember IP addresses like 192.168.1.1 (in IPv4) or new more complex alphanumeric IP addresses like 2400: cb00: 2048: 1 :: c629: d7a2 (in IPv6).
How does DNS work?
Okay, a DNS is like a fancy address book for the Internet, but how does it work? I’m glad you asked.
The DNS directory is not in a physical location or in a corner of the vast Internet. It is distributed all over the world and is stored on many different servers that provide regular updates, information, and redundancy with each other.
DNS information is shared between different servers, but it is also cached locally on personal computers and devices. This prevents user computers from querying commonly used IP addresses for name servers each time. The result is much more efficiency.
There are 4 DNS servers involved in loading a webpage
Recursive DNS: Recursive can be thought of as a librarian who is asked to search for a particular book in a library. The DNS recursor is a server designed to receive queries from client machines through an application such as a web browser. Recurrence is usually responsible for making additional requests to satisfy the client’s DNS query.
Root name server – The root name server is the first part in translating (resolving) human-readable host name to IP address. It can be thought of as an index in a library pointing to different shelves of books; it generally serves as a reference for other, more specific locations.
TLD Name Servers – Top Level Domain Servers (TLDs) can be thought of as specific shelves of books in a library. This name server is the next step in finding a specific IP address and hosts the last part of a host name (for example, the TLD server is “com”).
Official Name: This surname giver can be thought of as a dictionary on a book shelf, translating a specific name in its definition. The official name server is the last stop in the name server query. If the official name server has access to the requested record. it will return the IP address of the requested host name to the DNS recursor (librarian) that made the initial request.
What’s the difference between an authoritative DNS server and a recursive DNS resolver?
Both concepts refer to servers (groups of servers) that are an integral part of the DNS infrastructure, but each plays a different role and resides in different locations within the DNS query pipeline. One way to think of the difference is that the recursive solver. The beginning of the DNS query and the official nameplate is at the end.
Recursive DNS solver
A recursive solver is the computer that responds to a recurring request from the client and takes the time to crawl the DNS record. It does this by creating a series of requests until the official DNS name server for the requested record is reached (if no record is found or returns an error).
Fortunately, the recursive DNS resolver does not always require multiple requests to trace the records necessary to respond to a client; Caching is a data persistence process that helps short-circuit the required requests by providing the previously requested resource records in DNS lookup.
Official DNS server
Simply put, an official DNS server is a server that actually contains and is responsible for the DNS resource record. It is the server at the bottom of the DNS search string that will respond with the queried resource records, ultimately allowing the web browser to request access to the IP address necessary to access the website or other web resources.
An official name server can satisfy queries for its own data without the need to consult another source, as it is the last source of truth for other DNS records.
It’s worth noting that in cases where the query is for a subdomain like foo.example.com or blog.cloudflare.com, an additional nameserver will be added to the sequence after the sequential nameserver, storing the CNAME record of the subdomain. for .
There is a significant difference between what many DNS and cloudflare services offer. Many recursive DNS resolvers, such as Google DNS, OpenDNS, and Provider, maintaining the data center installation of recursive domain name resolvers.
These resolvers allow quick and easy queries through custom groups of DNS-optimized computer systems, but they are fundamentally different from the namespaces hosted by CloudFlare.
Cloudflare maintains infrastructure-level nameservers that are an integral part of how the Internet works. A good example is the root server network F, which is partly responsible for hosting Cloudflare.
F-root is one of the components of the root-level DNS name server infrastructure responsible for billions of Internet requests per day. Our anicut network puts us in a unique position to handle large volumes of DNS traffic without service interruption.
What are the steps in a DNS lookup?
In most situations, DNS takes care of translating to the proper IP address with a domain name. To learn how this process works, it is helpful to follow the DNS lookup path as it travels through the DNS lookup process from your web browser and back again. Let’s take action.
Note: Often times, DNS lookup information will be cached locally within the query computer or remotely in the DNS infrastructure. DNS lookup generally consists of 8 steps. When DNS information is cached, steps in the DNS lookup process to speed it up are skipped. The following example describes the 8 steps when nothing is cached.
The 8 steps in a DNS lookup
- A user type user example.com ‘is in a web browser and the query travels across the Internet and is received by a recursive DNS resolver.
- The resolver then questions the DNS root name server (?).
- The root server then responds to the resolver with the address of a top-level domain (TLD) DNS server (such as .com or .net), which stores your domain information. When searching for example.com, our request points to the TLD .com.
- Then the revolver requests the TLD .com.
- The TLD server then responds with the IP address of the domain’s name server, example.com.
- Finally, the recursive solver sends a query for the domain name.
- For example.com, the IP address then returns from the nameserver to the resolver.
- The DNS resolver then reacts to the web browser with the IP address of the initially requested domain.
What is a DNS resolver?
The DNS resolver is the first stop in the DNS lookup and is responsible for handling the initial requesting client. The solver starts a sequence of queries that eventually translate the URL to the required IP address.
Note: A typical intact DNS lookup will include both recursive and recursive queries.
It is important to distinguish between a recurring DNS query and a recurring DNS resolution. Query resolution refers to a request made by the DNS resolver that needs to resolve the query.
The recursive DNS resolver is a computer that accepts a recursive query and processes the response by making the necessary requests.
What are the types of DNS Queries?
A typical DNS lookup involves three types of queries. By using a combination of these queries, an optimized process for DNS. resolution can reduce the distance traveled. An ideal situation would be to have cached registry data, allowing DNS name servers to return non-recursive queries.
3 types of DNS queries:
Recursive query: In a recursive query, a DNS client requires the DNS server (usually the recursive DNS resolver) to reply to the client with the requested resource record or the error message if the fixer cannot find the record.
Iterative query: In this case, the DNS client will allow a DNS server to return its best answer. If the DNS server queried does not match the name of the query, it will return a reference to the authoritative DNS server for the lowest level of the domain namespace. The DNS client will then query the referring address. This process continues in the chain of queries with additional DNS servers until an error or time-out occurs.
Non-recurring query – Typically, this occurs when a DNS resolver client queries the DNS server for a record that it has access to, either because it is authoritative for the record or because the record exists within its cache. Typically, a DNS server will cache DNS records to consume additional bandwidth and avoid load on the upstream server.
Common DNS Attacks
For the most part, DNS works perfectly in the background. However, this continues for decades and hackers are constantly finding ways to compromise the underlying system. Here are some common attacks we see:
Reflection attack. This type of attack overwhelms users with high volume messages directly from the DNS resolver. Attackers request bulk files from all open solvers that use the wrong IP address of their victim. Once the resolver reacts, the victim receives an endless stream of data without overwhelming their machine.
Depletion of resources. As the name suggests, these attacks work by eavesdropping on the ISP’s DNS infrastructure. This prevents users from accessing sites on the Internet.
Cai’s poison. This type of attack causes users to drift from a certain destination to a malicious web address. The attacker does this by inserting the wrong address record into the system. Once a user lands on one of these bogus websites, they can be tricked into providing confidential information.
Conclusion
this is all about What is Domain Server. I think you understand What is Domain Server and how to setup it. If you want learn more about digital skills than our Digital Marketing Expert just for you.
Read Also Digital Marketing Course in Delhi
