THE DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM Jasjeet Saund The World

THE DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM Jasjeet Saund

The World Without DNS Imagine the World Wide Web without the Domain Name System. How many IP Addresses can one person remember? The DNS is being used all day, all night, everyday, all around the world.

DNS and Its Size The Domain Name System - introduced in September 1981 in RFC 799 In 1983 a massive milestone was reached with the publication of initial documents and implementation concepts. The capacity of the DNS has grown tremendously. The creator of the DNS, Paul Mockapetris, has claimed that there are over 100 million domain names stored and that the system can search 24, 000 queries per second with no trouble.

Components Of The Domain Name System • The Domain Name Space • Domain Name Resolution • Domain Name Server

Domain Name Space The structure begins with the root domain and this is followed by the major and most used domains such as, . com, . net, . gov and. net. These are called Top Level Domains

The Domain Name Resolution • Every computer has a built in resolver. • The resolver has the job or resolving the domain names • It gathers data from their domain name space, and other name servers.

DNS Name Server • A Name Server manages a database that converts domain names to IP addresses. • Domain Name System Name Servers have a built-in agent mechanism that knows where to look if the server can't find a domain within its zone.

Limitations And Legislation • No two domain names can be the same. • DNS cache poisoning. • The use of IPv 4 (2^32) instead of IPv 6 (2^128)

References • Alvin, DNS Components, April 29, 2006, http: //www. accuwebhosting. com/Articles/DNS_COMP ONENTS. html • Charles M. Kozierok, The TCP/IP Guide, 2003, http: //www. tcpipguide. com/index. htm • Incognito Software, January, 2007, http: //www. incognito. com/resources/nc/wp_understa nding_dns. pdf • Staffordshire University, September 23 2005, http: //www. staffs. ac. uk/current/regulations/it/legislati on/index. php