What is domain name system (DNS)? - Definition from Whatis.com

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domain name system (DNS)

Definition

domain name system (DNS)

The domain name system (DNS) is the way that Internet domain names are located and translated into Internet Protocol addresses. A domain name is a meaningful and easy-to-remember "handle" for an Internet address.

Because maintaining a central list of domain name/IP address correspondences would be impractical, the lists of domain names and IP addresses are distributed throughout the Internet in a hierarchy of authority. There is probably a DNS server within close geographic proximity

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to your access provider that maps the domain names in your Internet requests or forwards them to other servers in the Internet.

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To explore how DNS is used in the enterprise, here are some additional resources:

Tutorial: A primer on DNS and MX records: Learn what MX records are and how they work, and find out how to create an MX record and host that record on your own DNS server.

Exchange Server and DNS: This collection of tips, tutorials and tools explains how DNS works and shows how to configure it for optimal Exchange Server availability and performance.

Related glossary terms: online, IT Survival Kit: Networking refreshers, downstream, TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), connection, wavelength, active network, ARPANET, frame, ELF (extremely low frequency)

This was last updated in August 2000

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