Domain, DNS and IP address
Have you ever thought about what is going on when you are visiting some websites on the Internet? Millions of people do it every day and it looks so simple. Actually, a few clicks on your laptop start huge work even before the website has been opened.
Today we want to tell you about DNS and Domains, and why you need an IP address. And how does it all relate to A record? To answer those questions we need to dig deeper into the core meaning of Domain Name System (DNS) and figure out why do we even need it.
It will be better if we compare it with something that we use in real life. The Domain Name System reminds the phonebook where every single website has a special "number". When the user is typing the name of the website, for example webspaceteam.com, the computer asks DNS what is the "number" that website has, then is "calling" on that "number" and finally you get the page in your browser.
This process actually reminds our phone call, but it is not exactly like that. The “number” is an IP address of the website. An IP address is given to everything on the Internet, and such address is required to find the appropriate Internet device - like a home address is used to find a particular person somewhere in the world.
For the Internet devices, an IP address looks like a bunch of numbers, separated by dots. For people, it is too difficult to remember all the numbers for all the websites we use. Numbers are cool for machines, but for people it is much easier to deal with words instead. This is why we type words in the address bar instead of numbers. These words are called Domain Names. Now that you know the terminology, it will be easier for you to see the big picture.
All websites have IP addresses and Domain Names. This information is located in the Domain Name System (DNS) and exists as an 'A record'. The ‘A record’ associates a domain name to the IP address of the server that hosts our website. In a few words, to find the IP address of a server in the Internet DNS server is initially asked first.. And in case it has A record with our domain name - the IP address will be returned.
In ‘A record’ "A" stands for an Address. Every time, when you visit a website, send an email, connect to Instagram or Facebook, or do almost anything on the Internet, the address you enter is a series of words connected with dots.
‘A records’ have numerous implications. You can use several ‘A records’ for the same domain in order to give redundancy. Besides, several names could point to the same address, in which case every one of them will have its own ‘A record’ directing to that same IP address. ‘A Records’ show your domain to your website hosting.
One of the first things you need when you plan to create a website or some personal blog is the Domain Name. It should be catchy and stick to people's memory, and also, it must be unique. Nowadays registration has become a very simple process.
There are just a few steps that you need to take to buy a Domain Name:
- Find a secure domain registrar
- Check your domain availability
- Order and complete your domain registration
- Confirm the ownership of your new Domain Name
Of course, it sounds quite easy, but some of you may be still not sure, if you can do it by yourself. In such a case, our team is not only ready to build a website for you, but also will be glad to help you with getting a Domain Name for it
on 21 April 2020
