ELI5: how dns works

// eli5

What is DNS?

DNS is like a phone book for the internet [1][2]. When you type a website name like www.google.com into your browser, your computer needs to find the actual address (called an IP address) where that website lives, kind of like how you need a phone number to call someone [2][4].

Why do we need it?

People can't memorize all the IP addresses for every website on the internet, so DNS translates the easy-to-remember names (like google.com) into the computer-friendly numbers that computers actually use [1][2]. It's like having a friend who knows everyone's phone number so you don't have to.

What happens when you visit a website?

When you type a website address, your computer asks a special DNS server "Hey, what's the real address for this website?" and that server looks it up and tells you [4][5]. Your computer then uses that address to connect to the actual website.

Why is it important?

Without DNS, the internet would be almost impossible to use because you'd have to remember long lists of numbers instead of friendly website names [1][3]. Since DNS has stayed basically the same for a long time, once you understand it, you understand a huge part of how the internet works [3].