Why Choosing DNS Is Important

by | Sep 30, 2016 | Technology Featured

DNS stands for Domain Name Service, and that’s exactly what it does. It translates human-friendly domain names like “luckynumbers.com” into computer-readable Internet addresses like 201.16.238.70. Without DNS, you’d have to use the exact sequence of numbers for every website you connect with.

How it works
A DNS looks up the correct IP address for every requested URL, whether you’re shopping online for shoes, sending email, or downloading files. The process for doing this involves:

  1. Request information – Your computer first looks in your local DNS cache to see if this is a site you’ve visited before. If not, it performs a DNS query.
  2. Query recursive servers – A DNS query involves checking your ISP’s DNS servers to see if the IP address is saved there. If it isn’t found there, the recursive server requests an update from the root nameservers.
  3. There are root servers. These don’t store IP addresses, but forward the query to the TLD (Top Level Domain) server indicated  by the domain suffix (.org, .com, .edu, etc.).
  4. Each TLD can access it’s own set of nameservers where these domain names are logged, called authoritative DNS servers.
  5. The authoritative DNS server searches its records to find the Address Record matching that domain, and returns the corresponding IP address to the recursive server.
  6. The recursive server stores the requested IP before returning it to your computer and passing it to the browser.

This sounds like quite a bit of work to resolve missing IP addresses, but it usually  takes place in a fraction of a second. However, there are a lot of IP addresses flying around – Google alone gets 91 million searches per day/

Do I have any other options?

Most people seem to rely on their ISP’s DNS servers without a second thought. But the designated DNS server is not necessarily the fastest. You can use a different DNS if you choose.  You can change your DNS settings on most devices, such as iPhones and Android

Smart DNS
When doing a DNS comparison, you should consider a modern approach that can meet your personal needs. Smart DNS is a protocol that can re-route traffic looking for your geolocation by changing your DNS. Often you can add it by simply connecting to a Smart DNS router. This can allow you to access servers your computer would otherwise not be able to connect with.

A Smart DNS server acts as a proxy that collects and sends data over a different route. This is not dissimilar to the way a VPN works, but Smart DNS is faster in that it doesn’t include VPN features such as encryption.

The performance and versatility of your DNS is important no matter what device you use to access the Internet. Your TVs, smartphones, and game consoles are not limited to certain DNS servers. Think about what you would like your DNS to do – and you may find an alternative that can do it.