The internet is arguably the greatest invention of the modern age and the center of contemporary culture. At its core the internet is basically a network connecting computers across the planet and the points at which these computers connects are websites. The main force backing all of this is the Domain Name System. Without this invention many of the world’s most popular websites are infeasible. Live streaming videos, downloading apps, and so much more demands structured domain naming systems. DNS provides the structure necessary for practically any website to work.
The Tree Structure Of The Domain Name System
The domain name system uses a tree structure to allocate resources for a website. Each leaf and node is given a label to distinguish itself. Resource records are often assigned to nodes but this isn’t necessary for the tree to function. The domain name can have a maximum of 63 characters and store up to 255 octets of date. Almost any character is acceptable for a domain name, but the domain name cannot begin or end with a hyphen. As long as these rules are followed the number of possible domain names is endless.
The Benefits Of Content Distribution Networks
The importance of DNS is best seen when looking at the proliferation of Content Distribution Networks. Normally when you browse the web and you click on a webpage you are sending your request to a single server, but with content distribution networks you are sent to proxy servers that contain the content you are trying to get access to. In practice this gives you access to faster download speeds, online gaming, and multimedia. Cloud services, such as storage or computing, are perhaps the greatest examples DNS servers in action. If someone needs more processing power or memory than their computer will currently allow you can access a domain that will take you to servers where you can obtain the resources you are in need of. Suddenly a low end laptop is able to perform tasks typically reserved for the latest desktops.
