The Domain Name System (DNS) is like the phonebook of the internet. It translates human-friendly web addresses (like google.com) into the numeric IP addresses that computers use to identify each other.
Why it matters:
- Without DNS, you’d have to remember long strings of numbers instead of simple names.
- If DNS goes down, websites and services become unreachable even if the servers themselves are fine.
- DNS hijacking or poisoning can redirect users to malicious sites.
Pro tip: If you can’t reach a website but know it’s online, try flushing your DNS cache or switching to a public DNS (like Google’s 8.8.8.8).
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