Understand what it is and how DNS facilitates the use of the internet

DNS, from the English Domain Name System (Domain Name System), is a hierarchical and distributed service to computers, services, or any Internet -connected resource that acts as a domain name translation system (hosts) for IP addresses. In short, it is through DNS that we can type only one name like www.lumiun.com in the browser address bar to access the Lumiun website, and it is not necessary to inform an IP number (200.154.39.214), which is a difficult numerical combination.

How does DNS work?

You can access any website by your domain name (lumiun.com) or IP address (200.154.39.214) of the server where this site is hosted. So that it is not necessary to inform the combination of IP numbers in the browser address bar whenever you inform the address of a site you want to access, DNS does the job of translating the name of the domain that make up the URL to the IP address of the server of the respective site, directing access to this server.

Imagine your contact list on your phone. To call someone, just select the contact name, from this the phone translates that name to the phone number and makes the call. DNS works similarly.

Each internet server has a unique IP address, so each domain is directed to a specific IP. Therefore, it is not possible to exist two different sites with equal addresses (URLs).

There are 13 root DNS servers around the world and without them the internet would not work. Of these, ten are located in the United States, one in Asia and two in Europe. To expand the installed base of these servers and make the service faster, there are replicas located around the world, including Brazil.

Who manages the DNS?

For the IP and DNS address system to work properly, global coordination is required as it is necessary to ensure that IP addresses cannot be assigned in a decentralized manner and also that each IP address identifies a single server or equipment worldwide.

The organization responsible for managing domain names and IP addresses worldwide is the ICANN (acronym in English for the Internet corporation to assign names and numbers). It is this entity's responsibility to keep all websites recorded and working on the internet.

Domain names are managed in a hierarchical and distributed manner, and the authority over the domains is delegated according to the hierarchical structure, usually used or reserved for a country. The image beside exemplifies this structure of names, where the “.br” is the Country Code Top Domain which belongs and identifies Brazil.

In Brazil, internet addresses are managed by NICBR - Point BR Information and Coordination Center . Services and information on domains, address consultation and records can be made in Registry.br . Brazil has so far (10/15/2020) with 4,468,898 registered domains. Updated statistics are available at www.registro.br/estatistics.html .

How to use DNS?

All network -connected and internet equipment needs a DNS server to communicate on the network and access the internet. DNS server definition is part of the basic network and computer settings, known DNS services are usually used, such as Google's DNS (8.8.8.8) or DNS from the internet providers themselves.

Lumiun Lumiun Box and Lumiun DNS are services that use the DNS system to offer internet access and control control , filtering which domains can be accessed, according to their indicative classification, improving productivity in companies and also increasing data security. You can see in more detail how it works and the benefits and advantages of controlling internet access in corporate environments.