What is DNS?

DNS means Domain Name System (sometimes inaccurately also referred to as Service or Server) - the protocol that provides the framework for web browsing.

Computers address each other with numbers called IP (Internet Protocol) addresses which can be thought of a little like phone numbers. But remembering IP addresses is not an easy task for humans who prefer to give things named. DNS is a system that ties names to IP addresses. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4.

DNS also stores and associates many types of information with domain names, lists mail exchange services accepting e-mail for each domain.