What Is a DNS Server?

What Is a DNS Server?

A DNS server is a computer server that includes a database of public IP addresses and their affiliated hostnames, and in most cases serves to solve, or interpret, those names into IP addresses as requested. DNS servers run particular software and communicate with each other using specific protocols.

The Purpose of DNS Servers

It is much easier to remember a domain name or hostname such as techtnet.com than it would be to bear in mind the website's IP address numbers 131.111.119.111.

If you would like to browse into the TechTnet website, all you must type in is the URL http://bit.ly/2WrAtSo. Conversely, computers and network devices do not work nicely with names when seeking to find each other on the internet. It is a lot more efficient and exact to use an IP address.

Malware Attacks That Change DNS Server Settings

It is always important to be running an antivirus software. 1 rationale is that malware, could destroy your computer in a manner that alters the DNS server settings, and it is definitely something that you do not need to happen.

By way of example, if your computer uses Google's DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) and you browse into your bank's website, you obviously expect that if you enter its recognizable URL, then you are going to be delivered to the bank's website.

But if malware affects your DNS server settings, which may happen without your knowledge after an attack in your system, your system is no longer calling Google's DNS servers but rather a hacker's server that introduces as your own bank's website. This fake bank website may look like the actual one, but rather than logging into your own bank account, it harvests your own username and password that you typed in, providing the hackers the important information they will need to get into your bank account.

Malware attacks that hijack your DNS server settings can also redirect traffic from popular websites to ones that are full of ads or a bogus website that is designed to scare you into thinking your computer was infected with a virus, and that you need to purchase their advertised software program to get rid of it.

Protecting Yourself From DNS Attacks

There are just two things you ought to do to prevent becoming a casualty of a DNS settings attack. The first would be to install antivirus software in order that malicious programs have been captured before they could do any harm.

The next is to pay careful attention to the appearance of important websites you visit frequently. Should you see one and the website looks off somehow --perhaps the pictures are different or the website's colours have shifted, or menus do not look right, or you locate misspellings (hackers could be dreadful spellers)--or else you get an "invalid certificate" message on your browser, it may be a sign that you are on a falsified website.

How DNS Redirection Can Be Positively Used

This ability to redirect traffic may be used for positive purposes. By way of example, OpenDNS can redirect visitors to adult websites, gaming websites, social media websites, or other websites network administrators or associations do not want their users seeing. Rather, they might be routed to a webpage using a"Blocked" message.

Primary and Secondary DNS Servers

In the majority of cases, a primary and a secondary DNS server are configured to your router and/or computer whenever you're connected to a internet service provider (ISP). There are two DNS servers in case one of them happens to fail, in which case the next can be used to resolve hostnames you input.

Why You Might Change Your DNS Server Settings

Some DNS servers may provide faster access times than others. This is often a function of just how near you are to these servers. If your ISP's DNS servers are nearer to you than Google's, as an example, you might locate domain names are solved quicker using the default servers in the ISP than having a third-party host.

Should you experience connection problems in which it seems no websites will load, it is possible there's a problem with the DNS server. When the DNS server is not able to discover the right IP address that's related to the hostname you enter, the website can not be found and loaded.

DNS Root Servers

There are 13 important DNS root servers around the internet that store an entire database of domain names and their related public IP addresses. These top-tier DNS servers have been termed A through M to the first 13 letters of the alphabet. Ten of these servers are located in the United States, one in London, one in Stockholm, and one in Japan.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) retains this list of DNS root servers if you are interested.



The post What Is a DNS Server? appeared first on TechTnet.

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