The Domain Name System (DNS) is often called the "phonebook of the internet," and for good reason. While humans access information online through domain names like google.com, computers use numerical IP addresses to communicate. DNS is the system that translates between the two.
How It Works: When you type a domain name into your browser, your computer sends a request to a DNS server. This server looks up the domain name in its vast directory to find the corresponding IP address. Once found, it sends that IP address back to your computer, which can then connect to the website's server. This entire process happens in milliseconds.