What is DNS server address? How to find your DNS server address

What is DNS server address? How to find your DNS server address? Read to get all the answers...

If
you are trying to understand the working of world wide web and Internet
technology, you are bound to come across the question of what is DNS
server address and what role does it play in the functioning of the
Internet. This article is written with the aim of satisfying your
curiosity and explaining what is DNS server address and why is it an
important part of the whole Internet setup.

What is a DNS Server?

To
understand what this address actually means, first one needs to
comprehend what a DNS server is. Let me begin with that. A Domain Name
System (DNS) is an elaborate technique developed to translate
alpha-numeric domain names of websites into IP addresses and IP
addresses back to domain names on any computer network. When you type
the name of any website in a web browser, your client computer needs to
translate that name into the IP address of the server which hosts that
site. DNS servers do the job of translating these domain names of
websites to their IP address counterparts and vice versa. They are the
Internet technology equivalent of phone books, that have a large
database of website names along with their associated IP addresses. So a
DNS server is like an online translator of domain names for client
computers connected on the Internet.

Does every DNS server
associated with an Internet service provider have the database of all
websites on the Internet? No, it is not so. There are only 13 root DNS
servers all over the world that hold the complete databases. The rest of
the regional DNS servers only have a small part of the database and ask
for more information from root servers as required. All the services on
the Internet depend on DNS servers for routing of data. That is why
domain name registration is controlled by an international organization
to eliminate confusion regarding routing of information on the Internet.

Google
search engine provides its own DNS server for public use. The Google
DNS server addresses (IP addresses) are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Refer to
the Google website for more details. Also look up the OpenDNS server
address which offers free service. For more details, refer to the
OpenDNS website. You can also sneak through Domain Name Server (DNS)
basics for some more info.

What is a DNS Server Address?

A
DNS server address is an essential part of specifications that you save
into your ISP provided Internet connection settings. With the local DNS
server address specified, your computer can easily lookup IP addresses
of any website that you browse by sending a request and retrieving
relevant information. When you get a DNS error, it most likely means
that the website address you typed is incorrect or something is wrong
with your Internet connection. Most of the time, DNS server errors mean
that you need to recheck the domain name of the website you are looking
for. That is why, it is essential that you enter the correct domain name
address when you set up your Internet connection. If you are wondering
about how to find your DNS server address, keep reading ahead.

How to Find Your DNS Server Address in Windows?

In
case your computer hard drive gets formatted and you need to enter the
Internet connection settings again, to set up your connection, it is
essential that you know the DNS server address specific to your ISP. You
can have all the information you need from your computer itself. If
yours is a Windows based PC, here is how you can know the DNS server
address, as well as other details of your Internet connection quite
easily.

Open the command prompt application in Windows through
'Start --> All Programs --> Accessories'. Make sure that your
Internet connection is on. Type in the following command in the command
prompt:

C:\>ipconfig/all

and press enter. Immediately,
you will be supplied with the complete details relevant to your net
connection. This will include the DNS server address as well, which you
can easily note down. It will also include IP address, Subnet Mask
address and default gateway address. This is the simplest way of knowing
your DNS server address. So now that you know how to determine a DNS
server address, you can go ahead and note down your Internet connection
details for future reference.

How to Find DNS Server Address on Mac/Linux/BSD?

In
case you are a Mac OS X, Linux or BSD user, the method to find the IP
address is not the same. ipconfig won't work there. Here is what you
need to type in shell prompt to get the DNS server address.

$ cat /etc/resolv.conf

Immediately,
as you type in this command and hit enter, you will find two IP
addresses listed beside 'nameserver'. Those are the DNS server addresses
used by your ISP.

Hope this article has left no doubt in your
mind about what is DNS server address and how it's an important piece of
information for your Internet connection setup. Thanks to the
elaborately designed and highly efficient hierarchical structure of the
DNS servers, we can browse from one site to the other without any
perceivable delay. It is interesting to understand how much of effort
needs to be put in to translate machine language to human readable form
and vice versa. The DNS setup is a prime example of such a machine to
human language translation.
By Gray Pilgrim