How does DNS work?
The general idea which allows a domain name to lead you to a
site is shown below. The diagram describes a request made by a web browser.
If this is the first time the domain name is being resolved, the local name
server for the web browser does not contain data for the domain name.
To determine which machine the domain name is attached to, the local name
server contacts the root domain name server (1) maintained by the InterNIC.
The root domain name server then returns the primary name server (2)
responsible
for the domain being requested. (3) The primary name server becomes the
next machine contacted by the local name server. The primary name server
holds the IP address for the domain name and satisfies the local name server's
request (4). The local name server can finally return to the web browser
with the IP address. Using the IP address, the web browser can find (5)
the company's web server and (6) retrieve web pages.
