{"id":9082,"date":"2020-07-23T10:30:56","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T08:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/?p=9082"},"modified":"2025-01-21T10:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T09:17:10","slug":"what-is-dns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/what-is-dns\/","title":{"rendered":"What is DNS? How Does It Work? – Short Guide for Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you worried you won\u2019t get what DNS<\/span> is all about because you\u2019re not a tech-savvy person? Well, neither am I. It\u2019s for other people like me that I did my best to get to the bottom of this topic and explain it in plain English, as simply as possible.<\/p>\n

So set your worries aside and dig in.<\/p>\n

What is DNS?<\/h2>\n

DNS<\/span> (Domain Name System) is a database that stores records for a domain (I\u2019ll get to the records in a bit).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s most commonly used to translate domain names (that are easy to remember) into IP addresses<\/span> (that are not).<\/p>\n

Each device connected to the internet has an IP number. It uses it to communicate. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen them, but IP addresses<\/span> look something like this: 172.16.254.1. Or this: 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:1. Imagine what a drag it would be if you had to remember the IPs! Thanks to DNS<\/span>, though, you don\u2019t have to: you can simply type in a domain name (e.g. woodpecker.co) and you\u2019ll get the result – the site you were looking for.<\/p>\n

DNS<\/span> is basically like a dictionary translating from human-friendly to computer-friendly and the other way around.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why you don\u2019t have to wreck your brain and try to remember a long sequence of numbers every time you want to visit a website. All the server communication happens behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all that DNS is, though. It also holds a bunch of other important information about domains. As I mentioned, DNS is built of records. Some of them are: email authentication mechanisms (SPF<\/span>, DKIM<\/span> and DMARC<\/span> records), email servers records (MX records<\/span>), and TXT record<\/span> verification of domain ownership.<\/p>\n

What is DNS propagation?<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s important that you remember that there is no one, universal DNS database.<\/p>\n

When you make changes on your DNS server, it takes some time for them to take effect (aka, propagate) across the Internet.<\/p>\n

You can check if your updates have already been propagated worldwide with tools such as this one<\/a> or this one<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What DNS records are there?<\/h2>\n

Going back to DNS<\/span> records – here are some of the most common ones:<\/p>\n

A Record (Address Mapping record)<\/h3>\n

This is the address record. Most commonly used for linking hostnames (e.g. domains) with corresponding IPv4 addresses.<\/p>\n

AAAA (IP version 6 Address record)<\/h3>\n

This is also an address record, but for IPv6 addresses. Its function is the same as an A Record.<\/p>\n

CNAME (Canonical Name record)<\/h3>\n

CNAME aliases one hostname to another. What does it mean? It works similarly to an A Record, but instead of linking to an IP address, it links to another hostname.<\/p>\n

MX (Mail Exchange record)<\/h3>\n

MX records are used to route outgoing emails to an email server. They specify an SMTP email server for a domain.<\/p>\n

See what SMTP is>><\/a><\/p>\n

TXT (Text record)<\/h3>\n

These are machine-readable data that you add to your DNS<\/span>. They may have various purposes, one of which is email security (the SPF<\/span>, DKIM<\/span> and DMARC<\/span> records).<\/p>\n

Read more about why you should set up SPF and DKIM and how to do it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And why it\u2019s also important to set up DMARC and how to do it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How do you check your DNS records? And why would you even do that?<\/h2>\n

Well, if you have trouble accessing a service, you might need to check the status of corresponding DNS<\/span> records.<\/p>\n

Or you might want to verify the updates you made.<\/p>\n

How can you check DNS<\/span> records?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple – with a DNS<\/span> lookup tool, like this one<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You may also check specific records. Just type your domain name in the search bar, and choose the record you want to look up. For example, \u201cMX Lookup\u201d or type in: \u201cmx:yourdomain.com\u201d.<\/p>\n

You can check your DKIM<\/span>, SPF<\/span> and DMARC<\/span> records this way as well.<\/p>\n

While you\u2019re at it, you might also check if your domain has been blacklisted – choose the \u201cblacklist check\u201d or type in \u201cblacklist:yourdomain.com\u201d<\/p>\n

(If you\u2019ve been blacklisted, no worries – see how to get your email server IP or domain off a blacklist<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Over to you<\/h2>\n

DNS<\/span> is a part of a complicated process that makes it easy for us to use the Internet – and email.<\/p>\n

Hope this short guide helped you understand DNS<\/span> a bit better!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you worried you won\u2019t get what DNS is all about because you\u2019re not a tech-savvy person? Well, neither am I. It\u2019s for other people like me that I did my best to get to the bottom of this topic and explain it in plain English, as simply as possible. So set your worries aside and dig in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":9119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Is DNS & How Does It Work? - Short Beginner's Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What's DNS? What does it even do? And what DNS records are there? 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