{"id":1510,"date":"2019-01-29T23:22:26","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T23:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-infoblox-blog.pantheonsite.io\/?p=1510"},"modified":"2020-07-30T08:32:15","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T15:32:15","slug":"what-is-dns-and-why-is-it-a-critical-element-of-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infoblox.com\/blog\/company\/what-is-dns-and-why-is-it-a-critical-element-of-the-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"What is DNS, and Why is it a Critical Element of the Internet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one of our recent blogs,\u00a0\u2018What is the Internet?’<\/a><\/strong>, we discovered that San Franciscans are shockingly uninformed about the inner workings of the Internet. Similarly, when we went back out on the streets of San Francisco to ask locals about the Domain Name System, or DNS, not one person knew what it was.\u00a0 Check out the\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>interviews. However, when it comes to the Internet and cybersecurity, knowledge is power, and we\u2019re here to empower you.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/p>\n

What is DNS?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DNS is a critical element of the Internet – essentially acting as a phone book. For anyone too young to be familiar with a phone book, it was this enormous telephone directory printed in a book and delivered to your home. Similarly, DNS is also a directory. It brings users to websites by converting internet protocol, or IP addresses, into readable domains.<\/p>\n

Without DNS, everyone would have to remember long strings of numbers to access different websites. Sometimes it\u2019s hard enough to remember what was for lunch, so it’s easy to imagine how disastrous a day without DNS would be.<\/p>\n

Watch the video to see what the good people of San Francisco said when asked about DNS.<\/p>\n