DNS Servers, Explained!

We all know how the basic functionality of the Internet works! We request a page like www.hackhunt.in and the browser displays the webpage. Well, it's not that simple, there is another entity involved, and understanding this entity can help you protect your privacy and security and even speed up.


DNS, short for Domain Name System is nothing but an analogy of our phonebook or contacts. Like phonebooks and contacts,   applications store the mobile numbers of different persons with their names. Similarly, IPs are stored with their domain name (or website). This helps in accessing the website as on the internet, websites are accessed using their IPs only. 


Earlier there were fewer websites so it was easy to remember the IPs of those websites. But as the internet grew, the number of websites and IPs corresponding to them increased too. Hence, it was impossible for the human brain to remember all the IPs. Therefore,  DNS was formed, which stores the IPs of websites (domain name) and helps us to access them easily.


What is a DNS Server?

A server is a device or program that provides services to other programs known as “clients”. Similarly, DNS Server is used to retrieve the IP of the website that was entered in the user's browser (Application Layer Service) which ultimately helps the user to connect to the website.


A lot of companies have their own DNS Servers which are open to society. So if we have difficulties with the DNS services provided by the ISPs like slow DNS resolving. We can change the DNS server for faster results and security. 


Why change DNS Server?

  • Changes in the DNS server may increase the speed of resolving DNS queries. 
  • The DNS server you are using may not be secure from DNS-related attacks which may cause you delay in DNS resolving whereas using a secure DNS service like Google's may result in the faster fixing of the DNS query. The resolving speed depends upon the location as Google's DNS server IPs are anycast which means your query will be sent to the nearest server depending on your location. 
  • Sometimes you may face an issue of a particular website not responding only on your internet or in your country whereas it's working for others or in different countries, it might be due to the blocking of the website by your ISP's DNS server or by the Government.
  • If you change your DNS server then you can access those websites. 

List of DNS Servers

Google DNS (good speed and security, but no privacy)
    Primary 8.8.8.8
    Alternate 8.8.4.4

Open DNS (good speed and security, privacy can be a concern)
    Primary 208.67.222.222
    Alternate 208.67.220.220

Comodo DNS (good speed and security, privacy can be a concern)
    Primary 8.26.56.26
    Alternate 8.20.247.20

Cloudflare DNS (good speed and security, privacy can be a concern)
    Primary 1.1.1.1
    Alternate 1.0.0.1

    Primary 172.104.136.243
    Alternate 192.71.245.208


We hope this helps. If any suggestions or doubts you can add a comment and we will reply as soon as possible.

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