Domain name system A domain name is the sequence of labels from a node to the root, separated by dots (.

.s), read left to right The name space has a maximum depth of 127 levels Domain names are limited to 255 characters in length A nodes domain name identifies its position in the name space Internet users use to reference anything by name on the Internet The mechanism by which Internet software translates names to addresses and vice versa Comprised of three components A name space Servers making that name space available Resolvers (clients) which query the servers about the name space

n Data is maintained locally, but retrievable globally u No single computer has all DNS data n DNS lookups can be performed by any device n Remote DNS data is locally cachable to improve performance DNS Features: Scalability n No limit to the size of the database u One server has over 20,000,000 names F Not a particularly good idea n No limit to the number of queries u 24,000 queries per second handled easily n Queries distributed among masters, slaves, and caches DNS Features: Reliability n Data is replicated u Data from master is copied to multiple slaves n Clients can query u Master server u Any of the copies at slave servers n Clients will typically query local caches n DNS protocols can use either UDP or TCP u If UDP, DNS protocol handles retransmission, sequencing, etc. DNS Features: Dynamicity

n Database can be updated dynamically u Add/delete/modify of any record n Modification of the master database triggers replication u Only master can be dynamically updated F Creates a single point of failure n The namespace needs to be made hierarchical to be able to scale. n The idea is to name objects based on u location (within country, set of organizations, set of companies, etc) u unit within that location (company within set of company, etc) u object within unit (name of person in company) The name space is the structure of the DNS database An inverted tree with the root node at the top Each node has a label The root node has a null label, written as
T h e " " p r o o t n o d e

t o s e t h c o i r d n d - l e

- l e

v e

e t o

- l e

v e

e t o

- l e

v e

e v e l n o d e

- l e s v e e c l o n n o d d - el e s v e e c l o n n o d d - el e s v e e c l o n n o d d - el e s v e e c l o n n o d d - el e v e l n o d te h i r d - l e v t e h l i rn d o - dl e e v e l n o d e

Names and addresses

l domain name: high level identifier; eg. lrcsuns l IP address: low level identifier related to routing, physical topology l level 2 addresses: low level identifiers MAC address: serial number of communication interface ATM address: combination of MAC and route related address l email address: high level address used for email

ssc.epfl.ch

eg. gwen.nedeleg@ssc.epfl.ch
email addresses are mapped to domain names: gwen.nedeleg@ssc.epfl.ch -> gwen\.nedeleg.ssc.epfl.ch coclusion

The Domain Name System makes it possible to assign domain names to groups of Internet resources and users in a meaningful way, independent of each entity's physical location. Because of this, World Wide Web (WWW) hyperlinks and Internet contact information can remain consistent and constant even if the current Internet routing arrangements change or the participant uses a mobile device. Internet domain names are easier to remember than IP addresses such as 208.77.188.166 (IPv4) or

(IPv6). Users take advantage of this when they recite meaningful Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and e-mail addresses without having to know how the computer actually locates them.
2001:db8:1f70::999:de8:7648:6e8

The Domain Name System distributes the responsibility of assigning domain names and mapping those names to IP addresses by designating authoritative name servers for each domain. Authoritative name servers are assigned to be responsible for their particular domains, and in turn can assign other authoritative name servers for their sub-domains. This mechanism has made the DNS distributed and fault tolerant and has helped avoid the need for a single central register to be continually consulted and updated. In general, the Domain Name System also stores other types of information, such as the list of mail servers that accept email for a given Internet domain. By providing a worldwide, distributed keyword-based redirection service, the Domain Name System is an essential component of the functionality of the Internet.