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Also, broadband users located a significant distance from the server would suffer from large time delays. It would be impractical to have a single DNS server providing the translation of domain names to IP addresses for all Internet users in the world since a single server would soon get congested by all the DNS look-ups being undertaken. This process inevitably causes a delay in the web page being rendered although, through optimisation, this delay can be minimised.Ī distributed database architecture is used with the Domain Name System, with many DNS servers located across the world to allow domain names to be translated to IP addresses for all devices is existence, despite many changes in IP addresses being made every single day. When you enter a domain name into your browser or you click a particular link, it is necessary to first translate the name into a numerical IP address so that the contents of the website can be retrieved. For example, Facebook could decide to change the server providing its web pages (and, therefore, its IP address) without needing to change the domain name. Not only is a domain name easier for people to remember, but a domain name provides flexibility in terms of how websites are accessed on the Internet. A domain name (for example, is essentially a human-friendly version of an IP address.
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While the IP addressing system is a very useful identification mechanism for computer devices, it is not a particularly human-friendly means of identification.
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All web servers are assigned an IP address, which is a numerical label that is used to identify them and which enables them to be found on the Internet. The Domain Name System is the mechanism by which meaningful website domain names (such as or ) are translated into the IP addresses (for example, 212.58.244.26 and 74.125.129.94) of the servers providing these websites.
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