The TCP/IP Guide  9  TCP/IP Application Layer Protocols, Services and Applications (OSI Layers 5, 6 and 7)       9  Name Systems and TCP/IP Name Registration and Name Resolution            9  TCP/IP Name Systems: Host Tables and Domain Name System (DNS)                 9  TCP/IP Domain Name System (DNS)

TCP/IP Domain Name System (DNS) 1 DNS Overview, History and Standards

Most of us know that it's a lot easier to be a critic than a creator. It was easy to tell that the host table name system used on the fledgling TCP/IP Internet was not going to serve it going into the future, but finding a solution to this problem was much more difficult. The main reason the host table system was insufficient was that it was too simple, and this meant that its replacement, the Domain Name System (DNS), had to be considerably more sophisticated. Naturally, this made DNS more difficult to design, and also means we have to devote more energy to understanding how it works.

As I like to do with the explanation of most of the complex systems and protocols in this Guide, I begin in this section with background information and an introduction to TCP/IP DNS. I start by providing an overview of DNS's development, history and standards, continuing the history begun in the overall look at TCP/IP name systems. I discuss the design goals and objectives of the creators of DNS, to help you understand better what its designers were trying to do. I then talk about the main components of DNS and the functions it performs, relating these to the basic functions explained in the overview section on name systems.

TCP/IP Domain Name System (DNS) 1 DNS Overview, History and Standards