Hello, and welcome to "Website Success in 5 Minutes." I’m Shaun Carvill, today we’re diving into the technical side of things: "How the internet works, with a focus on hosting, IP addresses, and DNS."
It might sound a bit complex, but I’ll break it down into simple terms so it’s easy to understand.
Let’s get started!
First off, let’s talk about hosting.
When you create a website, all the text, images, and files need to live somewhere on the internet. That’s where hosting comes in.
Think of hosting like renting space on the internet where your website can be accessed. Hosting companies provide servers—powerful computers that store your website's data—so that people can visit it from anywhere in the world.
When someone types in your website's address, like Clickingmad.com, their internet browser software like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer or Edge etc. connects to your host’s server to retrieve the files that make up your website and display them to the user.
Without hosting, your website wouldn’t have anywhere to "live" online, and people wouldn’t be able to access it.
Now, what’s an IP address?
Every device that connects to the internet—whether it’s a phone, computer, or even a smart fridge—has its own unique identifier called an IP address.
Think of it as a phone number for your device.
An IP address is a series of numbers (for example, 192.168.1.1) that helps computers and servers communicate with each other. When someone wants to visit your website, their computer uses your website’s IP address to find the server where your website is hosted.
Websites have their own IP addresses as well, but instead of users typing in a long string of numbers to visit a website, they use domain names like Clickingmad.com.
This is where DNS comes into play, which leads us to the next part.
What is DNS?
DNS stands for Domain Name System, and it’s essentially the internet’s phonebook.
Its job is to translate human-friendly domain names, like Clickingmad.com, into the numerical IP addresses that computers use to find each other.
So, when you type in a web address in your browser, the DNS system looks up that domain, finds the correct IP address, and directs your browser to the right server to fetch the website.
Here is an analogy:
Imagine you want to call your friend, but instead of remembering their phone number, you just remember their name. You use your phone’s contact list (like DNS) to find their number and make the call.
DNS works the same way—translating domain names into IP addresses so computers know where to send the request.
So, how does this all tie together?
Well.
- Hosting is where your website’s files are stored.
- IP addresses are the unique numbers that identify devices and websites on the internet.
- DNS translates the domain name of your website into the IP address that tells browsers where to find it.
Let’s walk through a simple example:
Imagine someone wants to visit Clickingmad.com. Here’s what happens in the background:
- The user types Clickingmad.com into their browser.
- The browser asks the DNS system to look up the IP address associated with the domain Clickingmad.com.
- DNS finds the correct IP address for the server that hosts your website.
- The browser then connects to that server using the IP address, retrieves the website’s files, and displays them to the user.
All of this happens in a split second, so users don’t even notice it, but it’s a key part of how the internet functions.
So why is this important for website owners?
Well, understanding how hosting, IP addresses, and DNS work is crucial for anyone running a website. Here’s why:
- Troubleshooting: If your website isn’t loading properly, knowing how these systems work can help you figure out whether the issue is with your hosting, DNS settings, or something else entirely.
- Security: Ensuring your DNS settings are configured correctly can help you protect your website from attacks like DNS hijacking, where hackers redirect traffic from your website to a malicious one.
- Performance: Choosing the right hosting provider and optimising DNS settings can improve your website’s loading speed and user experience.
To sum up:
The internet works by using hosting to store websites, IP addresses to identify devices and servers, and DNS to translate human-friendly domain names into IP addresses.
All of these systems work together seamlessly to bring websites to life and make them accessible to users worldwide.
That’s all for today’s episode of "Website Success in 5 Minutes." I’m Shaun Carvill.
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