What is a Domain Name System?

All traffic on the Internet is actually controlled by numeric addresses, called Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The Domain Name System (DNS) is made up of computers located all over the world whose only job is to convert the domain name into the numeric IP address that web servers use. If you don't register your Domain Name in a DNS, other computers on the Internet won't be able to find it.

The DNS is like a big phone book...it converts the domain name into an IP number, just like the phone book converts your name into a telephone number. For example, whether you enter 216.239.51.100 in your web browser or www.google.com, both addresses are the same. The only difference is, one goes through DNS to be translated, the other doesn't need to.