The Dns Protocol: It's History And Process

TheDNSPr otocol:It sHistoryandPr ocessKadinMcElwainDr .Chen,IntroT oCybersecurityKentStateUniversitySeptember27th,2023TheDNSPr otocol:It sHistoryandPr ocessIn201 1,aUSmilitarybasecontainingimportantbombinstructionswashackedbyahackingor ganizationbasedintheUK,whoreplacedtheinstructionsforthebombthatwereonlinewithcupcakerecipes(Gibson,2018).MilitarywebsitesandmagazinewebsitesareexamplesofwebsitesthatusetheDomainNameSystem,orDNS.Inaddition,thecupcakewebsitethatthehackersusedtogettherecipesfrom,theEllenwebsite,isalsoanexampleofawebsitethatincorporatesDNS(Gibson,2018).DNSwasinventedbyanMITalumbackin1983bythenameofPaulMockapetrisanditcontinuestomakeanimpactonthetechworldtoday(PaulMockapetris,2012Inductee,2012).W ithoutDNS,wewouldn thavetheinternetthatweknowtoday .Ithasasimplisticprocessaswellthatmakestheinternettheinternet.InaninterviewwithW elcomeT oTheJungle.Com,PaulMockapetris,theinventorofDNS,revealedthattherewasaproblemwiththetextfileoftheoldinternet,storedattheStanfordResearchInstitute,aspeoplehadtocontacttheSRIallthetimeinordertoupdateitandgetIPaddresses,anditwasn topenonweekendsorholidays(Mathi,2020).Thisresultedinadelayingettingwhateverjobthatneededtobedonefinishedinanef ficientmanner .So,Mockapetris,usinghisbackgroundoftechnology ,whichincludedworkingonadistributedcomputingprojectwithDaveFarberatUCIrvine,asinspirationforthedesign,madeawholenewversionoftheinternetthatweknowtodayasDNS(Mathi,2020).BackinMockapetristime,likehesaidintheinterviewwithW elcomeT oTheJungle.Com,youhadtocalltheStanfordResearchInstituteinordertofindwhateverwebsitethatyouwerelookingfor(Mathi,2020).Now ,insteadofcallingauniversityresearchinstitutetofindanIPaddressorwhateverelseweneed,wesimplytypethewebaddress,caseinpointebay .com/sandwiches,intoourcomputersandhopeforthebestintermsofgettingtheresultswewantandneed,forinstancethesaidebay .com/sandwichespoppingupasdif ferentvarietiesofsandwichesonebay .Thisprocessentailssevendif ferentsteps,accordingtoBenLuketevichandJohnBurke(Burke,andBurke,2021).:Theusertypesthesearchresultorwebsiteaddressintothesearchbar .(e.g.ebay .com/sandwiches)Thecomputersendsaspecialmessagetothesystem,calledarecursiveDNSquery,totrytofindthesearchresultorwebaddress.Thesystemproceedstosearchthroughaspecialdatabase,calledarecursiveDNSserver,totrytofindthesearchresultorwebaddress.Iftheyfindit,theuserisinluck.IftherecursiveDNSserver ,orRDNSS,can tfindwhattheuserislookingfor ,theysearchotherspecialservers,suchastheTLDnameserverandtheauthoritativenameserver .Theseserversworktogethertofindthesearchresultorwebaddress.ThemainDNSserverthendoesaprocessknownascaching,tohelpthemrememberwherethesearchresultorwebaddresswouldbe.Ifnoneoftheabovework,themainserversendstheuserbackwithanerrormessageandtheuserhastosearchforsomethingelsefortoday .DNSisanimportantpartofourdailylives,asithelpsusgetthesearchresultsthatweneedandhelpstoruntheinternetweknowtoday .ThankstoPaulMockapetrisandhisvisionforabetterinternet,wehaveasimpleseven-stepprocessthathelpsmakethemoderninternetwhatitis.Refer encesGibson,N.(2018,July3).Thefunniesthackerattacksofalltime.Ranker .https://www .ranker.com/list/funniest-hackers/nathan-gibsonLutkevich,B.,&Burke,J.(2021,August26).WhatisDNS?howdomainnamesystemworks.Networking.https://www .techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/domain-name-system#:~:text=The%20domain%20name%20system%20(DNS,uses%20to%20locate%20that%20website.Mathi,S.(2020,June23).AninterviewwithPaulMockapetris,thecreatoroftheDNS.https://www .welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/btc-interview-paul-mockapetrisPaulMockapetris2012Inductee.InternetHallofFame.(2012).https://www .internethallof fame.org/inductee/paul-mockapetris/#:~:text=Paul%20Mockapetris%20expanded%20the%20Internet,System%20(DNS)%20in%201983.