When a user types a domain name into a browser, which system resolves it to an IP address?

When a user types a domain name into a browser, which system resolves it to an IP address?

• A. DHCP
• B. ARP
• C. DNS
• D. NTP

Answer: (C)

When you type a domain name, the system that translates that readable name into the numeric address the network uses is the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS acts like a phone book for the internet, turning human-friendly names into IP addresses that computers use to locate servers. Your browser starts by checking its own cache; if the address isn’t there, it asks a DNS resolver (often provided by your ISP or a public service) to look it up. The resolver then queries a hierarchy of DNS servers—root servers, then top-level domain servers, and finally authoritative servers for the specific domain—until it returns the IP address. Once the IP is known, the browser connects to that address to fetch the web page. DNS lookups typically use UDP on port 53, with TCP used for larger transfers or when reliability is needed, and results are cached to speed up future requests. Other options handle different tasks: DHCP assigns IP addresses to devices on a network, ARP translates IP addresses to MAC addresses on a local link, and NTP keeps clocks synchronized across devices.

When you type a domain name, the system that translates that readable name into the numeric address the network uses is the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS acts like a phone book for the internet, turning human-friendly names into IP addresses that computers use to locate servers. Your browser starts by checking its own cache; if the address isn’t there, it asks a DNS resolver (often provided by your ISP or a public service) to look it up. The resolver then queries a hierarchy of DNS servers—root servers, then top-level domain servers, and finally authoritative servers for the specific domain—until it returns the IP address. Once the IP is known, the browser connects to that address to fetch the web page. DNS lookups typically use UDP on port 53, with TCP used for larger transfers or when reliability is needed, and results are cached to speed up future requests.

Other options handle different tasks: DHCP assigns IP addresses to devices on a network, ARP translates IP addresses to MAC addresses on a local link, and NTP keeps clocks synchronized across devices.