Why is DNS a thing? And why is it integrated the way it is with the web infrastructure.

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I understand how it makes everything easy to use and probably has some branding implications but it’s a major source of exploits. We have used phone numbers before and while a b inconvenient wouldn’t using IP addresses directly be much more secure. Or the very least using some decentralized framework rather than DNS servers

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Anonymous 0 Comments

DNS provides a bunch of functions without which the Internet wouldn’t function today.

First, load balancing. A record like [google.com](https://google.com) can have HUNDREDS of servers behind it, and DNS can provide that type of load balancing by giving different users different IP addresses.

Second, shared web servers. A server might have 1 IP address, but be serving up hundreds of domain web pages and email. That wouldn’t be possible without DNS.

Third, it’s much easier to go to a website by name, [www.pepsi.com](https://www.pepsi.com). Instead of having to remember the IP address. And how are you going to find that IP address in the first place?

DNS was around before the web. It’s been a foundation of The Internet since the beginning.

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