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How DNS Works

Task: Follow one name from your browser to an IP address

Browseryoutube.com142.250.183.14DNS resolverCACHEDRoot serverknows who handles .com.com TLD serverknows who handles youtube.comAuthoritative serverknows the IP address

What you are watching

A DNS lookup for youtube.com, followed from the browser to the address. The browser hands the name to a resolver, which asks a root server, then the .com registry, then the server that is authoritative for the name - each one answering with a referral rather than an address, until the last one returns 142.250.183.14. Asking a second time skips all of it, because the resolver kept the answer.