DNS
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What is DNS?
The "phonebook of the internet" that translates human-readable website names (like google.com) into the numerical IP addresses required by computers to locate servers.
Computers communicate using IP addresses (e.g., 192.0.2.1), but humans cannot memorize these numbers. When you type a URL, a DNS server instantly looks up that domain name, finds the corresponding server IP address, and routes your browser to the correct physical machine hosting the website.
When you would use it
You configure DNS records (like A, CNAME, or TXT records) whenever you launch a new web application and need to attach it to a public custom domain.
Common operations
- Pointing a newly purchased domain name to a Vercel hosting server.
- Configuring subdomains (e.g., api.orbit.com) to route traffic to specific backend services.