How domain works?
A domain name is the easy-to-remember address of your website.
It has two main parts:
Name: aarju
TLD (Top-Level Domain): .com
Together, they form your website name.
Think of It Like an Address:
Domain = House name
IP Address = GPS location of your house
DNS = Phonebook that finds GPS using the house name
How a Domain actually Works?
Step 1: You type domain like aarju.com
Your browser needs to find out where that website lives on the internet — its real IP address.
But the browser doesn’t know it yet, so it begins a process to find it out.
Step 2: Browser checks its local cache Before asking anyone else
The browser checks: -“Do I already know the IP address of aarju.com from earlier?”
- If yes, it skips the rest and loads the site fast from memory.
This is called DNS caching — like remembering a friend's address.
Step 3: Ask DNS Resolver (usually your internet provider)
If the browser doesn't know the IP, it asks a DNS resolver (usually provided by your Wi-Fi or ISP).
The browser says: “Hey DNS, can you tell me the IP address of aarju.com?”
Step 4: DNS Resolver checks the Nameservers of the domain
Now the resolver says: -“Let me check who is managing the DNS records for this domain.”
- It checks the Nameservers — these are like the gatekeepers for your domain.
Nameservers:
-
These nameservers are set when you buy hosting or configure your domain.
Step 5: Nameservers return the A Record
The resolver contacts the correct nameserver and says:
“Please give me the A record (IP address) of aarju.com.”
The nameserver replies with something like:
A record = 192.0.2.123
- The A Record is a DNS record that tells: “Your website is stored on this server IP.”
Step 6: Resolver gives the IP to your browser
Now the resolver says:
“Here, browser. The IP address of aarju.com is 192.0.2.123.”
The browser remembers this (cache) to make future visits faster.
Step 7: Browser connects to the server
Browser now knows:
Domain: aarju.com IP address: 192.0.2.123
It sends a request to the server at that IP:
“Hey server, please give me the website for aarju.com.”
Step 8: Server sends back the website
The server responds:
“Sure! Here’s the homepage, the images, the content, and the style files.”
All files are sent to your browser.
Step 9: Website appears!
Finally, your browser puts all the files together and shows you the full website. This whole process takes less than a second.
Summary
You type a domain ➜ browser checks cache ➜ asks DNS resolver ➜ resolver checks nameservers ➜ gets A record ➜ IP is found ➜ browser connects to server ➜ website loads!