When you browse the internet, your computer relies on a Domain Name System (DNS) to translate human-friendly domain names like “www.example.com” into machine-readable IP addresses. This translation process is crucial for accessing websites and online services effectively. To speed up this translation and improve browsing efficiency, your computer stores DNS information in temporary storage called the DNS cache.
What is DNS Cache?
The DNS cache is a local database that contains recent DNS lookup results. When you visit a website for the first time, your computer queries a DNS resolver to find the corresponding IP address. The resolver then responds with the IP address, and your computer stores this information in its DNS cache.
The next time you visit the same website or any other domain hosted on the same IP address, your computer can quickly retrieve the information from its local cache. This avoids the need to send a new DNS query, reducing the time it takes to load the website.