Every website on the internet is ultimately identified by a unique IP address, which is a numerical label assigned to each device connected to a network. However, because IP addresses (like 192.168.1.1 for IPv4 or 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334 for IPv6) are difficult for humans to remember, the Domain Name System (DNS) was created to translate human-friendly domain names, such as example.com, into the corresponding IP addresses. When you type a domain name into a browser, your computer sends a query to a DNS resolver, which navigates the hierarchical DNS system to locate the authoritative server for that domain and return its IP address. This process ensures that your browser knows which server to contact to load the website. Each part of a domain name — the subdomain, second-level domain, and top-level domain — helps DNS determine the correct server path, but at the end of the chain, the browser always connects using the IP address. This mapping allows websites to move servers or use content delivery networks (CDNs) without changing the domain name, because the DNS can simply update the IP address behind the scenes. Essentially, domain names are like a human-readable address book for the internet, while IP addresses are the exact coordinates computers use to communicate and route traffic correctly.