Navneopløsning

Navneopløsning is a Danish term that translates to "name resolution" in English. It refers to the process of translating a human-readable name into a machine-readable address. This is a fundamental concept in computer networking and is essential for the functioning of the internet.

The most common example of navneopløsning is the Domain Name System (DNS). When a user types a website address, such as www.example.com, into their web browser, their computer needs to find the IP address of the server hosting that website. DNS servers are responsible for this lookup. They maintain a hierarchical database that maps domain names to IP addresses.

The process typically begins with a local DNS resolver, which might be on the user's computer or network. If the resolver doesn't have the information cached, it queries a series of DNS servers, starting with the root servers, then the top-level domain (TLD) servers, and finally the authoritative name servers for the specific domain. Once the IP address is found, it's returned to the user's computer, allowing the browser to connect to the correct server and load the website.

Navneopløsning is also relevant in other contexts, such as within a local network where devices are identified by names rather than just IP addresses. Protocols like NetBIOS or mDNS facilitate this internal name resolution. The efficiency and accuracy of navneopløsning are critical for smooth network operations.