nimipalvelin

Nimipalvelin is the Finnish term for a DNS server, a component of the Domain Name System (DNS) that translates human-readable domain names into numerical IP addresses. It is essential for locating services and hosts on the Internet by names such as example.fi, rather than by their addresses.

Nimipalvelin can refer to different roles within DNS. Recursive name servers answer client queries by querying other DNS servers until the required address is found, caching responses to speed up subsequent requests. Authoritative name servers store and provide the actual zone data for the domains they are responsible for. In practice, many networks deploy both types: a recursive resolver at the network edge and authoritative servers for their own domains. The DNS hierarchy includes root servers, top-level domain servers, and authoritative zones that map domain records (A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, and others).

Zone data is kept in zone files, with records describing how names are resolved and how services are accessed. Recursively resolving servers cache responses with a time-to-live (TTL). Security and privacy considerations have led to the adoption of measures such as DNSSEC, which verifies data authenticity, and privacy-enhancing protocols like DNS over TLS (DoT) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH).

Nimipalvelimia are run by ISPs, organizations, and individuals, and they can be implemented using software packages such as BIND, Unbound, and PowerDNS. Operating systems also provide built-in resolver capabilities. Users often configure devices to use public nimipalvelimet, for example Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4) or Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1). In home networks, routers may function as local nimipalvelimet to speed up name resolution.