DNS is the way that Internet domain names are located and translated into IP addresses. A domain name is a meaningful and easy-to-remember "handle" for an Internet address. It is a program that converts domain names to their IP addresses. Without it we would have to remember numbers, instead of words to get around the net.
Because maintaining a central list of domain name/IP
address correspondences would be impractical, the lists of domain names and IP
addresses are distributed throughout the Internet in a hierarchy of authority.
There is probably a DNS server within close geographic proximity to your access provider that maps
the domain names in your Internet requests or forwards them to other servers in
the Internet.
Windows NT Server 4.0 has a built-in DNS service that is standards-based (IETF RFC 1053). In Windows NT Server 4.0, administrators manage the Windows NT Server DNS with a graphical administration tool which can be run from remote locations. The graphical administration tool in the Windows NT Server DNS makes it much easier to administer DNS. And because the DNS in Windows NT Server 4.0 is RFC-based, administrators can easily migrate from their existing DNS to the Windows NT Server DNS, or coexist with other non-Microsoft DNSs.
Because DNS and WINS are integrated in Windows NT Server 4.0, an end user can use DNS "compound" names to access network resources. For example, an end user can use Explorer to access a share called \\srv1.myco.com\public. DNS and WINS work together to resolve the compound name.
