DNS Lookup Cycle

Follow the journey of a DNS query from your web browser to the Root, TLD, and Authoritative Name Servers.

Abstract Algorithms

Jul 2, 2026·1 min read·Intermediate

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Quick Take

Before your browser can establish a connection with a server, it must translate the human-readable domain name (e.g., example.com) into an IP address. 📊 DNS Query Flow Browser ──(1) Query──> Resolver

Before your browser can establish a connection with a server, it must translate the human-readable domain name (e.g., example.com) into an IP address.

📊 DNS Query Flow

Browser ──(1) Query──> Resolver ──(2) Root Server ('.')
                         │ ◄──(3) Refer to TLD ('.com')──
                         │
                         ├──(4) TLD Server ('.com')
                         │ ◄──(5) Refer to Auth Server──
                         │
                         └──(6) Authoritative Server ('example.com')
                           ◄──(7) Return IP (93.184.216.34)──

Recursive Resolver: Usually hosted by your ISP or a public provider (like Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1).
Root Server: Directs the query to the Top-Level Domain (TLD) server based on the suffix (.com, .org).
TLD Server: Points to the authoritative name server managed by the domain registrar.
Authoritative Server: The source of truth holding the actual DNS records (A, AAAA, CNAME).

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