- Request with domain name is made (e.g., by the browser).
- Application gives the domain name to DNS client locally. If the domain name’s IP address is cached here, no further steps are needed (same for all the steps below).
- DNS client forwards request to external DNS server (This first server is called the DNS recursor).
- The DNS server contacts one of the DNS servers in the DNS root zone (unless it already cached the relevant server IP).
- The root server responds with server address that handle the corresponding zone of the domain name (e.g. .com TLD).
- DNS recursor queries the authoritative nameserver for the domain name’s IP address.
- The authoritative server responds with the record found in its zone file.