Hello all,
I have been struggling to find a way to explain the
importance of using DNS in our environment as opposed to direct IP
addresses. While IP addressing is
important in what we do, connecting to other machines or services via DNS is
vital to sustainability and growth.
I found a bit of information and changed the message a bit
to fit our needs. Maybe this will
help. Bottom line….when connecting to
anything, PLEASE use DNS.
DNS is foundational for any business. True, while a company is small, it is easy to
memorize a small portion of static IP addresses. This works fine for home or a small
organization, but does not provide flexibility for growth, nor does it allow for
scalability. Take this example:
In your web browser, type http://74.125.225.115
and press enter (or just press the hyperlink) ….where did it take you? Google?
So, why would anyone want to type in http://www.google.com
when they can easily memorize a number like 74.125.225.115? (sarcasm).
It is much easier to remember www.google.com
than it is to memorize a number like that, yes?
Now…I could stop right here, but I am sure there are some people out
there that are numbers people who will argue that memorizing the number is
easier than remembering www.google.com. Okay…put on your helmets, this is going to
hurt a bit.
In your browser now type (or press the hyperlink) Http://173.194.46.48 where did it take you? Google?
How about http://173.194.46.49 ? Google?
Now try http://173.194.46.50? Google? Now try http://173.194.46.51 ?
Google again? Now…I can keep putting
typing addresses about 400 more times that will bring you to the exact same
spot…..www.google.com. The google web
servers are a part of a cluster. If one
doesn’t work for whatever reason, another one picks up.
So now, numbers person, would you like to memorize about
400, 4 octet string numbers to get to a single server, or would you rather use
DNS and just type http://www.google.com and
let DNS figure it out for you?
Okay, Mr. Smarty pants…you know who you are? They guy who wants to argue everything just
for the sake of arguing. You said you
are going to memorize 400 number strings because you do not like or do not
trust DNS. Fine. Let’s test your mad number skills. IPv6! Full contact sport now! Put on all your armor!
IPv6 is coming. If you
are in other countries, this is all they do now. Since Feb, 2013, the IANA has completely
exhausted the IPv4 range, which means that there is no more address spaces
available in the IPv4 range to be given out publically. So, eventually, everyone will be force to
migrate/move to IPv6 (www.test-ipv6.com )
So, if you are already running IPv6 you are ahead of the
curve! (Clap)
So now……you want to goto google. You can type in www.google.com and let DNS resolve it for you….or,
Mr Numbers Guy…..you can type in Http://2607:f8b0:4009:8010:0000:0000:0000:1012
YUP, that is the www.google.com address in
IPv6 format. Now, again, there are about
400 different combinations of this number for you to memorize. GO!
OR…..you can just type in www.google.com
and let DNS sort it out for you.
Your choice, choose wisely!
Hope you enjoyed this.
J
