Domain Names
Definition
Human-readable addresses that map to IP addresses through the Domain Name System (DNS), essential for navigating the internet and web services.
Use Cases
- Netflix: Global traffic routing and service availability for a large internet platform — Netflix has publicly described using DNS as part of its traffic management strategy, including directing users to appropriate endpoints and supporting resilient delivery across regions and networks. (DNS-based routing helps Netflix improve availability and direct users toward performant service endpoints at global scale.)
- Airbnb: Reliable access to web and API services across cloud infrastructure — Airbnb has publicly shared extensive use of AWS infrastructure, where domain names and DNS management are foundational for exposing applications, APIs, and internal services through stable names instead of hard-coded IP addresses. (Using DNS-backed service endpoints makes infrastructure changes easier, supports scaling, and reduces operational risk when systems move or fail over.)
- Shopify: Connecting millions of merchant storefront domains to hosted commerce infrastructure — Shopify supports custom domains for merchant stores, which relies on DNS records such as CNAME and A records to map customer-owned domain names to Shopify-hosted services. (DNS-based domain mapping lets merchants use branded web addresses while Shopify manages the underlying hosting platform.)
Provider Equivalents
- AWS: Amazon Route 53
- Azure: Azure DNS
- GCP: Cloud DNS
- OCI: OCI DNS
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between Domain Names and DNS?
- A domain name is the human-readable address, such as example.com. DNS, or Domain Name System, is the system that translates that name into an IP address that computers use to connect. In simple terms, the domain name is the label people type, and DNS is the lookup service that makes it work.
- When should I use Domain Names?
- Use domain names whenever people or applications need a stable, readable way to reach a service. They are especially important for websites, APIs, email, and multi-region applications. In cloud environments, domain names are useful when IP addresses may change, when you want to route users to different regions, or when you need features like failover, load balancing integration, and CDN support.
- How much does Domain Names cost?
- Costs usually come from two areas: domain registration and DNS hosting. Registration is typically billed yearly and varies by top-level domain such as .com or .io. Managed DNS is often billed based on the number of hosted zones and DNS queries. Advanced features such as health checks, traffic policies, or premium domains can add cost. For small projects, costs are usually low, but high-traffic applications can generate larger DNS query charges.
Category: networking
Difficulty: basic
Related Terms
See Also