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<br> <br><p>An IT worker draws a diagram of the Domain Name System (DNS) on a digital whiteboard. GodfriedEdelman/Getty Images</p><br><br> <br><br><br><br> <br><p>The internet and the World Wide Web are wild frontiers that rely on computer languages and codes to find and share data and information. One of the most fundamental instruments of the internet is the Domain Name System, or DNS. (Although many people think "DNS" stands for "Domain Name Server," it really stands for "Domain Name System.") DNS is a protocol within the set of standards for how computers exchange data on the internet and on many private networks, known as the TCP/IP protocol suite. Its purpose is vital, as it helps convert easy-to-understand domain names like "howstuffworks.com" into an Internet Protocol (IP) address, such as 70.42.251.42 that computers use to identify each other on the network. It is, in short, a system of matching names with numbers.</p><br><br>