The Domain Name System (DNS) manages all the rules of domain name creation. It was created in 1983 to monitor domain names to organize domain names and make sure that they stayed organized. Web hosting companies dont have anything to do with the DNS on a day-to-day basis.

The system is a hierarchy, with large top-level domains forming the base and smaller second-level and lower domains making up the sections on top of the foundation. It also matches IP addresses to domain names so that devices connected to computer networks can be located no matter where they are in the world. Without the DNS, no one would be able to find websites, at least, not easily. Instead of having to type in an IP address any time a user wants to access a particular website, they can type in the domain name and let the DNS match the name to the IP address.

This system works 24 hours a day matching unique domain names to unique IP addresses to ensure that each domain name is assigned to a single website or server. The DNS is overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a private company that makes sure that IP addresses are given to the right people, and that none of them are repeated. The entire process would be mute if two different domain names were given to the same IP address, and ICANN keeps that from happening.