When you type turkiye.gov.tr into your browser, your computer needs an IP address, not a name. The system that turns the name into an address is DNS, the Domain Name System — the internet’s phone book.
How a DNS lookup works
- Your device asks the resolver configured in its network settings: “what is the IP of
turkiye.gov.tr?” - If the resolver does not have the answer cached, it walks the chain itself: from the root servers to the
.trservers, then togov.tr’s and finally to the domain’s own name servers. - It returns the answer (for example an IPv4 and an IPv6 address) and caches it for the time the record allows (the TTL).
This usually takes a few milliseconds. The details are in How does DNS work?.
DNS records
The most common: A and AAAA (IPv4 and IPv6 addresses), MX (mail servers), TXT (SPF, DMARC and verification codes), NS (the domain’s name servers) and CNAME (an alias). See all records of a domain live with the DNS lookup.
What changing your DNS server changes
By default your router and phone use your provider’s resolver. You can switch to public resolvers such as Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), Google (8.8.8.8) or Quad9 (9.9.9.9).
- Speed: usually little or no difference; your provider’s resolver is often closer.
- Privacy: with encrypted DNS (DNS over HTTPS or TLS) the network in between can’t see which names you look up, but the resolver operator can, and your provider still sees the addresses you connect to.
- IP address: changing DNS does not change your IP address.
When a domain’s records change, resolvers keep the old answer until its TTL runs out; check with the DNS propagation checker.