Exploring Types of Names Used in Networks

Computers work with numbers. At the lowest level, the computers use ones and zeros assigned to individual bits. Every single piece of data that flows through a computer is reduced to simply ones and zeros.

However, you and I just don’t think that way. Instead, we think in words. If someone asked you to memorize the MAC addresses or IP addresses of your favorite websites, you may find it a little challenging. However, if someone asked you to name your favorite websites, you could do so easily.

Thankfully, computers can also use names. However, there are many different elements built into networking to convert these names into the numbers used by the computers.

The following list shows the progression of how names are resolved to different types of addresses: