Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Paul Mockapetris designed DNS to replace a central text file containing every host address on the internet. The figure is taken from IETF RFC 882, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a technology fact?

Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The Domain Name System DNS was created in 1983

Paul Mockapetris designed DNS to replace a central text file containing every host address on the internet

Before 1983, internet hosts resolved network names to numerical IP addresses using a single central file called HOSTS.TXT managed at Stanford. Paul Mockapetris invented DNS to create a distributed, hierarchical directory system capable of expanding globally. The system translated human-friendly domain names like example.com into machine IP addresses automatically.

DomainNameSystem photograph — Sakari A. Maaranen · CC BY 3.0 · licence · source

Where this comes from

IETF RFC 882

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Technology trivia IP Subnet Calculator

More facts like this

The first ARPANET message was intended to say LOGINIn 1969 the first message sent over ARPANET crashed after transmitting only the letters L and O Ethernet was invented at Xerox PARC in 1973Robert Metcalfe designed the wired networking system inspired by the Hawaiian ALOHANET radio system Fibre optic cables transmit data using pulses of laser lightTotal internal reflection inside glass strands carries gigabits of internet data per second The first website went live in 1991Tim Berners-Lee published the world's first web page at CERN to explain the World Wide Web project GPS relies on a constellation of at least twenty-four active satellitesThe Global Positioning System calculates positions using atomic clock signals from medium Earth orbit The de Havilland Comet was the world's first commercial jet airlinerEntering service in 1952, the British Comet introduced jet-powered commercial passenger travel

Tags: dns, internet, networking

The Domain Name System DNS was created in 1983: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Paul Mockapetris designed DNS to replace a central text file containing every host address on the internet. The figure is taken from IETF RFC 882, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.