A DNS Server is a server which holds an incredible amount of websites, and converts website names (which are easy to remember for humans), into IP Addresses.
When you type "linuxforthelayman.blogspot.com" into the browser, the computer will contact the DNS server to get the IP Address of the server holding the website, and once your computer gets the IP Address of the server which contains the website, it begins the connection to that IP to begin download the information.
DNS servers are usually automatically assigned to you through your ISP (Internet Service Provider), but you can manually override them with your own DNS servers (OpenDNS is one of the best DNS servers around). If you sign up for a free account on their website, you could also do a lot more like blocking certain websites either manually, or using their lists (which are updated all the time). For the full list of categories they block, check out their website (Link).
In order to change which DNS server being used in Ubuntu, you will have to right click the NetworkManager Applet which is in the upper right, and click on "Edit Connections." Then click on the tab Wired or Wireless depending on which you are on, and click on your connection and push Edit:
After this Edit is pushed you should see a screen like this:
Click on "IPv4 Settings," switch Method to Automatic (DHCP) Addresses Only, and type in 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220 into the DNS Servers box. The two IP Addresses seperated by a comma are the addresses to the OpenDNS servers. After you have finished, click OK, and then test to see if you have OpenDNS by going to the test page (http://www.opendns.com/welcome/oops/)
No comments:
Post a Comment