Web browsing is an essential element of our daily lives, and speed is critical in providing a uniform browsing experience. //net-internals/#dns, quite surprisingly, is an often-overlooked aspect of increasing browsing efficiency. Let's delve into what it is, how it works in Chrome, and its merits in promoting browsing efficiency.
What Is DNS Caching?
Old DNS translation: When a website is visited, the browser consults a Domain Name System (DNS) server to translate the web address to an IP address. This can be time-consuming. In order to save resources and do away with loading pauses, Chrome places DNS lookup results into its cache.
This, in other words, implies that on successive visits to the same website, access to the IP address from the cache by Chrome eliminates the need to contact the DNS server anew.
Benefits of DNS Caching
Faster Browsing: Eliminating the repeated DNS lookup in favor of accessing the cached DNS translates into faster loading time.
Offline Access: Sometimes, with cached entries, there is limited functionality for some sites without the connection to the Internet.
Reduced Server Load: Lightening the DNS queries, caching will make the DNS server exert lesser load.
Managing DNS Cache in Chrome
Every so often, a DNS cache can get outdated or corrupted, creating connection problems. Users using Chrome can simply fix the situation by clearing the cache:
Open Chrome, and copy chrome://net-internals/#dns to the address bar.
Then, click "Clear host cache" so that the stored DNS records are relatively fresh again.
Final Thoughts
An overdramatic performance boost can be seen by simple use of DNS caching in Chrome by the website caching DNS records. Junk data inside the DNS cache periodically will ensure maximal functioning consistently.
