December 04, 2009

Google's expanding its grasp on the Internet with a newly revealed DNS resolving service. Google Public DNS, announced Thursday on Google's blog, will offer you an alternative way to connect to Web sites.

As with the launch of most Google services, people are starting to ask questions about what kind of data will be collected and how exactly it will be used. (Or, in more lay terms, "Is Google going to be evil?") Here are some straight-forward answers, straight from the source.

First, a brief description of what exactly Google Public DNS is: In a nutshell, the DNS -- or domain name system -- is what actually finds and directs you to a Web site when you type in its URL. You input "pcworld.com," the system translates that into the matching numerical address of PC World's server, and you're taken to the page. That's the simple explanation, anyhow.

For most users, DNS lookups are handled automatically through an Internet service provider; they're not tasks most of us see or devote much thought to. You do have the option, however, of using your own third-party DNS resolver. That's where Google Public DNS comes in.

The advantage of using a system such as Google's is that it can be faster, more efficient, and more secure than the default ISP alternatives. Companies such as OpenDNS already offer such functionality. As OpenDNS founder David Ulevitch points out, Google Public DNS will not offer the ability to filter content and customize the experience in the same way that a pay-to-play service does.

Source:-http://www.pcworld.com