If you can reach a website by its IP address but not by its host name, what is the first logical step to investigate?

If you can reach a website by its IP address but not by its host name, what is the first logical step to investigate?

• A. Check the firewall settings for port blocking
• B. PING the IP address of the DNS server to see if it is up
• C. Flush the DNS cache on your machine
• D. Restart the DNS server

Answer: (B)

Reaching a website by its IP address but not by its hostname suggests a potential issue with the Domain Name System (DNS) resolution process. In this context, checking the status of the DNS server that your system uses is a logical initial step. PINGing the IP address of the DNS server allows you to verify whether the server is reachable and responsive. If the DNS server is not reachable, your machine would be unable to resolve hostnames into IP addresses, which would explain why the hostname fails to provide access while the IP address works directly. Thus, ensuring that the DNS server you are querying is operational is crucial to diagnose the issue effectively. Investigating other potential problems like firewall settings or flushing the DNS cache can also be important, but they may not address the most immediate concern of whether the DNS server itself is available to provide hostname resolutions. If the server is down, resolving DNS cache issues or checking firewall settings might be irrelevant until the server's status is confirmed.

Reaching a website by its IP address but not by its hostname suggests a potential issue with the Domain Name System (DNS) resolution process. In this context, checking the status of the DNS server that your system uses is a logical initial step. PINGing the IP address of the DNS server allows you to verify whether the server is reachable and responsive.

If the DNS server is not reachable, your machine would be unable to resolve hostnames into IP addresses, which would explain why the hostname fails to provide access while the IP address works directly. Thus, ensuring that the DNS server you are querying is operational is crucial to diagnose the issue effectively.

Investigating other potential problems like firewall settings or flushing the DNS cache can also be important, but they may not address the most immediate concern of whether the DNS server itself is available to provide hostname resolutions. If the server is down, resolving DNS cache issues or checking firewall settings might be irrelevant until the server's status is confirmed.