What is Ethereum Name Service (ENS)?

Back in the day, when the Internet was still in its infancy and not widely used, one of the most significant challenges that users had to overcome was the fact that domain names and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses were not associated with one another. Because of this, they were highly unpleasant toward the regular Joe, who was had to key in the IP address of the website they intended to access, which meant that they had to physically write in the digits.

In contrast to conventional Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, crypto addresses are much longer strings of numbers and characters. In order for one user to be able to transmit funds to another user across Ethereum’s network, the first user will need to input the address of the recipient and ensure that each number and letter is spelled correctly.

It is also extremely important to be aware of the fact that, in this regard, technology based on the blockchain is quite severe. This is due to the fact that the funds that you transfer will be hopelessly lost if you fail to input the address correctly or if you write a letter incorrectly. Because there is no centralized authority that can be contacted to cancel or reverse the transaction, the money has been wasted.

And in the same way that Domain Name Services, or DNS, came into existence when people started using the internet, Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, also came into existence.

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What actually is the Ethereum Name Service(ENS)

A decentralized, open, and extendable name system that interacts with the Ethereum blockchain is known as the Ethereum Name Service (ENS).

The purpose of the ENS is to map names that can be read by humans, such as “john.eth,” to names that can be read by machines, such as wallet addresses that look like “9h988km39ji9xl.”

Users have the ability to purchase and administer their own domains through the usage of the ENS, which enables users to conduct safe and decentralized transactions without the need to deal with lengthy and complicated addresses When entering out the address of the receiver in order to send money, the risk of making an input error is decreased as a result of this.

Even while the ENS and the DNS system that was built in the 1980s may appear to be the same thing on the surface, their underlying architectures are very different.

The ENS, much like the DNS, makes use of a hierarchical naming system known as domains. Just as with the DNS, the creator and owner of a domain maintains authority over both the top-level domain and any future subdomains that may be created.

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Mechanism of ENS

Registry

The first thing to note is that every domain name listed in the ENS has a registered owner. A named domain belongs to its owner, who has the option of selling it to another person at his or her choice.

The person who wants to purchase a domain is referred to as a “registrant” since he must register it on the ENS. A feature of the ENS called “registry” keeps track of who has registered for a domain, or the registrar, and records, monitors, and tracks that information.

Smart contracts referred to as “registrars” distribute subdomain domains under the control of the permanent registrar, the primary registrar. They are referable by the owner of the register and can be changed at any time or at any level within the ENS.

The owner of a domain registration may also transfer it to another specific account. Additionally, the person can regain ownership of a certain domain name by reclaiming both the name and the domain. The registrant who has recovered a specific account now holds control of the ENS name.

Names

As was previously mentioned, having a name differs from owning a registration. A “name” can be made up of many labels that are separated by dots and serves as a means for the ENS to identify a certain domain, such as “john.eth.”

The “name hash” technique is used to process domain names that are registered on the ENS. The name hash is necessary because the ENS system, which can only operate with hashes of a finite length of 256 bits, replaces human-friendly names.

A name hash is utilized if one wants to extract the hash from the name while maintaining the domain’s hierarchical features. For instance, the name hash for “john.eth” is 0x787192fc5378cc32aa.The ENS is the only organization that represents names in this way.

Names must first be normalized, which means that both upper- and lowercase names must be handled identically, before the name hash can be used. This is crucial because the name hash procedure makes sure that every user sees the same names and domains that are accessible on the ENS.

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DNS vs. ENS: What’s the Difference?

Paul Mockapetris, a computer scientist from the United States, is credited with the creation of the Domain Name Service (DNS) in the year 1983. Another American scientist, Elizabeth Feinler, had conducted the study that led to this finding.

In simplified terms, the function of the Domain Name System (DNS) is to correlate internet protocol (IP) addresses with names that are more easily understood by humans. Users are able to enter the name of the website rather than having to key in the precise numeric IP address thanks to this feature.

To accomplish a similar goal in a manner that is distinctively its own, Ethereum Name Service seeks to make it simpler for individuals and apps alike to read and exchange cryptocurrency addresses.