Which protocol resolves internet names to IP addresses?

The protocol that resolves internet names to IP addresses is the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS serves as the phonebook of the internet, translating human-friendly domain names, like www.example.com, into the numerical IP addresses that computers use to communicate with each other. This process is crucial for the functionality of the internet because most users prefer to remember easily recognizable domain names rather than complex series of numbers.

Without DNS, users would need to memorize the specific IP addresses of all the websites they wish to visit, which would be both impractical and cumbersome. DNS also provides additional features such as load balancing and maintaining records for different types of services associated with a domain.

The other protocols listed serve different purposes related to network functionality. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is used for dynamically assigning IP addresses to devices on a network. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the foundational protocol for transferring web pages on the internet. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used for transferring files between computers within a network. While these protocols are important for various network operations, it is DNS that specifically handles the conversion of domain names to IP addresses, making it the correct answer.