What network protocol allows you to associate a text name with an IP address when accessing a device over the Internet?

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the network protocol that enables the association of a text name with an IP address when accessing a device over the Internet. It acts as the phonebook of the Internet by translating human-readable domain names, such as www.example.com, into machine-readable IP addresses, such as 192.0.2.1. This process is crucial because while humans find it easier to remember names, the underlying infrastructure of the Internet relies on numerical IP addresses to direct traffic accurately.

Without DNS, users would have to memorize complex numeric addresses to access websites, which is impractical. The DNS resolution process simplifies this by allowing users to enter easy-to-remember domain names, which the DNS servers then translate into the appropriate IP addresses, facilitating seamless navigation on the Internet.

In contrast, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is used for transferring hypertext requests and information on the web, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is for transferring files between a client and server, and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is utilized for sending emails. None of these protocols are responsible for name resolution like DNS is.