What system translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses?

The system that translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses is the Domain Name System (DNS). This crucial infrastructure operates like a phonebook for the internet, enabling users to enter familiar domain names, such as www.example.com, rather than having to remember numeric IP addresses, like 192.0.2.1.

When a user types a domain name into a web browser, a request is sent to a DNS server. The DNS server then resolves that domain name into its corresponding IP address, allowing the browser to locate and connect to the appropriate server hosting the website. Without DNS, navigating the internet would be significantly more difficult, as users would need to know and input numeric addresses directly.

The other systems mentioned serve different purposes. The URL System relates to the formatting of web addresses; TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is a suite of communication protocols used for transmitting data over a network, and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol used for transmitting hypermedia documents, such as web pages, but it does not perform the function of resolving domain names into IP addresses. Thus, DNS is the correct answer, as it specifically handles the conversion of domain names to their corresponding numerical IP addresses.