Five Things you Should know About Domain Names

I have tried on many occasions to get a better understanding of the complexities involved in Domain Name registration, resolution etc. There are a lot of different pieces, legal, bureaucratic, and technical, that seem to go in to my ability to receive a website when I enter google.com into my address bar. Despite my best efforts, I've been unable to create a coherent mental model for the steps involved.

I was hoping that this article would give me some insight, but unfortunately was basically a trivia piece. Does anyone know of a good technical/detailed explanation of the interplay between DNS servers, ICANN, domain resellers, ISPs, etc? I'd love to read one.