What's a Domain Name Anyway?

Some old English writer once said a Rose is a Rose by any other name, but its obvious they didn't have web access back then. Picking the right domain name for your web site can be a tricky proposition. It has become difficult to find a .com domain name that someone hasn't registered already. To help you with your search, we'll give you a little background information on domain names.

Domain Names

What is a domain name anyway? Well, computers actually use an Internet Protocol Address (IP) to know where things are located. To make it easier on use humans, someone came up with the concept of domain names. A domain name is directly related to an IP address. So, when you want to visit a web site you heard on the radio, you don't have to remember 192.168.1.123, all you have to remember is the name.

Domain Extensions

A domain extension is the last part of a web address. At one point in time they were all 3-letter extensions. Then they created some 2-letter extensions. Recently they've even created some 4-letter extensions. We'll explain what all of those are here soon.

Top Level Domains

A Top Level Domain or TLD is the highest category of domain extensions. There are three types of TLDs that are considered generic, the .com, .net and .org. These extensions. are unrestricted, meaning anyone form anywhere can register a domain name using one. At one point Net were reserved for networking companies and .org were reserved for nonprofit companies, but for one reason or another that has fallen by the way side. There are also .edu (education), .gov (government) and .mil (military) address, but one must provide documentation to be allowed use of one of those extensions.

Global Top Level Domains

A global Top Level Domain or a gTLD are a new group of extensions. that have been on talked about for several years, but have only recently been released. There have been many new extensions proposed, but only two have been put into use so far, .biz and .info and .name and .pro will soon be adopted.

Country Code Top Level Domains

The Country Code Top Level Domains or ccTLD are operated by separate registry authorities in 192 countries. Some countries keep their ccTLD open to only businesses or people residing in the country. Other countries have opened their ccTLD to the world. Some countries have allowed several of the major registrars to solicit domain name requests, while others require you to contact an agency in the country. Some examples are as follows:

| Back |