| Domain Name Basics |
Every web site on the Internet has what is referred to as an IP Address, or Internet Protocol Address. The format for an IP Address consists of a series of numbers, separated by periods or dots (e.g. 66.225.253.90). This address points to a location on a host computer, or web server, and is the residence of one or many web sites.
As the popularity of the Internet and web sites grew, it became evident that remembering all those number combinations simply wasn't practical for the average person. This gave way to the birth of the Domain Naming System (or DNS) and Top Level Domains, or TLD extensions (such as .com, .net, .org). A registered domain name consists of a name and its TLD extension (e.g. kmkenterprises.com).
Domain names are registered by organizations and individuals through accredited/authorized Domain Registrars. The purchaser pays an annual licensing fee for use of the domain name to the registrar of their choice. The registrars maintain records listing the registrant, administrative, technical and billing contacts for the domain; as well as information about the nameservers (host computer) on which the web site corresponding to the domain name is hosted. Nameserver information is used to point the domain at a specific host computer's IP Address.
When you precede a domain name with the http:// you are requesting information for that domain in Hypertext Transfer Protocol. HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.
A URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, is the complete address of a specific web page. URLs may also contain information following the TLD. For example: http://kmkenterprises.com/index.htm is the actual address of our home page.
When you add something in front of the domain name, such as www. or support., it is known as a Fully Qualified Domain Name, or FQDN--FQDNs must have two dots in them. Most web sites can be reached with or without use of the www. as long as they have been set up correctly. WWW is technically a subdomain which refers to the World Wide Web.
Nothing that comes before the TLD in a URL is case sensitive; but there is a big difference between INDEX.HTM and index.htm, especially when dealing with Linux based servers.
In the United States, domain name registrations are considered real property and should be treated as such. ICANN. or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (an international organization), requires that contact information be kept up-to-date for all domain registrations or domain owners risk losing the right to use a domain name.
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| Article Details |
Author: KMK Enterprises
Posted: 2010-02-10 00:52:26
Number of Views: 130
Keywords: domain, name, uniform, resource, locator, url, IP address, HTTP, Hypertext, Transfer, Protocol, DNS, registrar, registrant
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