Domain Names

Written by Richard Lowe


If you've spent any time at all surfingrepparttar internet, then you've seen a domain name. You may not have known, but you can be sure that you've seen one.

So what are domain names all about? Here are some common questions andrepparttar 108316 answers.

What is this thing called a domain name?

It is a completely unique address which identifies a collection of web pages (generally called a web site) that are publicly accessible. A domain name identifies your site and allows people to get to it without knowingrepparttar 108317 technical details of it's TCP/IP address and so forth. A good domain name also informs people what your site is about.

Is a domain name only for web sites?

No. A domain name also is used for email identification. In addition, other kinds of systems such as newsgroups and FTP servers are often identified by a domain name.

Why is a domain name important?

If you create a web site, you don't absolutely need a domain name. In fact,repparttar 108318 vast majority of people create a web site on a free host. These free hosts typically have many thousands (and in a few cases millions) of web sites onrepparttar 108319 same domain, each site identified by a unique name.

However, if you haverepparttar 108320 desire to do anything significant onrepparttar 108321 internet, then you need to get your own domain name. Why? It's considered more professional, it is not very expensive, and many ofrepparttar 108322 major search engines will not spider free host sites which do not have their own domain name.

What arerepparttar 108323 components of a domain name?

There are two to three parts to a domain name. Let's take a typical domain name - "internet-tips.net". This domain name has two parts. The first, "internet-tips", is a second-level domain name. The second part,repparttar 108324 ".net" is a top-level domain name. You can also have a third (or even more) part, called a subdomain. For example, "search.internet-tips.net" might be a valid subdomain. The whole thing together identifies a web site or sites.

What is a subdomain for?

A subdomain is used to drill down deeper into a site. For example, a web host that allows other people to create sites might offer subdomains. Each subdomain might be a unique site. Subdomains can also be used to identify functions - "search.internet-tips.net" is a good example of a function oriented subdomain.

What arerepparttar 108325 valid top-level domains?

The current major top-level domains are listed inrepparttar 108326 table below.

Domain Usage .COM Commercial business .EDU 4-year university or college .GOV Government .INT International .MIL Military .NATO NATO field .NET Network related organizations .ORG Non-profit organization

There are also top-level domain names for countries - these are defined by ISO-3166. In addition, new top-level domains are inrepparttar 108327 process of being created - these are described in "The new domains are coming soon".

The intended purpose ofrepparttar 108328 top-level domain is to allow surfers to know, just by looking atrepparttar 108329 characters, what kind of site they are examining. For example, a site with a top level domain of ".EDU" is a university or four year college.

Unfortunately, restrictions ofrepparttar 108330 use of top-level domains (especially .ORG) has not been enforced. Thus,repparttar 108331 divisions betweenrepparttar 108332 domain names has blurred.

How do people get domain names?

There are over 200 companies (called Domain Registrars) whose only purpose is to sell you domain names. All you have to do is find one and give them money. They will take care ofrepparttar 108333 rest. How much does it cost to get a domain?

It depends upon where you get your domain name. You can find many places that will register for free in return for some service or product. Some will charge a yearly fee, some will only charge forrepparttar 108334 registration itself. In general, I would not pay more than $35 a year. If you look around, you can get this down to under $10.

What about Network Solutions?

Until recently, you could only purchase domain names from a company called Network Solutions. You can still purchase your domain name directly from them. However, you now haverepparttar 108335 option of using any of several hundred different companies. It is up to you.

How many domain names can a person own?

As many as he wants. You do have to be careful about cybersquatting, which isrepparttar 108336 practice of purchasing a domain only to block someone else or force them to pay you money (it's could be described as domain name extortion).

Can domain names be sold or traded?

Yes, as long asrepparttar 108337 rules for cybersquatting are not violated. There are several companies who specialize inrepparttar 108338 buying, selling and bidding on domain names.

The New Dot-Biz TLD compared to Dot-Com

Written by Kevin Clune


Would a rose.com by any other Top-Level-Domain (TLD) smell as sweet? Some entrepreneurs seem to think so. They're betting that they can profit by investing inrepparttar new dot-biz extensions set to go live this October. Once again, single generic words like "business" or "home" will be up for grabs for use in domains like business.biz or home.biz thanks to recent moves by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN),repparttar 108315 organisation in charge of managingrepparttar 108316 Internet's TLDs.

While dot-biz is notrepparttar 108317 only new TLD soon to be available, it isrepparttar 108318 one most likely to challenge dot-com for a share ofrepparttar 108319 domain market for businesses andrepparttar 108320 one first expected to go live - making itrepparttar 108321 new TLD of choice for some. But how valuable dot-biz names will end up being remains to be seen.

Thoughrepparttar 108322 dot-biz TLD can clearly play a niche role as a less expensive alternative to dot-com,repparttar 108323 dot-com extension has several advantages overrepparttar 108324 dot-biz TLD. First and foremost,repparttar 108325 Internet grew up withrepparttar 108326 dot-com suffix and that three-letter extension has been firmly imprinted intorepparttar 108327 minds of every Internet user. This helps to explain why other General-TLDs like dot-net, and dot-org are not as popular or profitable as their dot-com counterpart.

Additionally, it seems likely thatrepparttar 108328 biggest Internet players such as Amazon.com will buy up their dot-biz extension and merely redirect traffic to their dot-com site. Most of these companies have trademark rights torepparttar 108329 name already and are allowed to apply for them before repparttar 108330 general public.

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