What is domain name?
Domain name is regarded as the identification sting and it defines an administrative autonomy or control within the internet. Usually such names are governed by certain procedures and rules formulated by the Doman Name System DNS. Domain name refers to any name that is registered in the DNS. It is used for various internet networking purposes.
It usually represents an internet protocol resources, especially those ones that are used on your computer to access the internet. It is estimated that millions of domain names are registered on the internet.
There are different ways, levels of recognizing and assessing domain names. They are often organized in subordinate levels and this is regarded as sub-domains. To ensure that there is orderliness in the domain processes, the registration process is controlled by the domain name registrars. This registrar is available to the public because they sell their services to the public.
The major purpose of domain names is just to identify the various internet resources like networks, computers, as well as services. It often features a text based label and this makes it easier for it to be recognized and to be memorized as well, especially when they are used in the internet protocols. Various computers have their domain names and they use the names as their means of identification. In this instance, it is referred to as host names.
Perhaps the most important purpose domain names serve is that it can be used as an identification label, and the purpose here is to serve as a way of indicating the ownership and control of a resource.
You need domain names to recognize and identify your internet resources. Because of this, it is possible for the resource to be moved from one location to another, and yet it would be identified on the internet. Before that move can be possible then you have to change the IP address of such resources, and it would also have its transition IP address and so on. It appears that the most important function that domain serves in the internet are that it is used as a means of identification. Because of that, it is important that in choosing a domain name that you have to ensure that it corresponds to the name of the organization that would use the domain. This way it would help internet users to identify and reach them without difficulties.
When a domain name is taken, it can either be a generic name or it can be personal or specific. Before you register your domain name, you have to know the processes that it takes. Owners of domain names are regarded to as domain registrants. The ownership of the domain cannot be forever because one thing or the other can make owners of the domain name to lose the ownership. In this case, the ownership can be transferred to another person. At the time you own the domain name, you have an exclusive right over it, and this means that you do not share the ownership with another person at that time. However, if you want to use the domain name for a business, it is important that you understand that it is subjected to trademark laws.
It is the registrars that confer the right to own any domain name. Registrars are conferred that authority by ICANN which stands for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. This is the body that is responsible for the overseeing and assigning numbers on the internet. Registers as well as registries monitor such domain names and they can charge annual fees for the use of such domain names. Because of this annual fee, it is deemed that the ownership of such domain names is just leased, and that is why no one person can claim a total ownership of the domain name. Though the registrant that is the person that registers the domain names can be regarded as the owner, such a person cannot be regarded as the whole owner because it is not permanent as such a person can lose ownership even for default in annual payment fees.
Although registrars are managers of the domain names, they are supervised by ICANN. Because of this, they sometimes have to make public the names of registries as well as domain name registrars. You can easily get registrant information as it concerned domain names and you can do that through WHOIS protocol. Any information that you want to get about a domain name can always be obtained from WHOIS. It contains important information that you need to know about the domain such as the registrants, expiration dates, as well as name servers and several other information. There are different things that you need to know about domain names. There are different levels of domain names. For instance, it is known that top levels domain names are associated with such things like org, net, as well as com. These top most levels formed what is known as the DNS root zone. All the domain names available always end with top level domain labels.
Domain name administration has undergone a series of changes starting from 1980s, and that was the period domain name was devised. Then domain name spaces were divided into two major groups of domains. The first is called the ccTLD that means country code top-level domain. The second level is known as the generic top-level domains gTLD. The first category is specific to countries and it is usually based on two different character codes that range from ISO-3166 country abbreviations and so on.
The second level on the other hand is meant to represent names and multiple organizational categories and that is why such domains ending in edu, gov, int, mil, net, org and so on.
However as the internet continues to grow, the need for some changes was observed. The need to add more generic top-level domains was observed and from 2009, the change was manifested. Additional top level domains were created and two hundred and fifty country code top level domains were created. In addition, ARPA representing domain names created for technical purposes was carved out.
A new domain naming policy was discussed in 2008 and that was a conference involving ICANN and that was the thirty-second international conference of the body. The conference paved the way for the introduction of more generic top-level domains. At that time, there were applications and proposals for more domain names to be created. It was also envisaged that more proposals or requests could emerge. The policy, which was enunciated after the conference took effect from 2012 and more than 1930 applications was received. By the end of 2016, it was assumed that a total of one thousand live gTLD were made.
In the process of registering and using a domain name, a lot of factors are involved. There are key information that is involved with a domain name, which the registrars have to use to control the domain. One of such important information includes the administrative contact. Registrants would be required to designate an administrative contact and this is the person that will manage such domain names. The administrative contact has the highest level of control over a domain name. There are some administrative controls that are under the control of the administrative contact. Some of the control may include the management of the business information as relates to the domain name. Business information they have to manage includes the name of record, postal address of the business, the contact information of the business. It contains information registrants would require to control the domain names and so on. Furthermore, this has to deal with the billing information.
Another important information includes the technical contact. This is where the name servers of the domain are often managed. This technical aspect of the administration has a duty to ensure that everything about the domain runs in conformity to the domain registry. Other functions include maintaining the domain records as regards to the domain name zone. Most importantly, this ensures that the domain servers continue to function. Without this, it would not be easy to access such domain names.
Another important aspect is the billing contact. This is where billing invoices or domain registrars are received and that is also the place where the necessary fees are supposed to be paid.
Name server is another important department. As part of their registration services, name servers would always endeavor to make available two or more names. Registrants equally have an obligation to provide their own name server if they choose to do so. Registrars always put in place policies that would govern the type of server information they deserve. Most providers would often require an IP address as well as hostname. The requirement is that a minimum of two servers would be needed.
Domain names can be formed in different ways. You should know that in forming domain names that there can be character combinations. But, in doing that, you should know that words are character sensitive, you must bear this at the back of your mind.
If you are planning to do any business online, then you should know that domain names are very important because that is the first thing that you need before you can give a name to your website. The domain name you choose for your website can turn out to become the nickname of your company. In doing that, domain for your website is created by combining different characters and separating those characters with a dot. It is important that the name you choose for your website be unique so that it can be accepted. This means that the names have to be available before they can be accepted.
Whenever domain name is discussed, universal resources locator that is URL must be addressed too. Because it is the domain name URL that you type in your browser address bar to access the website that bears that domain name.