Well, if the question is, “What is a domain name?” then the answer is , “If you want to publish a website, it is something without which you simply can’t publish your site”. It’s as simple is that.
This time at TechWhich, we intend to cover everything on domain names from the bottom to the top, be their significance, their technicalities, their types or how they function, basically everything.
From domain names to URLs and IP addresses
So, to begin with, let us say that you intend to publish a website and you make an account on a web-hosting service. The first thing you must have is an address to your website. This address, referred to as the website address is basically the domain name. For instance, consider techwhich.com. The web address here is techwhich.com which implies that it is the webiste’s domain name. Now knowing the domain name, you can search for a website on the internet by typing its web address.
An extension of this is the URL or the Uniform resource locator. Basically, the URL is the entire web address including http. So a URL is bound to consist of the domain name. For instance, the URL for this website would be https://techwhich.com .
IP address to a website is quite similar to its domain name in the context that they both perform the same function, they lead you to the website. As you can see from above, while pinging www.google.com you get the IP address and as you enter it in the address bar, you can reach google.
Levels to domain names
- .com – Implies the first level.
- techwhich.com – The second level.
- www.techwhich.com – The third level.
The most primary level to any domain name is the Top-level domain or the TLD which constitute the domain name extension.
This also has several types:-
- Whenever you look at something like ‘.com’ or ‘.org’ or ‘.edu’, it implies what is referred to as a top-level generic domain.
- Then there are country domains such as say www.bigrock.in where ‘.in’ represents the countey India.
Arranging/Registering domain names
The domain names have some limitations or rather minimum requirements attached to them which need to be fulfilled in order to get your domain name registered.
- Maximum length – 63 characters and Minimum length – 2 characters
- These characters can include any combination of letters or special character. Also, an important point to be noted is that the domain names aren’t case sensitive.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers or ICANN maintains a list or a directory of all the registrations as well as the users. If you intend to register your domain name, it must be registered with the registry.
The domain name registration is renewable on a periodic basis. Purchasing a domain name gives you access to using it only for a specified period of time. In this way, you can secure your domain name.
Sub-domain and DNS
If you follow the hierarchy from right to left, you can also get something referred to as the sub-domain. which is at the extreme left of your domain name.
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There is also something referred to as DNS which corresponds to a set of DN servers which have a dedicated purpose of serving as a database, connecting the IP addresses with the domain names. They are Domain Name Servers.
This was a complete in-depth analysis of the domain name specifics and how one can deploy necessary steps in order to secure it.
Stay tuned to TechWhich for further updates! :)
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