A domain name consists of two pieces of information:
1.An IP address, such as 123.123.123.123
2.A domain name in the Domain Name Service (DNS) hierarchy
An IP address is similar to the coordinates on a map (e.g. M-5). The domain name in a DNS
hierarchy is similar to a street address. It's much easier to remember an address than the
coordinates on a map. Thus, to establish a real identity on the Internet, you need to
obtain not only an IP address for computers (they deal only with numbers) but also a
domain name (for us human beings).
The DNS naming hierarchy is a tree-like arrangement with ascending authority. Each domain
represents a distinct chunk of the naming hierarchy and is managed by a single
administrative entity. The root of this "tree" is called "." (the dot
in DNS jargon) and beneath it are the top-level (or "root-level") domains. The
top-level domains are relatively fixed.
For historical reasons (the Internet started in the United States, funded by the
Department of Defense in the 1960s, yes, that's nineteen-sixties, well
before the birth of personal computers), there are two sorts of top-level domain names. In
the US, top-level domains describe organizational and political structures and are usually
given three-letter names. For domains outside the US, two-letter ISO (International
Organization For Standardization) country codes are used. More details of domain names can
be found in the references given at the end of this section.
The examples below are actually generic (international) top-level domain names, even
though they are administered in the US. Even if you are an organization based in a non-US
territory, DomainNameRegistration.com can apply for one of these top-level domain names for you.
Please contact us for more details.
| Top level Domain |
What it's for |
| .COM |
Commercial Companies |
| .EDU |
Educational Institutions |
| .GOV |
Government Agencies |
| .MIL |
Military Agencies |
| .NET |
Network Providers |
Thus, once you have understood which top level organizational/political category your
institution belongs to, say the COM category, you can apply one or more second level
domain name(s) for your organization. An example is our domain name:
DomainNameRegistration.com
To apply for a domain name, you must have secured at least two name servers for handling
DNS inquires about your domain on the Internet (see Ref. 1 below). Thus, for individuals
and companies who do not have full time connections to the Internet, it's necessary to
send in your application(s) through an Internet service company like
DomainNameRegistration.com which can
provide you the pre-requisite name servers.
References:
1.RFC881 The Domain
Names Plan and Schedule
2.RFC819 The
Domain Name Convention for Internet User Applications
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