Abu Zar Mishwani
A domain name, such as ‘google.com‘ or ‘facebook.com,’ is an easy-to-remember address used to access sites. The DNS system allows users to connect to websites using domain names. In simple words, your website’s domain name is the address that users type into the URL bar of their browser to access it.
For example, If your website is a home, the address for your home would be your domain name.
Let’s Understand It With a More Comprehensive Explanation:
The Internet is a massive network of computers linked together by a worldwide network of cables. This network’s computers can communicate with one another.
Each device is given an IP (Internet Protocol) address to be identified over the network. It’s a string of integers that uniquely identifies a machine on the Internet. The following is an example of a specific IP address:
103.21.234.0A website’s actual address is a complex numerical IP address, but because of DNS, users can type in human-friendly domain names and be directed to the websites they want. A DNS lookup is the term for this process.
You no longer need to input a long string of digits to access a website. Instead, type an easy-to-remember domain name into your browser’s address bar to view it.
I hope you now have understood what a domain name is.
Who Is Responsible For Domain Names?
The Internet Corporation manages the domain name system for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It is a non-profit organization that develops and executes domain name policies.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) grants Domain Name Registrars authority to sell domain names. These domain registrars have the authority to make modifications to the register on your behalf.
Registrars can sell domain names, maintain their records, renew them, and transfer them to other registrars.
You are responsible for informing the registrar where to send inquiries as to the domain name owner. You’re also in charge of keeping your domain registration active.
A registrar can register a domain name for anybody who wants to start a website, and there are already over 300 million registered domain names.
How Do Domain Names work?
When you type a domain name into your web browser, it sends a request to the Domain Name System (DNS), a worldwide network of servers.
The name servers connected with the domain are then looked up, and the request is sent to those nameservers.
If Namecheap hosts your website, for example, the name server details will be as follows:
dns1.namecheaphosting.com
dns2.namecheaphosting.comThese nameservers are computers that your hosting provider manages. Your hosting provider will send your request to the server which holds your website.
A web server is a name given to this computer. It is equipped with specialized software (Apache, Nginx are two popular web server software). The web server now retrieves the site page as well as any associated data.
It then transmits this information back to the web browser.
The Structure of a Domain Name
Typically, domain names are divided into two or three parts, each separated by a dot (.). The identifiers in domain names move from most broad to most particular when read right-to-left. The top-level domain is the part of a domain name to the right of the final dot (TLD). These include “generic” TLDs like “.com,” “.net,” and “.org,” as well as country-specific TLDs like “.uk” and “.jp.”
The second-level domain (2LD) lies to the left of the TLD, and everything beyond the 2LD is referred to as the third-level domain (3LD). Consider the following examples:
‘google.com’ is Google’s US domain name.
- The TLD (top-level domain) ‘.com’ is the most common.
- The 2LD is ‘google’ (most specific)
However, the domain name ‘google.co.uk’ refers to Google UK:
- The TLD (top-level domain) is ‘.com’
- 2LD is ‘.co’.
- The 3LD (most specific) is ‘google.’
The 2LD shows the organization that registered the domain in this circumstance (.co in the UK is for sites registered by companies).
Different Types Of Domain Name
Many unique extensions are available for domain names. The most well-known is .com. Other domain extensions include .org, .net, .tv, .info, .io, .net, .dev and more. However, the .com domain extension is always recommended.
Let’s take a closer look at the many sorts of domain names that are accessible.
Top-Level Domain – TLD
TLDs, or top-level domains, are generic domain extensions that appear at the top of the domain name system.
There are hundreds of top-level domains (TLDs), but the most common are .com, .org, and .net. Other TLDs are less well-known and should not be used. For instance, .biz, .club, .info, .agency, and a slew of more.
Country Code Top Level Domain – ccTLD
Country code top-level domains, or ccTLDs, are domain names that finish in a country code extension, such as .pk for Pakistan, .tr for Turkey, and .in for India, etc.
Websites owners that wish to target viewers in a single country use these types of extensions for their domain name.
Sponsored Top-Level Domain – sTLD
A sponsored top-level domain, or sTLD, is a type of TLD in which the sponsor represents a specific community that the domain extension represents.
For example,.edu is for educational institutions, .gov is for government websites, and .mil is for the military or Armed forces.
What Is a Subdomain?
A subdomain is essentially a subdomain of the main domain. extra.techabu.co, for example, is a subdomain of techabu.co.
You can establish subdomains for a domain once it has been registered.
Websites frequently utilize subdomains to establish subsidiary sites using the same domain name. For example, a company website can designate store.example.com or blog.example.com as a subdomain for their blog or online store.
What’s The Difference Between a URL and a Domain Name?
A uniform resource locator (URL), also known as a web address, comprises a site’s domain name and additional details such as the transfer protocol and route. For example, in the URL ‘https://techabu.co/edu/z-library/,’ the domain name is techabu.co, the protocol is HTTPS, and the path to a specific page of a website is /z-library/.
How Can I Purchase A Domain Name?
A domain name can be purchased from one of the numerous domain name registrars. The average cost of a domain name is $14.99 per year. The following are some well-known domain name companies:
However, purchasing a domain name does not imply that you will be provided with hosting. You’ll also need a hosting website account for this.
Many WordPress hosting companies also provide domain registration. This allows you to handle both services from a single account, and you won’t have to bother about updating your domain’s name server settings.
Conclusion
We hope that this post educated you on what a domain name is and how domain names work. If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and colleagues.
Also, if you’ve any questions, you can ask them in the comment section below, and we will reply to them at the earliest.
1 comment
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