Nearly everyone who is on the internet has had the opportunity to hear about domain names. What is a domain name as well as how exactly do they function? Do you need to have an own domain?
The most straightforward explanation for the term Domain name can be described as it’s the address that a web browser utilizes to access the website. It serves as a distinctive identifier of the website or email account.
When you visit a website it’s domain name is transformed into a number of numbers (an IP address) to connect with the server hosting the website in order to request and receive content from the website.
How Domain Names Actually Work?
To comprehend the way domain names work in practice, let’s examine the process that happens when you type it into your browser.
If you type in the domain name you want to use in your browser on the web it will first send an inquiry to an international web of servers which form the Domain Name System (DNS).
The servers then look for names servers, or DNS servers that belong to the domain, and transmit the query to these DNS servers.
For instance, if your website is hosted by Greengeeks the name of the server details will look similar to this:
ns1.greengeeks.comns2.greengeeks.comThey are computerized servers that are managed by your hosting company. Your hosting company sends your information to the computer on which your website’s data is stored.
The computer that is used for this is known as the web server. It comes with special software (Apache as well as Nginx are two well-known web server applications).
The web server is now able fetch the website page and bits of data associated with it.
Different Types of Domain Names
Domain names can be found in various extensions. The most well-known is .com. There are a variety of other extensions including .org, .net, .tv, .info, .biz, and many more. We recommend using the .com the domain extension.
Let’s take a closer look at the various types of domain names that are available.
Top Level Domain – TLD
Top level domains, also known as TLD are domain extensions of generic nature which are listed as the top degree of the system of domain names. They are also known as gTLDs or generic top-level domains.
There are many TLDs, but the three most well-known names are .com, .org, and .net. Some TLDs are not as well-known and we wouldn’t suggest using them. For instance, .biz, .club, .info, .agency, and many others. Example of org domain is Costume College https://costumecollege.org.
Country Code Top Level Domain – ccTLD
Top-level domains with country code or ccTLD is a country-specific domain names that begin with country code extensions like .uk to represent the United Kingdom, .de for Germany, .in for India.
They are utilized by websites who want to reach out to audiences from one particular country.
Sponsored Top Level Domain – sTLD
Sponsored top-level domain, also known as sTLD refers to a group of TLDs that have sponsors that represent a particular community that is served by the extension.
For instance, .edu for education-related organizations, .gov for the United States government, .mil for the United States military, and many more.
Second-level domain
A second level domain (2LD) is the one just to the left of the TLD. In the case from „Codecademy.com,” „Codecademy” is the 2LD.
Domains of Third-Level
Sometimes domain names have three components. It is three domain names separated with two dots. Consider British commercial sites, which start with.co.uk. Therefore, for Pareto lawrence website, „paretolawrence.co.uk,” „.UK” is the TLD, „.co” is the second-level domain (LD) and „Paretolawrence” is the domain of third level (3LD).
A 3LD may be used to define a subdomain. For example, if for instance you are using Wikipedia in English you will visit „en.Wikipedia.org.” In this case „.org” represents the TLD „Wikipedia” and „wikipedia” is the 2LD while „en” (for English) is the 3LD. Subdomains are frequently used to differentiate between various services. Take Google’s subdomains such as docs.domain.com and drive.domain.com.
How do you register a domain?
If you sign up for an Doteasy web hosting service and sign up for a Doteasy web hosting package, you’ll be given the option of registering the domain name of your choice to use with the hosting plan. You can choose your domain name and extension of your domain.
When you submit your domain registration application, Doteasy will then register your domain name using the help of a DNS (Domain Name System). A DNS is an online database that identifies IP addresses with the corresponding domain names. We’ll set up all the configuration settings as well as records to ensure your domain name will be connected to your web server.
Do you have an internet domain name?
There is a lot of talk about people selling, buying and holding a domain however, the reality is the registry owns all its domain names that are registered.
If you „buy” the domain name is leasing it or purchasing the right to hold a domain for you to use for a specified period typically not longer than 10 years.
However, it is possible to continue renewing domain names, and this means that individuals as well as companies can effectively manage it for as long as they want.