Domain Names Glossary
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Domain name
The unique name used to identify websites on the Internet and used to
establish a system of easy-to-remember Internet addresses with words rather than
numbers as in IP addresses.
Subdomain
A substring of a domain name, especially the lower level part of a URL, such as
www. Often understood as a "domain within a domain."
Domain Name Appraisal
Evaluation of a domain name and determination of its market value.
Registry (a.k.a. Domain Registry)
A Domain Registry has the duty of delegating Internet addresses in the form of
domain names to respective owners. They also keep records of such
addresses and the information for legal binding purposes. Examples of domain
name registries include Godaddy.com
Registrar (a.k.a. Domain Registrar)
The Registrar is a sanctioned entity who purpose is to submit and maintain the
Registrants (i.e. owner's) domain name with the Registry database. Can be said
to be a legal entity acting on behalf of a Registrant regarding original domain
name registration, transfers or contact/DNS registrations and modifications
Contact Record and/or Contact
ID
Contact record (also called contact IDs and/or agents) maintain the contact
information of the individuals or groups who represent a Registrant (i.e.
legally registered owner) on matters related to the Registrant's domain
name(s).
There are three types of Contacts: Administrative, Technical, and Billing. The
entity listed as the Administrative, Technical and/or Billing Contact can be an
individual or company/group has the role of being contacted in matters relating
to the domain name. They also have the ability to modify information pertaining
to a domain name. A contact may be a single person, a company, or organization.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator, which references a web page or other Internet site,
e.g. http://www.domainzebra.com
Name Server
Also called a host. A computer that has both the software, data and expertise
needed to resolve (i.e. make live) websites in correspondence with (IP)
numbers.
Escrow
A third party service charged with the responsibility to hold on to the
buyer’s payment (in the case of selling a domain name). Intended to protect both
parties in the transaction of a domain name or website sale.
HTTP
Refered as HyperText Transfer Protocol. It is the standard protocol by which
HTML files move across the Internet.
ICANN
Acronym for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which is a
not for profit organization that handles IP address space allocation and most
other regulatory tasks associated with domain names.
IP Address
The numeric address hosting a domain name which, essentially, holds a
website's location on the Worldwide Web.
Domain Name Parking
Holding a domain name on a physical server either temporarily or otherwise. Acts as a place to store a domain name that has been registered. Most often parked by the domain registry.
TLD
Acronym for 'Top Level Domain'. It is the suffix/extension to a domain name. TLDs include .com, .net, .org and country codes such as .ca. and .co.uk.
WHOIS
A central database tracking all domain name and IP registrations in the known universe. Domain name registrars typically provide their own version of a WHOIS database.
Web Host
Store your web pages on the computers of what are called web hosting companies.
Requires a contract for the service by which the web host's computers will
"serve" your web pages to the Internet.
Most Common Domain Name Extensions/Suffix
COM
The top-level domain (TLD) set up for "commercial" entities. This is the most
recognized and most understood top-level domain. Can be registered by anyone.
NET
Refers to 'network' intended originally for use by technical Web sites.
Can be registered by anyone.
ORG
I.e. organization. Intended for non-profit firms and non-commercial use. Can
be registered by anyone.
BIZ
Designated for businesses. Use of the .biz extension must be for business or
commercial use. This suffix is fully active. http://www.neulevel.biz has more
information on the .biz suffix. Can be registered by anyone.
INFO
An unrestricted top-level domain (i.e. without designation). Often considered
for information sites. Can be registered by anyone.
NAME
Not a top level domain but gaining in popularity and mostly used by individual. Examples .name domain names are 'morgan.name' or 'peter.morgan.name') or email address (e.g. peter/@morgan.name),
