.COM:
Short for .commercial. Domain names with the .com extension are
by far the most popular, and can be purchased by any individual
or business. .
.NET: Short for .network,
this domain extension was originally designed to be used by technical
Web sites. However, domains using this extension can be registered
by anyone.
.ORG: Short for .organization.
Originally designated for non-profit firms and any other organizations
that did not fit under the .com or .net extension, any individual
or business may now register a .org domain name.
.AERO: The TLD designated
for the air transport industry. Available only to aviation community
members, this domain suffix is now live and fully functional.
You can find more information on this TLD here: http://www.nic.aero.
.BIZ: The .biz TLD
is a designated suffix for businesses. Domains using the .biz
extension must be used for business or commercial use. This suffix
is fully active. http://www.neulevel.biz has more information
on the .biz suffix.
.COOP: This TLD is
available to cooperatives, cooperative service organizations and
wholly owned subsidiaries of cooperatives. You can find more information
on the .coop suffix here: http://www.nic.coop.
.INFO: The first unrestricted
top-level domain since .com, .info domains are available to the
general public. You can find more information here: http://www.nic.info/gateway.
.MUSEUM: This TLD is
available only to museums, museum organizations and individual
members of the museum profession. More information on the .museum
TLD is available at http://musedoma.museum.
.NAME: Available to
the general public, .name email addresses are listed as firstname@lastname.name
or lastname@firstname.name, while Web sites are listed as www.firstname.lastname.name.
More information on the .name TLD is available here: http://www.nic.name.
.PRO: The .pro suffix
was created for certified professionals including lawyers, doctors
and accountants. RegistryPro, the organization in charge of administering
.pro domains, has initiated steps to set up the new registry,
and anticipates taking registrations in late 2002. More information
is available at http://www.registrypro.com.
Bandwidth: The amount
of data that can be transmitted at a given moment to a server.
The higher your bandwidth, the larger amount of traffic your site
can handle at one time.
CGI: Short for Common
Gateway Interface, a small script that processes data taken from
the user (such as from a form application).
Cgi-bin: The directory
on a Web server where CGI scripts are stored.
Domain servers: This
contains the DNS (Domain Name System) information for a domain,
and is usually listed in WHOIS records. There are usually two
lines of DNS information. The first is typically a site?s primary
DNS information, while the second contains secondary/back-up information.
DNS: Short for Domain
Name System which is used to translate numeric addresses (known
as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses) into words.
Domain names: The word
sequences users enter in their URL bar to visit your site.
Escrow: A third party
service that will essentially hold on to the buyer?s payment when
selling a domain name, thereby protecting both the buyer and seller.
HTTP: Stands for HyperText
Transfer Protocol, the protocol by which HTML files move across
the Internet. HTTP requires a client browser and an HTTP server
(typically a Web server).
ICANN: Stands 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 behind a domain name that holds a website's real location
on the Web.
Domain Name Parking: All domain names have to
be stored on a server in order to be purchased. Most domain registration
services will therefore temporarily place a newly purchased name
on their servers until a hosting plan is purchased or the owner
points the DNS to a different site. This is known as parking.
Propagation: The process
where name servers throughout the Internet add new domains and
remove expired ones from their records. This can be a lengthy
process, which is why connecting to a new domain name can often
take three or four days.
Reseller: A company/person
that sells domain names through registry services provided by
an ICANN approved registrar.
SSL: Short for Secure
Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape to handle and
protect confidential/sensitive information required for e-commerce
transactions (like credit card numbers). SSL address usually begin
with 'https'.
Subdomain: Typically
known as a "domain within a domain", subdomains are
individual Web addresses built upon a pre-existing domain name
(such as clientname.yourhostingcompany.com). As a reseller, you
will have the option of assigning subdomains to clients if they
do not choose to have a domain name.
TLD: Short for Top
Level Domain, the suffix to a domain name. TLDs include .com,
.net, .org and country codes such as .ca.
WHOIS: A central database
which tracks all domain name/IP registrations. Each domain name
registrar typically maintains its own version of a WHOIS database.
|
A
domain name represents your "address" on the Internet.
It is a phrase containing several components separated by a period
("dot"). Each domain name includes a "Top level"
domain such as .COM, .NET, or .ORG which originally specified
the broad category of an organization. Thus, domain names ending
in .COM were intended for commercial, for-profit organizations,
while names ending in .NET were for network infrastructure machines,
and those ending in .ORG were used for miscellaneous, usually
non-profit organizations.
