Domain names

Strictly speaking a domain name is the identifying string you enter into the address bar to get to a website. For example our domain name is allthe.domains. 

Anatomy of a domain name

Typically a domain name can also be known as a Fully Qualified Domain Name [FQDN] or a hostname. It is comprised of a Top Level Domain [TLD]

 

What is the difference between TLD, gTLD, ccTLD...?

A TLD means Top Level Domain and is the extension at the end of a domain. They are categorised into the following:

• gTLD - generic Top Level Domain. This would be .com or .info or .net. 
• ccTLD - country code Top Level Domain. For example .uk or .de or .eu.
• grTLD - generic restricted Top Level Domain. A small number of generic domains have restrictions to ensure that all sites using them fall into certain categories. This includes .biz which can only be used by businesses. 
• sTLD - sponsored Top Level Domain. These have some restrictions on them and don't have The more well known ones would include .travel [limited to the travel industry], .mil [United States Military], or .museum. 
• IDN - Internationalized Domain Names. This includes Top Level Domains which are not in a Latin script and therefore don't follow the ascii character encoding. Some examples would include .香港 or .ಭಾರತ.

There are a number of others which can't be purchased and were instituted for a number of reasons. These include ARPA [infrastructure top-level domain], tTLD [used for testing and can't be accessed normally]

How does a domain work?

 

 

 

Congratulations, you're now fully versed in domain names and are sure to be impressing your friends at the next party! Take a look at our beginner's introduction for all things web hosting next!