The Smooth Guide
to Internet Fundamentals
  • THE INTERNET
    • Attachments
    • Bits, Nibbles + Bytes
    • Bookmarks +Favourites
    • Browser Cache
    • Domain Names
    • Image Loading
    • Intranets + Extranets
    • Protocols
    • URLs
    • Viruses >
      • Hackers + Attackers
  • The Internet Architecture
  • EMail
    • A Packet + OSI/RM Layers
    • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Netiquette
  • THE INTERNET
    • Attachments
    • Bits, Nibbles + Bytes
    • Bookmarks +Favourites
    • Browser Cache
    • Domain Names
    • Image Loading
    • Intranets + Extranets
    • Protocols
    • URLs
    • Viruses >
      • Hackers + Attackers
  • The Internet Architecture
  • EMail
    • A Packet + OSI/RM Layers
    • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Netiquette
DOMAIN NAMES
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A domain name consists of letters and numbers separated by dots and includes two or more labels (words).  The last label in a domain name is usually a two-letter or three- letter code, known as a TOP-LEVEL domain.  The other labels are limited to 63 characters each.
  • A TOP-LEVEL domain is categorised by geography (country, state) and / or common topic (company, educational, institution).
  • A HOST i s computer that other computers can use to gain information.
www.research.microsoft.com
www  .............................................  Server (host name)  -  The web server or website host

research  ......................................  The Research Division of the company

microsoft  ......................................  Company domain name  -  The name registered by the company that manages the
                                                                                                   program.  The name is usually chosen to accurately 
                                                                                                   represent the company

.com  ..............................................  Domain category (top level)  -  A commercial site


The original top-level domains are categorised by common topic.
.com  ................
.edu  .................
.gov  .................
.mil  ..................
.org  ..................
.net  ..................
.int   ..................
Commercial or company sites
Educational institutions - typically universities
US government
US military
Organisations - originally clubs, associations and non-profits
Network sites - including commercial ISPs
International organisations (rarely used)

Two-letter country codes categorise domains by country or region.
.us  ....................
.mx  ...................
.ca  ....................
.au  ....................
.fr  ......................
.ch  ....................
.uk  ....................
United States
Mexico
Canada
Australia
France
Switzerland
United Kingdom

Some domain names ending with country codes may feature a further category - commercial sites in Australia all have domain names that end with .com.au and university sites use .edu.au.
  • In the UK, names ending with .ac.uk are universities (academic), and names ending with .co.uk are companies.
  • In Canada, many names feature province abbreviations - .on.ca for Ontario and .mb.ca for Manitoba.

Additional top-level domain names are becoming available:
.biz .....................
.ebiz ...................
.ecom ................
.firm ...................
.inc .....................
.info ....................
.law ....................
.news ................
.norm .................
.pro .....................
.shop .................
.store .................
.tel ......................
.travel ................
Business
Electronic business
Electronic commerce
Profession business
Corporations
Content and research-related sites
Legal profession
News-related sites
Individuals or family names
Professional
e-commerce
Electronic storefronts
Telephone
Travel

FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME - FQDN
A fully qualified domain name is the complete domain name.  This provides enough information to convert the domain name to an IP address.  It must include the server (host) name, the registered domain name and the top-level domain.

VIRTUAL DOMAIN NAME
This provides a company with a private web address, regardless of where the web is hosted. It allows the web address to be shorter and gives the prestige of its own web address for marketing and sales - e.g.  http://www.smoothguide-internetfundamentals.com. 

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​Acknowledgement
CIW Foundation Course  -  
April 2001





 
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