About the Author
Samantha Lloyd is a marketing consultant at Tucows.
We all use domain names to browse the internet, but have you ever thought about the idea of domain names? Why do we use them and trust them to bounce from one website to another in the vast ocean of information provided by the Internet? For all of our uses, and even domain ownership, most people don't know why they started or why we continue to use them. Domain names are part of the domain name system of the Internet infrastructure. If you've ever wondered what was going on behind this €12 purchase for your personal website or why it already existed on the first one, then you're in the right place.
"Domain names are used in a variety of network contexts and for application-specific addressing and naming purposes. In general, a domain name identifies a network domain or represents an Internet Protocol (IP) resource, such as a personal computer used to access the Internet, a server computer that hosts a website or the website itself, or any other service communicated over the Internet In 2017, 330,6 million domain names were registered. » Via Wikipedia.
Early days: ARPANET
To keep things simple, a domain name gives you access to everything you need to access the Internet. Domain names were first used through the domain name system in 1983, public registration was only available on February 24, 1986. Before the domain name system, different computer network addresses could be accessed through the numerical address of a host. Each computer on the network can access the host files using these numerical addresses. The domain name system process had to be introduced due to the complexity of how the Internet previously worked. Remembering the digital addresses would certainly have made expansion and public access difficult! The domain name system was introduced in the ARPANET, a project of the US Advanced Research Projects Agency.
ARPANET was published in 1967 and introduced a concept for the network that was basically the basis of the Internet. In 1969, the idea was put into practice with the interconnection of four computers. Much later, the domain name system was introduced to the ARPANET. It has been published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
TLDs: Top Level Domains
To better understand domain names, it is important to note that they are divided into several parts. The domain name extensions you are familiar with, such as .COM and .ORG, are called "top-level domains" (TLDs). They apply to any word to the right of the period. The part you choose for your brand, company or personal name is the "Second Level Domain" and before that you will find the "Subdomain", the most well known being "www".
(Image credit: Tucows)
Seven top-level domains were introduced in 1984:
Curious fact! The first registered domain name was symbolics.com. They have an online museum dedicated to the history of the Internet.
Without these top level domains and their availability to the public, you would not be able to register a domain name.
Today, there are hundreds of TLDs to choose from, and many are open to all, with no usage restrictions. If your domain extension is longer than two letters, it is a generic top-level domain (gTLD). If your domain extension has two letters, it's a country code top-level domain (ccTLD). Countries are named ccTLDs according to their ISO (International Organization for Standardization) code.
Domain names began their adventure in the Internet infrastructure decades ago and it is always interesting to know how long it was more than a concept or an idea. It's something we constantly rely on these days (probably read this article while you're online!). You always have the opportunity to remember how it started and better understand why it works the same way. . There are many subtleties to explore.
Do you think it was interesting? So, we caught you off guard as we continue to take you behind the scenes of the domain name industry. This is a fascinating part of the Internet that everyone trusts, but the general public doesn't know about. In the next article, we will explain the process of the governing body, ICANN, and its impact on the infrastructure of the Internet.
Samantha Lloyd is a marketing consultant at Tucows.