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I am sure that you have typed in one of the following Internet addresses in your web browser: www.yahoo.com , www.microsoft.com , www.google.com , www.aol.com OR www.msn.com . These five addresses are the some of the top Internet destinations on the WWW.
To get one of these addresses, the owners had to register the address with one of the Domain Name registration places authorized to do this. At first, there was only one place in the USA that registered Internet addresses, The Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC). Anyone who wanted an Internet Address had to pay a fee of $35.00/year to InterNIC to register his or her name.
All these domain names are part of what is called the DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM (DNS). The DNS uses a number of computers (domain names servers) scattered throughout the Internet to keep track of the INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) address numbers that match each domain name.
Every computer on the Internet has a unique IP address. This number is like a phone number. Every phone in the world has a single number. When you dial that phone number, the phone associated with that phone number, rings. You then hear someone say HELLO. Like a phone number, an IP address also consists of numbers. An IP address consists of four (4) numbers separated by periods. The numbers range from 0 to 255. The smallest IP number is 0.0.0.0 and the largest IP number is 255.255.255.255. Using the laws of probability, we take (256 X 256 X 256 X 256) and get the possibility of over 4 BILLION unique IP numbers -- 4,294,967,296 to be exact.
The IP address of the The White House is 198.137.241.30 and the Library of Congress has 140.147.248.7 as its IP address. Because it was felt that these numbers would be difficult to remember, the University of Wisconsin created the Domain Name System in 1983. This is similar to numbers used in our telephone system. If you dial 1-800-227-7776 you will get a company called the BASS PRO shop. If you look on the dial pad of your phone and punch in 1-800-BASS PRO, you will reach the same phone switchboard. Personally, I find the 1-800 BASS PRO, a lot easier to remember.
When you send Email to dkulas@websiteclassroom.com , your host computer sends a request to the name server (NS) network to check its database for the IP number for WebsiteClassroom.com . When the IP number is received back by your host computer, it matches that IP number with your message and sends your message out on the Internet.
Domain NAMES have the format:
HostName.SubDomainName.TopLevelDomainName
In the United States, the five TOP LEVEL domains normally consist of one of the following:
.edu -- Educational , .com – commercial , .gov -- government , .mil -- military.net --- network support centers , org. – other organizations
It is the SUB DOMAIN NAME + the appropriate TOP LEVEL NAME that you register.
To find out if the domain name you want to register is taken or not, you can use one of the several WHOIS databases that keep track of the registered names. The three that I uses the most often are www.onewhois.com , www.betterwhois or www.whoix.com . Type in the name you would like to register and see if the name you want is available. If the name is not registered by someone else, you pay a fee and that Internet domain is yours. You must renew that name every year, or you will lose it.
One of the DNS registration companies that I have used several times is one located at www.domaindirect.com . The have several products available. Their domain accouts gives you some of the following services: a POP3 E-mail account such as you@yourdomain.com, Domain Forwarding, free Website building software, free Website providers, and more!
If your name is Melvin Jones, and if no one else has registered that name, your Email address could be teacher@melvinjones.com AND your web site address could be www.melvinjones.com . By having our own domian name, you can have a PERMANENT Email address that people can always reach you at. If you change Internet service providers (ISP), you will not have to notify everyone that you now have a NEW Email address. You can also get a web site on a FREE WEB hosting service and when people type in YOUR DOMAIN name, your domain name will appear in the browser window. For example, lets say you have a web site on a free web service and its real address is www.geocities.com/melvinjones/lionswebsite. You can shorten this to www.melvinjones.com using the domain-forwarding feature of many domain name providers.
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