What is a Domain Name | The Domain Name System

This topic is an integral part of the Domain Parking program and is created for purpose of better understanding some aspects surrounding the business or opportunity of earning money online through parking of registered domain names.

In order to give a better overview of what a domain name is, let me start first with the definition of a Domain Name System or DNS. "The DNS is a hierarchical database used to translate "names" as used by you and I into "numbers" as used by computers" (ICANN).

These "names" are the domain names and the "numbers" are IP addresses. So, instead of typing the IP address of a particular site or page, with the Domain Name Sytem we can just simply type its domain name into our browser. You may compare DNS to a phonebook system that translates names into computer readable codes in order to access the target end.

A domain name may consist of letters from A to Z, numbers 0 to 9 and a hyphen (-) sign. It can be a combination of any of these characters but the hyphen sign can only be placed in between words or letters and numbers. A hypen is usually used to separate words so that the domain name will be easier to read as well as to avoid any kind of misinterpretation or misrepresentation of a site. Here is an example, the domain name friendsexchange.com might mean something else if the two words are put together, but with a hyphen it will be more readable, like this, friends-exchange.com.

In its simplest form or structure, a domain name comprises a Top Level Domain (TLD) and a Second Level Domain (TLD). Some examples of domain names are example.com, example1.net, my-example.us.

Furthermore, a clear-cut understanding on the complete structure of a domain name can be achieved by identifying the various "Levels in the DNS Tree", and these are as follows :

1. Dot (.) which is called the Root
2. Top Level Domain (TLD) such as COM, NET, ORG, UK
3. Second Level Domain (SLD) such as Google, Yahoo, Blogger
4. Hostname such as WWW, NEWS

When all of these levels or layers are present, then the domain name is called a "Fully Qualified Domain Name" or FQDN. Examples are www.example.org, www.example.net, www.example.com.

In general, domain names are often referred to simply as domains. Thus, it's common to see terms such as domain parking, domain registration or domain registrars, which uses the term domain alone instead of domain name.

Aside from the main or primary domain name itself, there can also be what is called a "sub-domain". An example of a sub-domain is : www.free-homebiz-world.blogger.com, where www.blogger.com is its primary or main domain name. Sub-domains can be acquired depending on the hosting plan you have subscribed for.