Domain
Name Registration - Glossary
Technical terms and jargon got you confused? Below
are some commonly used terms and their definitions in the domain
name registration industry. If you have questions on additional
terms, please email us and we will add them to the list.
.aero: The TLD designated for the
air transport industry, available only to aviation community members.
.biz: The .biz TLD is a designated suffix for
businesses. Domains using the .biz extension must be used for business
or commercial use.
.com: Short for .commercial. Domain names with
the .com extension are the most popular and can be purchased by
any individual or business in any country.
.coop: This TLD is available to cooperatives,
cooperative service organizations and wholly owned subsidiaries
of cooperatives.
.info: .info domains are available to the general
public.
.museum: This TLD is available only to museums,
museum organizations and individual members of the museum profession.
.name: Available to the general public, .name
email addresses are listed as firstname@lastname.name or lastname@firstname.name.
Web sites are listed as www.firstname.lastname.name.
.net: Short for .network. This domain extension
was originally designed to be used by technical web sites. However,
this extension can be registered by anyone.
.org: Short for .organization. Originally for
non-profit organizations that did not fit under the .com or .net
extension. However any individual or business may now register a
.org domain name.
.pro: The .pro suffix was created for certified
professionals including lawyers, doctors and accountants.
Administrative Contact: When registering a domain
name, the administrative contact must be provided to the registrar
when completing the registration form. The administrative contact
is the individual who is responsible for acting as the primary contact.
The administrative contact does not necessarily need to be able
to manage the technical aspects of the domain.
Appraising: The process of evaluating a domain
name and determining its market value.
Bandwidth: The amount of data that can be transmitted
at a given moment to a server. The higher your bandwidth the larger
amount of traffic your site can handle at one time.
Billing Contact: When registering a domain name,
the billing contact must be provided to the registrar when completing
the registration form. The billing contact is responsible for receiving
the bills and paying the registrar any fees.
CGI: Short for Common Gateway Interface, a small
script that processes data taken from the user such as from a form
application or guestbook entry.
Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD): Each country
has a unique domain extension, usually a two letter abbreviation
for the country. IANA is the organization responsible for overseeing
the ccTLDs.
Cybersquatter: The illegal act of buying up domain
names and “sitting” on them with the intent of making
a large profit off the sell. Cybersquatters will often buy out large
quantities of names, trademarks, or highly marketable names to try
to make a buck or prevent others from lawful use of the name.
Contact Record/Contact ID : Contact Records or
Contact IDs (sometimes called Agents) are individuals or groups
who represent a registrant on matters related to the registrant's
domain name(s). There are three types of Contacts: Administrative,
Technical, and Billing. The entity listed as the Administrative,
Technical, or Billing Contact is an individual or 'role' that is
contacted in matters relating to the domain name. They also have
the ability to Modify information pertaining to a domain name. A
Contact may be a single person, a company, or organization.
Country Code Top Level Domain: A top-level domain
containing a 2-character abbreviation as defined by ISO 3166-1 (Codes
for the Representation of Names of Countries and Their Subdivisions).
As of November 1999 there were 243 country code top level domains
(ccTLDs) registered. Some examples are .us for the United States,
.ca for Canada, .jp for Japan, .de for Germany, etc. ccTLDs are
often contrasted to generic top level domains (gTLDs). ccTLDs often
have more restrictive registration requirements including regional
requirements whereas gTLDs tend to be open to all registrants around
the world.
Domain Host:See also web host. The business or
registrar responsible for a domain name’s server and keeping
their web site “live.”
Domain Name: A domain name is the core of your
company's online identity. It is the address your customers will
use to find information about your products and services on the
web. Your domain name is yours entirely because once registered,
no other party may use that identity online in that Top Level Domain.
Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The
part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right
is the most general. A domain name can simply be thought of as your
Internet address. The Internet uses Internet Protocol (IP) numbers
to locate other computers. Internet users would typically have a
hard time remembering these long strings of numbers to find sites.
Domain names were developed to allow users to name these (IP) addresses
with easy to remember names or phrases. Our domain name - Domain
Bank.com - for example is part of the Internet address for Domain
Bank.
Domain Name System (DNS): The DNS maintains a
relationship between IP addresses and domain names. DNS is composed
of a set of database servers which maintain the relationship between
IP addresses and domain names and facilitate the lookup between
the two. Computers use the DNS system to electronically transmit
data with other computers through the internet.
Domain Parking: Registries require the use of
name servers or hosts for every domain registered. In other words,
every domain name has to be linked to a name server for it to be
valid. Some people do not have their own name servers, therefore
Domain Bank offers 'domain parking' (name parking) on its servers.
It is a convenient way to hold or 'park' domain name(s) for an extended
amount of time.
Escrow: A third party service that will essentially
hold on to the buyer’s payment when selling a domain name,
thereby protecting both the buyer and seller.
Email: Electronic mail, electronic files that
are transferred quickly from an outbox on one computer, to the inbox
of another.
Expired Domain: A domain that has not been reregistered
by the owner in the grace period allotted eventually becomes expired,
or unusable by the owner, and is placed into the pool of available
names again.
FAQ: Short for frequently asked question.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP): A communication
method for transferring data between computers on the Internet.
FTP servers store files that can be accessed from other computers.
FTP provides security services so only authorized access is allowed.
Forwarding: The process of redirecting email from
one inbox to another (email forwarding), or redirecting traffic
received at one web address to another. (URL forwarding)
Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD): The top level
domain represents a category, and is found at the last part of a
domain name. For example the .com in www.mysite.com, is the gTLD.
The three completely unrestricted gTLDs are .com .net and .org.
Hold Status: A domain name that has not been reregistered
by its owner, but not yet in the pool of available names may be
said to be on hold status.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): Web sites on
the internet are stored or presented as documents which web browsers
can interpret. These document files are designed using a specific
tagging language.
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA): An
organization who oversees core internet infrastructure management
parameters, including port assignments.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN):
The not for profit organization responsible for managing the internet’s
domain name system, including IP address space allocation.
InterNIC: InterNIC was originally started as a
joint effort between Network Solutions and AT&T, to perform
many of the functions now performed by ICANN. The InterNIC is no
longer functioning, but hosts an information site regarding domain
name registrations.
IP Address: All computers across the internet
are assigned a unique identifier called an IP address. They are
used like street addresses so other computers can find them. An
IP address could look something like this: 87.242.211.23.
Internet Service Provider (ISP): An ISP is a business
that provides an individual with access to the internet. Some methods
of providing this service are through dial-up telephone, cable,
or high-speed DSL circuit.
Name Server: A name server, or domain name server,
maintains the cross-reference between domain names and their corresponding
IP addresses. Name servers are used so that people don’t have
to remember long numerical IP addresses.
NIC Fee: This is the fee you pay to your registrar
when registering for a domain name.
Parking: Term used for temporarily placing a record
in a name server for later use. Many registrars while park your
domain at no cost until you are ready to build a web site.
Primary Server: On Domain Bank's Domain Name Service
Agreement, the section where the registrant indicates the host name
and Internet Protocol (IP) number of the name server that will contain
authoritative information for the domain name and will be used to
resolve that domain name to its corresponding IP number(s). The
designation of "primary" means that this name server will
be used first and will be relied upon before any of the other name
servers that may be listed on the Domain Name Service Agreement.
The primary server section of the Agreement is a required section
and the domain name registration will not be processed unless this
section of the Domain Name Service Agreement is completed properly.
Registrant: The individual or business who registers
a domain name. The registrant is accountable for the fees and conditions
specified by the registrar.
Registrar: A business that is given permission
to register domain names on behalf of anyone wishing to obtain one.
Registrars must be accredited by ICANN, and are only given permission
to registrar certain top level domains. Registrars collect fees,
maintain record information, and manage registration, re-registration,
and expiration of domains.
Registry: A database that contains information
about every registered domain name. Different registries exist for
different TLDs. When you register a domain name, all the information
for that domain, including registrant, name, expiration, etc. is
stored in the registry’s database.
Renewal: When the original domain name registration
period is over the owner will be given the opportunity to renew
the domain name for subsequent years. This is called a renewal,
and is done through the registrant’s current registrar.
Reseller: A company/person that sells domain names
through registry services provided by an ICANN approved registrar.
Resolve: The term used to describe the process
by which domain names are matched with corresponding Internet Protocol
(IP) numbers. "Resolution" is accomplished by a combination
of computers and software, referred to as name servers that use
the data in the Domain Name System to determine which IP numbers
correspond to a particular domain name.
Second Level Domain: The domain names system is
organized as a hierarchy. After the root, the top level domain is
the highest in the hierarchy, followed next by the second level
domain. The second level domain in www.mysite.com, would be the
“mysite” portion.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): Short for Secure Sockets
Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape to handle and protect confidential/sensitive
information required for e-commerce transactions (like credit card
numbers). SSL address usually begin with 'https'.
Subdomain: Typically known as a "domain within
a domain", subdomains are individual Web addresses built upon
a pre-existing domain name (such as clientname.yourhostingcompany.com).
As a reseller, you will have the option of assigning subdomains
to clients if they do not choose to have a domain name.
Secondary Server: On Domain Bank's Domain Name
Service Agreement, the section where the registrant indicates the
hostname and Internet Protocol (IP) number of a name server that
will contain authoritative data for the domain name being registered
and will resolve that domain name to its corresponding IP number(s).
The designation of "secondary" indicates that the name
server will be used in addition to and as a backup for the primary
name server that is listed on the Domain Name Service Agreement.
Technical Contact: When you register a domain
name you must specify a technical contact for that domain. This
individual will be responsible for any technical issues regarding
the domain name. The technical contact may be the same as the billing
or administrative contact.
Top Level Domain (TLD): TLD is the last part of
the domain name. For example, the .com in www.mysite.com is the
top level domain. (‘mysite’ would be the second-level
domain). In the Domain Name System (DNS), the highest level of the
hierarchy above second level domains. Our domain name - DomainBank.com
- for example is part of the Internet address for Domain Bank, Inc.
The Domain Bank part is the second level domain while the .com is
the Top Level Domain. Second level domain names are what you register
by or on behalf of registrants (or name holders) in a Top Level
Domain registry. There are two types of Top Level Domains. The most
common type is Generic or gTLDs, such as .COM, .NET, .ORG. New gTLDs
such as .NOM, .INFO, or .WEB may be introduced sometime in the near
future. The other type of TLD is the ccTLD (country code top level
domains) which are assigned to all countries and their dependencies.
Every TLD registry - generic or country code - has its own prices,
policies, and procedures that registrants (name holders) in that
registry are subject to. It is important to know and be prepared
to accept these before registering name(s) in a particular registry.
Transfer (Domain Name transfer): Domain names
can be sold to another organization or sometimes the name of a company
might change. Most registries require a process by which permission
from the old owner to hand over control to the new owner is authorized.
The procedure for change of ownership is known a Transfer. Policies
and procedures on domain name transfer can vary from registry to
registry.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL): Also called the
web address. A URL may include the http:// or just the www at the
beginning. URL is an identifier for locating objects on the internet.
Web Page: A document containing text and graphics
that can be accessed through a web browser on the internet.
Web Site: A collection of web pages that reside
on a web server.
Web Host: A business that share its servers with
clients so their web sites can be accessible at any given time A
networked computer dedicated to providing a certain kind of service.
Usually refers to a computer that stores the website files and has
a web server running on it.
Whois: Whois is both a database and a tool. A
whois database is maintained by a domain registry which contains
pertinent information about domain names and their registrants (technical
contacts, expiration date, etc.) Whois is also a tool used for accessing
the various databases. Registrars offer the use of the whois tool
to see if the name you would like is still available.
|