Domain Names and What They Mean

The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers met this week to consider adding domain name suffixes to the Internet. Some questions and answers about the topic: <br><br><br>Q. What is a domain name?

Friday, November 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers met this week to consider adding domain name suffixes to the Internet. Some questions and answers about the topic:

Q. What is a domain name?

A. A domain name, such as microsoft.com, helps Internet users reach Web sites, send e-mail and perform other online tasks. Domain name suffixes, formally known as top-level domains, are at the end of the address, in this case the .com portion. The microsoft portion is known as the second-level domain. Web sites can designate third-level and higher domains â€” for example, wire.ap.org to reach the news site of The Associated Press.

Q. Why do domain names matter?

A. They tell computers how to locate a Web server known in computerese by a series of four numerals, each ranging from 0 to 255. Users can remember a domain name much easier than a string like ''143.136.100.34.''

Q. How many domain name suffixes are there?

A. There are currently 252, but only three designated for the general public: .com, .net and .org. The most popular is .com, with some 20 million registrations. Some administrators of the 244 regional suffixes, such as .tv for the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, allow anyone to register, but the suffixes were designed for residents of a particular country or territory. Other suffixes include .edu for educational institutions, .gov for the U.S. government, .mil for U.S. military and .int for organizations established by international treaty.

Q. Who decides on domain names?

A. For a long time, domain suffixes were issued informally by the late Jon Postel and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. ICANN was set up to formalize the procedures. The ICANN board makes selections, although the Commerce Department must formally approve them.

Q. How long does it take to create a new suffix?

A. New suffixes have been under consideration since the mid-1990s. Adding one is a matter of programming a few lines of code into a central database known as the A root server. Copies of that database are sent within hours to 12 other root servers worldwide.

Q. How will new suffixes affect average Internet users?

A. They could expand the dwindling number of easy-to-remember names. For example, users may one day be able to type ama.health to reach the American Medical Association Web site instead of www.ama-assn.org. Since Ford.com is already taken by Ford Motor Co., Ford Flowers might now get Ford.biz and someone named Ford might register Ford.nom, though Ford may try to claim those names as well.