In this week’s Blog, I will touch upon the different types of domains and how each different part of a domain, is grouped by a domain level.
I will also introduce the whois search, and look into the reasons how this powerful tool is used to gather useful information.
Confused already? Read on to find out more…
Domain level
Firstly, it’s important to understand the reasons why we use domain names. Domain names give a unique identity given to a particular webspace or server.
This identity is usually chosen carefully as it represents the content of the website or even an entire company.
A typical example of a domain name could be: www.cwcs.co.uk
The domain name is split up into these sections the “www”, “cwcs” and “.co.uk”. The end of the domain name “.uk” is always considered as the TLD (Top Level Domain).
Although in this case the domain extension is specific to a country “.uk”. County code specific domains are called ccTLD (Country Code Top Level Domain).
Different examples of country specific domains are .uk .us .ca .in
Try and guess what country these domains are specific to; the first two should be obvious.
A full list of this type of domain can be found here.
What happens with a domain name that does not represent a country? Lets take a .com domain for example.
As this TLD is not part of a country we consider it as a generic type, therefore it is given the name gTLD (Generic Top Level Domain). Other generic types include .org .net .biz.
So this covers TLD… but wait, is there a second level domain?
In fact there is, the SLD (Second Level Domain) is the part before the TLD. Using the same example as before “CWCS” is referred to as the second level domain.
So, what else is there to know about domains? How could you find out who owns a domain?
Lets take a look at the whois database…
A Whois search is a listing that contains information about a particular domain name; this includes its creation and expiration dates. Also included on the .com registrar is a record of various contacts, administrative and technical.
The data is collected when a domain name is registered and is considered as public information.
The information is displayed whenever a person conducts a Whois search on a particular domain.
Now lets search! Point your browser over to the CWCS Domain Availability Checker.
Type in cwcs.co.uk and see what it brings up:-
Domain name: – well, that’s self explanatory
Registrant: - legal owner of the domain
Trading as: what’s your trading name?
Registrant type: - are you a company or an individual
Registrant's address:- again, obvious, but it needs to be correct.
Registrar: - this is the company it’s registered through
[Tag = CWCS]: – IPSTAG shows who the domain is currently being managed by.
Relevant dates:- when it was created and when it expires
Registration status: has it expired? Is it still in date?
Nameservers – this tells you who it’s hosted with.
That wasn’t too hard was it? You will get used to it. Looking up a .com .org .net .biz address is the same but the information looks a bit different.
If you have a domain ending .uk you can now "opt out" if you are a non-trading individual.
This means that your address can be kept hidden from public view and can only be seen by the company who registered it for you. Domains that end with .com .info .biz .org are different, there is no "opt out" option, your details will be seen on the public database. You can get round it though by using a PO Box address.
Your name can consist of letters, the digits 0-9 and the hyphen character. The name may not start or end with a hyphen. It must consist of at least 2 and at most 63 characters.
I hope we haven’t confused you too much, just remember it’s important to get it right whether you are creating a website for your holiday photo’s or it’s your business, that needs a lot of traffic.
I will also introduce the whois search, and look into the reasons how this powerful tool is used to gather useful information.
Confused already? Read on to find out more…
Domain level
Firstly, it’s important to understand the reasons why we use domain names. Domain names give a unique identity given to a particular webspace or server.
This identity is usually chosen carefully as it represents the content of the website or even an entire company.
A typical example of a domain name could be: www.cwcs.co.uk
The domain name is split up into these sections the “www”, “cwcs” and “.co.uk”. The end of the domain name “.uk” is always considered as the TLD (Top Level Domain).
Although in this case the domain extension is specific to a country “.uk”. County code specific domains are called ccTLD (Country Code Top Level Domain).
Different examples of country specific domains are .uk .us .ca .in
Try and guess what country these domains are specific to; the first two should be obvious.
A full list of this type of domain can be found here.
What happens with a domain name that does not represent a country? Lets take a .com domain for example.
As this TLD is not part of a country we consider it as a generic type, therefore it is given the name gTLD (Generic Top Level Domain). Other generic types include .org .net .biz.
So this covers TLD… but wait, is there a second level domain?
In fact there is, the SLD (Second Level Domain) is the part before the TLD. Using the same example as before “CWCS” is referred to as the second level domain.
So, what else is there to know about domains? How could you find out who owns a domain?
Lets take a look at the whois database…
A Whois search is a listing that contains information about a particular domain name; this includes its creation and expiration dates. Also included on the .com registrar is a record of various contacts, administrative and technical.
The data is collected when a domain name is registered and is considered as public information.
The information is displayed whenever a person conducts a Whois search on a particular domain.
Now lets search! Point your browser over to the CWCS Domain Availability Checker.
Type in cwcs.co.uk and see what it brings up:-
Domain name: – well, that’s self explanatory
Registrant: - legal owner of the domain
Trading as: what’s your trading name?
Registrant type: - are you a company or an individual
Registrant's address:- again, obvious, but it needs to be correct.
Registrar: - this is the company it’s registered through
[Tag = CWCS]: – IPSTAG shows who the domain is currently being managed by.
Relevant dates:- when it was created and when it expires
Registration status: has it expired? Is it still in date?
Nameservers – this tells you who it’s hosted with.
That wasn’t too hard was it? You will get used to it. Looking up a .com .org .net .biz address is the same but the information looks a bit different.
If you have a domain ending .uk you can now "opt out" if you are a non-trading individual.
This means that your address can be kept hidden from public view and can only be seen by the company who registered it for you. Domains that end with .com .info .biz .org are different, there is no "opt out" option, your details will be seen on the public database. You can get round it though by using a PO Box address.
Your name can consist of letters, the digits 0-9 and the hyphen character. The name may not start or end with a hyphen. It must consist of at least 2 and at most 63 characters.
I hope we haven’t confused you too much, just remember it’s important to get it right whether you are creating a website for your holiday photo’s or it’s your business, that needs a lot of traffic.
posted by Admin at
09:30
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