BrowserA program which allows a person to read hypertext. The browser gives some means of viewing (or listening to) the contents of pages and of navigating from one page to another.
.ComGeneric top-level domain. The most commonly used TLD on the Web.
ccTLD
Country code Top Level Domain. Also referred to as non-US ISO country codes. Some countires register all domains at the top level, e.g. Germany (.de) and Norway, while others create additional structure with Second Level domains (2LDs) such as .co.nz (New Zealand), .co.jp (Japan), .com.tw (Taiwan), et cetera.
.Coop
Restricted top-level domain. Reserved for cooperative businesses.
DNS
A distributed database of information that is used to translate domain names, which are easy for humans to remember and use, into Internet Protocol (IP) numbers, which are what computers need to find each other on the Internet.
People working on computers around the globe maintain their specific portion of this database, and the data held in each portion of the database is made available to all computers and users on the Internet.
The DNS comprises computers, data files, software, and people working together.
Domain NameIn short, a domain name is nothing more than an alias for a numeric web address. Each web site on the internet has a numeric address that functions like coordinates on a map. Instead of pointing to a geographic location on earth, these numeric addresses, called IP addresses, point to a graphical location on the Internet. Computers have no problems with locating and remembering numeric addresses. In contrast, most humans have trouble remembering long, complicated sequences of numbers. So, to make surfing the web easier, the domain name system was invented. This system allows people to use easy to remember names for web sites instead of those number sequences.
.Edu
Generic, restricted top-level domain. Available exclusively to degree-granting educational institutions of higher education that are accredited by one of the six U.S. regional accrediting agencies.
Fully-qualified domain nameA fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) is that portion of an Internet Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that fully identifies the server program that an Internet request is addressed to. The FQDN includes the top-level domain name, the second-level domain name and any other levels. An FQDN should be sufficient to determine a unique Internet address for any host on the Internet. The prefix "http://" added to the fully-qualified domain name completes the URL.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol. The Internet engineering standard for transferring files from one computer to another, i.e. from a web creator's computer files to the virtual server or vice versa. Such a transfer is made via a special FTP software program such as WS_FTP or CuteFTP. There are many Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name anonymous, thus these sites are called anonymous ftp servers.
gTLD
Generic Top Level Domain. In the US, gTLDs used to describe organizational and political structures and are usually given three-letter names. Over the past few years, a number of these gTLDs have become "unrestricted", i.e. anyone can register a domain in that gTLD. You do not even have to reside in the US or be a business entity. For domains outside the US, two-letter ISO (International Organization For Standardization) country codes are used. Here are the current gTLDs. Over the next few months, there will likely be new additions to this list: Top level Domain What it used to be for Who can register?
.COM Commercial Companies Anyone - Unrestricted.
.EDU Educational Institutions 4 Year Universities only.
.GOV Government Agcy's Restricted.
.MIL Military Agencies Restricted US Military.
.NET Network Providers Anyone - Unrestricted.
.ORG Not-for-profit organizations Anyone - Unrestricted.
HTML
Documents on the World Wide Web are written in a simple "markup language" called HTML, which stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear, additionally, in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or a word, is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a browser, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.
HTTP
HyperText Transfer Protocol. The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).
Hypertext
Term coined by Ted Nelson around 1965 for a collection of documents containing cross-references or "links" which, with the aid of an interactive browser program, allow the reader to move easily from one document to another.
IANA
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority The function that currently oversees registration for various Internet Protocol parameters, such as port numbers, protocol and enterprise numbers, options, codes, and types. The IANA function is currently located at the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California in Marina del Rey, CA.
ICANN
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN is the new non-profit corporation that is assuming responsibility from the U.S. Government for coordinating certain Internet technical functions, including the management of Internet domain name system.
.Info
Generic top-level domain. Unrestricted, but generally used for informative purposes.
InterNIC
http://www.internic.net The InterNIC is a concept for an integrated network information center that was developed by several companies, including Network Solutions, in cooperation with the U.S. Government. Currently, the term "InterNIC" is being used in conjunction with a neutral, stand alone web page (located at:
http://www.internic.net/) that is established for the purpose of providing the public with information regarding Internet domain name registration. InterNIC is a registered service mark of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
IP Address
Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Most machines also have one or more domain names that are easier for people to remember.
IP addresses are numerical, often 32-bit addresses that are expressed as four numbers between 0 and 255, separated by periods, for example: 216.168.224.69
For more information, HowStuffWorks.com has an easy to comprehend article on How IP Addresses Work as a part of its larger article on How domain name Servers Work.
ISP (Internet Service Provider)
Internet Service Provider. While rather a generic term, ISP generally refers to a person, organization, or company that allows its users access to the Internet. In addition to Internet access, many ISPs provide other services such as web hosting, DNS and other services.
.Mil
Generic top-level domain operated exclusively by the United States Military.
.Museum
Generic top-level domain reserved for museums.
.Name
Generic top-level domain reserved exclusively for individuals.
Nameserver
Sometimes called a "host." A computer (server) that has both the software and the data (zone files) needed to resolve domain names to Internet Protocol (IP) numbers. Domain names must be programmed into a minimum of two nameservers hosted on separate networks.
.Net
Generic top-level domain. Unrestricted, but primarily used by Internet service providers (ISPs).
NIC
Generally, any office that handles information for a network. The most famous of these on the Internet is the InterNIC, which is where new domain names are registered.
.Org
Generic top-level domain. Unrestricted, but mainly used by nonprofit organizations.
Parking
When a registered domain is parked, the domain is reserved but remains inactive. A temporary Web page is displayed until the site is unparked — or activated. Domain name parking is often used by registrants who do not yet have a hosting provider or who haven't yet built a site for the domain.
.Pro
Soon-to-be-activated generic top-level domain. Once established, the domain will be available exclusively for certified professionals, such as accountants, lawyers and physicians.
Registrant
The individual or organization that registers a specific domain name. This individual or organization holds the right to use that specific domain name for a specified period of time, provided certain conditions are met and the registration (NIC) fees are paid. This person or organization is the "legal entity" bound by the terms of all applicable domain registration Service Agreements.
Registrar
An entity with a direct contractual relationship with, and special access to, a registry, that inserts records on behalf of others.
Registry
A database associating DNS information with some person, legal entity, operational entity, or other reference.
Restricted top-level domain name (rTLD)
A top-level domain, such as .biz, .gov, .museum, .name, and .pro, that is only available to registrants who meet certain criteria.
Root
The top of the domain name System hierarchy. Often referred to as the "dot."
Second-Level Domain
In the domain name System, the next lower level of the hierarchy underneath the top level domains. In a domain name, that portion of the domain name that appears immediately to the left of the top-level domain. For example, the domainsforbeginners in domainsforbeginners.com. Second-Level Domains are the focus of domain speculators and have been the root of a good portion of internet name disputes on the internet. It's important that your second-level domain does not infringe upon the registered trademark of another entity.
Server
A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running, e.g. Our mail server is down today, that's why e-mail isn't getting out. A single server machine could have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network.
Technical Contact
The technical contact is the person or organization who maintains the primary domain name server. When you register your domain name with us, we provide our primary nameserver automatically and assume the role of Technical Contact. The technical contact should be able to answer technical questions about the domain name's primary domain name server and work with technically-oriented people in other domains to solve technical problems that affect the domain name.
TLD
Top Level Domain. In the domain name System (DNS), the highest level of the hierarchy after the root. In a domain name, that portion of the domain name that appears furthest to the right. For example, the com in domainsforbeginners.com.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator. An internet "address." A draft standard for specifying the location of an object on the Internet, such as a file or a newsgroup. They are used in HTML documents to specify the target of a hyperlink which is often another HTML document (possibly stored on another computer).
Examples of URLs:
http://www.blog2manoj.blogspot.comhttp://www.gatesglobal.com/ The first part of the URL, before the colon (often http), specifies the access method. The part of the URL after the colon is interpreted specific to the access method.
URL Forwarding
URL Redirection or Website Redirection In short, when the user types in one address (URL) for a web site and is then redirected to a site, often on a different server than the domain. Often the URL name entered will be short, easy to remember URL while the destination page is actually defined by a much longer, harder to remember URL. It occurs when a Web server tells the client browser to obtain a certain requested page from a different location. The new URL may be on the same server or a different one and may itself be subject to redirection. The user is normally unaware of this process except that it may introduce extra delay while the browser sends the new request and the browser will usually (although not always) display the new URL rather than the one the user originally requested.
.Us
Country-code top-level domain. Available exclusively for residents of the United States and its territories.
Virtual host
Also called an IPP. In order to establish a full-time presence on the internet, one needs to have computers that are connected continuously to the Internet. Special hardware and software are needed as well as constant maintenance of a full-time high speed connection to the internet. A virtual host provides services to relieve its hosted customers from the burden of dedicating costly hardware/software and valuable human resources to its web presence effort. Because the electronic frontage (or website) actually resides on the IPP's computers, and not that of the entity, it's virtual. This is where the name "virtual host" comes from.
Web Page
Simply, a block of information running on a web server identified by a specific URL. Such pages are most often written in HTML. It is also possible for a server to create a dynamic web page via special scripts.
Web Site
Simply put, a block of information running on a web server. A web site may or may not of a group of pages related to one another, and is identified by its Second-Level Domain.
WhoIs
A searchable database maintained by the registrar, which contains information about networks, networking organizations, domain names, and the contacts associated with them for respective domains. Also, the set of rules that describes the application used to access the database.
.WsThe Country-Code Top Level Domain for Western Samoa, but marketed for general use with the suggestion that it stands for "web site".
