The internet is a network consisting of more than a million computers. All of the computers identify themselves to each other by numeric names called IP addresses which is a number that gets as big as 4.3 billion. To make identification and administration of computers that participate in a network easier, domain names are used instead of IP addresses. It should be noted though that domain names are just there for human convenience because in the mechanism of the internet, all computers talk to each other using their IP addresses.
Functions of domain names
Domain names are not just the names of each computer in the network. It is part of a hierarchical system that is used for routing network traffic. This hierarchical system is called the domain name system (DNS) and it can be quickly defined as the internet’s phone book. Given a domain name such as exampe.com, DNS translates this into its IP address which could be 208.77.93.53. Aside from labeling a computer, its domain name is used to abstract changes in IP address on network management. When a time will come when example.com changes its address, its effect is not visible to humans thus shielding us from the complexity of the internet. When example.com is typed into the browser, we do not have to know that it has a new IP address, the domain name system takes care of this for us.
Parts of a domain name
Domain names consist of a top level domain (tld) which is the familiar .com, .org or .net endings. With the rapid expansion of the internet, it became obvious that more top level domains were needed and so country code top level domains were made (cctld) and examples of such include .uk or .cn tlds. The local host name is appended to the tld so if we have server named example, when it connects to the internet, its domain name becomes example.com
Domain names are used in making the job of administering computer networks easier. Computer addresses change frequently and it would add to administrative overhead if such changes involve human intervention. Domain names are part of a hierarchy starting from a top level domain and ends at the computers who serve as web hosts.
