Planning: Web Site Domain FAQ
General Information
How easy is it for you to remember telephone numbers ? Do you find that easier than remembering your friends, colleagues and associates names ? The answer is obviously no. This is why we have domain names.
Computers address each other by IP (Internet Protocol) address. For example 110.132.145.27. Much like telephones use telephone numbers. The Domain Name System (DNS) provides a convenient way for people to relate to the machines they use. For example http://www.mybusiness.com/ is a lot more meaningful to the reader than http://127.253.123.12/ although this might be the number for the server. The name tells the reader something useful (which company it belongs to and what they might expect to find there), while the number has very limited information for the reader.
DNS acts as an alphabetical index to the IP addresses. As a note of interest, the number above represents a 'version 4' number and is limited to the range: 0.0.0.0 through 255.255.255.255. IPv6 is now beginning to be used by some organizations but it isn't really anything to be concerned about at this time.
A DNS database, in addition to relating a server or host name with an IP number, can also define the type of hardware the host is running, what resources are available, what the operating system is and the services available. DNS is a fairly extensive facility so if you are interested you might want ot pick up a book from O'Reilly or look for tutorials on the Internet.
The domain name service is a hierarchical database with a root, top level and sub domains. The root domain is managed by Network Solutions. The Top Level Domains (TLDs) are the first level of domain: .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .ca, .us, .uk are all examples of top level domains Second level domains are normally referred to as just 'domains' but in reality they are domains within top level domains and are thus 'subdomains'. Examples of subdomains are mydomain.com, a subdomain within the top level domain .com, uspto.org, a subdomain within the .org top level domain. It is possible to have third and higher level domains, such as thisoffice.mydomain.com.
Each domain can only be registered once and each top level domain must maintain an index for each of the sub-domains it contains. Each top level domain, therefore, contains all of the indexing for each subdomain within its purvue. This applies for all top level domains including each of the 240 top level domains assigned to countries. Information about who administers which top level domain can be found in the IANA and ICANN databases. Each domain registrar maintains information about their sub-domains.
.com, probably the oldest top level domain apart from .gov and .org which are somewhat restricted, has the most subdomains.
Questions:
» What is a domain?
» What is a Top Level Domain?
» What other Top Level Domains exist?
» When is the European Top Level Domain .eu coming?
» Why is it that I can't find a domain in the Internet when I know it has been registered?
» I am a provider. What do I have to do if I want to register domains for my customers?
» Could you tell me whom I should normally contact if I've got questions about my domain or if there is any other matter concerning me?
» How are Internet addresses (IP addresses) structured?
» What does Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) mean?
» Where do I get an IP address?
» Who is responsible for the European IP address space?
» How can I find out, who owns a given IP address?
» How and where can I arrange for my domain to be registered?
» How up-to-date is the whois query for domains?
» Why is it not possible to register domains that are shorter than three characters?
» What are NSentry domains and name servers?
» What happens to a domain when its holder dies?
» How can I get hold of information about the holder of a domain?
» Can I insist that a registrar disconnect a domain if it is used to address a website with illegal or immoral contents?
» Can I insist that my registrar 'block' a particular domain so that it can't be registered?
» Are you able to advise me if I have a legal problem?
» Why do you insist on particular forms for many of the communications it receives from me? Why does it go so far as to insist on original forms?
» Am I allowed to use my registrar's domain-query function (whois) on my own website?
» What can I do if I discover illegal contents on a website?
» Can my service provider help me to find out the source of Spam mails and internet attacks?
What is a domain?
A domain is a hierarchical structure used to define the boundaries of a particular area of the Internet. Domain names provide an alphabetical reference to the numerical system that describes the individual domains, sub-domains, servers and hosts within those domains and sub-domains. The IPv4 standard defines the numerical system, referred to as IP addressing, to be 4 values, each between 0 and 255 and separated by a period for notation services. A typical IP address would be 127.0.0.1 which actually has a default host name of 'localhost'.
The naming system and services, provided on many servers by a program called bind, make it easy for people to remember and refer to computers connected to the Internet. This computers are referred to as servers, hosts and clients — your web browser computer is a client. If you share your files on the Internet, then your computer will also be acting as a server. If you allow people to run programs on your computer, sometimes requiring login, sometimes not, then your computer is also acting as a host.
Every domain name, host name within a domain, and IP address is totally unique within its domain. It should be noted that there are some IP addresses that are considered 'private' and therefore are not available on the public Internet. These IP addresses are used repeatedly in many private networks.
The .com, .org, .net, .gov, .us, .de are known as top level domains. Mydomain.com is known as a subdomain within the .com top level domain.
Domain names are global and the domain naming system is managed internationally.
What is a Top Level Domain?
A Top Level Domain is a domain that exists just one level below the root domain. A Top Level Domains (TLDs) is the highest hierarchical level in the international Domain Name System. The alphabetical suffix on any fully qualified domain is the top level domain named. Domain names are limited in length to 32 characters but top level domain names are generally 4 or less characters.
There are currently 15 general TLDs. Some domains are tightly controlled and sub-domains are restricted to companies and individuals who can show involvement in that arena of human endeavour. Examples of restricted TLDs are.gov, .int, .aero and .museum. General TLDs are managed by ICANN.
Country specific TLDs are administered by Network Information Centers (NICs). You can retrieve a list of all existing domain endings from IANA (the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority).
What other Top Level Domains exist ?
It is fairly safe to assume that country coded top level domains are the 2 character international country code. For example the United States TLD is .us, the United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland is .uk, New Zealand is .nl.
The best place to find all of the country TLDs that exist today is IANA website. IANA also provides information regarding who manages the top level domain.
Sometimes you can find this information through whois, but more frequently the whois information is restricted to prevent email spamming.
When is the European Top Level Domain .eu coming?
EURid is presently engaged in preparing to issue .eu subdomains. The decision to provide an .eu TLD to encourage ebusiness was taken recently by the European Union and establishing management for the new TLD is continuing.
Why is it that I can't find a domain in the Internet when I know it has been registered?
This could be for a number of reasons.
When a domain is registered it is published in the registrar's whois database and should become available soon to a whois query. However, information must be propagated up to the top level domain manager's servers to tell them where to look for the subdomain information. This propagation can take some time and is regularly quoted as taking up to 24 hours. It used to take 3 days, so this is a big improvement.
Once the domain is registered, the naming servers (DNS servers) have been specified and the DNS server database has been established and the service started, the domain is available for establishing hosts and services such as www, email and ftp.
However, if you want to acquire a domain name and don't have the time to prepare the servers and services that is OK, with the exception that you must define name servers for the domain.
If you mean that you know the domain is registered but you cannot get to the web site it is either because the DNS server has not been configured correctly, is not running, not connected to the Internet or the particular service (email or www) is not running.
It is also possible that you have mistyped the URL (universal resource locator).
It is also possible that the domain information might be changing changing and the caching servers that are providing the name to IP address resolution have not yet updated their cache.
Whatever the reason, just because you cannot reach the domain / host, does not mean you can acquire it. You will have to research the owner and make an application to purchase or otherwise acquire it from the legitimate owner.
I am a provider. What do I have to do if I want to register domains for my customers?
You will need to partner with a company that acts as a registrar. Many companies provide some form of referral program. Other than that, if you have the capital, you can become a registrar yourself.
Could you tell me whom I should normally contact if I've got questions about my domain or if there is any other matter concerning me?
This depends on exactly what your question / problem is. Generally, domain name related questions should be directed to your registrar and domain name services to your DNS service provider. All other questions should be directed to your hosting company.
How are Internet addresses (IP addresses) structured?
An IPv4 IP (Internet Protocol) address is made up of four bytes each of which has a valid value between 0 and 255 (a byte being 8 bits). While IP addresses could be written as hexadecimal numbers in the range 00 to FF, for example A0.F0.C9.01, it is more normal for them to be written in decimal notation, for example 123.145.12.1.
This numbering system is theoretically capable of addressing as many as 4,000,000,000 discrete systems. Private address blocks and dynamic IP allocation have made extended the capacity somewhat but others are lost due to grouping, or classes.
To create additional address space the IETF, Internet Engineering Task Force, has agreed on the implementation of IPv6, as defined in the RFC, Request For Comments document, 2460. According to this draft standard, already implemented by many network systems providers, 16 bytes are now available for IP addressing increasing the discrete addressing capacity to 2^128 (approximately 3.4 E+38).
What does Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) mean?
In order to simplify routing, intelligence was built into the IP number addressing scheme. The Internet address shows not only who the particular network subscriber but how to reach them. Each IP address consists of a net-id component and a host-id component.
Furthermore, in the early days of the Internet, IP addresses were classed into different networks called A, B or C networks. What defined the class was the length of the net-id : host-id components.
Because of the rapid growth of the Internet in the late 1990s it quickly became apparent that continuing to maintain this classification system was going to significantly hamper IP address allocation and this resulted in the canceling of class based routing in favor of Classless Interdomain Routing (CIDR).
This resulted in network addressing being based on a complete sequence of 32 bits and provided a means to greatly extend the usefulness of IPv4 addressing.
The classless addressing system then changes the way the IP address is referred to by defining the network address followed by how many bits are available for host or sub-domain addressing.
Under CIDR, an IP address that would previously be shown as 124.32.0.0, would be described as 124.32/16, the 124.32 referring to the network and the 16 referring to the 'significant' bits, also referred o as a bit mask.
Here is an example of how this works.
This bit mask has capacity for 2 hosts and the network address is 31 bits long: 2/31: 255.255.255.254
This bit mask has capacity for 64 hosts and network address 26 bits long: 64/26: 255.255.255.192
Where do I get an IP address ?
Assignment of IP addresses is managed by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Association) in North America and by RIPE NCC in Amsterdam for Europe.
You will normally not be able to acquire a personally assigned IP address except from your service or hosting provider. This may be dynamically assigned, each time you connect, or, for a premium in most cases, you can get a static IP address.
If you have a network that you don't want connected to the Internet, or to be visible to the Internet, you can implement IP addressing within a private address space as defined in RFC 1918.
Who is responsible for the European IP address space?
Administration of IP address space worldwide is divided up over four different organizations: RIPE NCC, ARIN, APNIC and LACNIC. It is RIPE NCC in Amsterdam that is in charge of the European space.
RIPE NCC assigns big address blocks to its members, the Local Internet Registries (LIRs).
Can I find out, who owns a given IP address?
IP address space management is provided by RIPE NCC, ARIN, APNIC and LAPNIC. RIPE NCC is responsible for the European space. To find out who owns / is using a particular block of IP addresses you can usually execute a whois request at the appropriate authority's web site.
The whois hosts are:
- whois.arin.net
- whois.lacnic.net
- whois.apnic.net
- whois.ripe.net
IANA's website includes a list of IP block assignments. Some are large blocks and easy to track while others are very small blocks assigned to many different groups and take some working out.
How And Where Can I Arrange To Have My Domain Registered?
There are many registrars that can handle domain registration for TLDs like .com, .org and .net. For country based domains, and some of the less general domains like .info, .biz and .int there are, in fact, much fewer registrars that can handle your registration. Normally, registration will be handled as part of the package of services your Internet host will be providing.
Once you have selected a provider you can normally apply to register your domain directly through them. Some companies provide limited or no domain registration services and you will have to register your domain elsewhere.
Regardless of the route through which you arrange your registration, a contractual relationship is created between you as the domain holder and the primary domain registry and must meet the terms and conditions on which the service is provided.
How up-to-date is the whois query for domains?
Whois service is very dynamic and depends only on how long the severs takes to make the information available and propagate it through the root Internic servers.
Why is it not possible to register domains that are shorter than three characters?
This is primarily because there is a problem in some of the software that is widely used to resolve IP addresses. The problem is described in detail in RFC1535 which can be readily found on the Internet if you want something to read.
Some top level domain managers have additional reasons for not permitting the registration of two character subdomains.
What are NS entry domains and name servers?
Normally, when you register a domain, the registrar will ask you where your domain name servers are. This is because you will not be maintaining your host or web server information on their name servers. That said, some registrars have setup servers specifically to provide domain name services for their registrants, and for domain parking.
In either case, the domain registrant and manager must be able to point to your name server(s). They do this by creating NS records in their domain name servers. As you might in order to define backup domain name servers.
What happens to a domain when its holder dies?
A domain normally becomes a part of the deceased's estate. However, it is important for the executor or heir to continue to make the annual registration maintenance payments.
Other than the appointment of a new administrative contact or technical contact on the event of their death or departure, no action is necessary and nothing else occurs in such an event.
How can I get hold of information about the holder of a domain?
The whois server for any particular domain will provide this information. However, many domain owners are these days locking their domains to prevent email spammers from acquiring their email contact information.
Can I insist that a registrar disconnect a domain if it is used to address a website with illegal or immoral contents?
Generally speaking, the registrar of a domain has no control over the content provided by the owner of that domain. Furthermore, he ISP or hosting company, also has little control over the content and little authority to act against a web site owner.
If you have concerns about the content on a web site you will have to refer to the law in your jurisdiction and possibly also that of the location of the web site provider. If it is deemed to be against the law in some regard, it is normally possible to get some kind of court order to shut the web site down. If it is not deemed to be illegal your only option is to attempt to get enough public pressure brought to bear so that no hosting company will provide Internet access to the web site owner.
It should be noted that this is seldom effective over the long term as web sites are extremely mobile and can be transferred to another location or service provider in a matter of hours.
Can I insist that a registrar 'block' a particular domain so that it can't be registered?
No. If you feel that you own the rights to a domain name due to trademark or other infringement you will have to deal with the issue through the courts. At this point you can usually get control of the web site by threatening to sue, or suing the individual infringing your rights.
Can you provide me with advice if I have a legal problem?
We try hard to provide the support we can to our customers. However, we are not lawyers and do not provide legal services. If you have legal problems you should consult your lawyer.
Why do you insist on particular forms for many of the communications it receives from me? Why does it go so far as to insist on original forms?
We generally insist on forms because we have, in some circumstances, established automated methods for interacting with us. If our automating software receives a form it does not understand and cannot interpret because it is non-conforming then we cannot provide the services that you are looking for.
Am I allowed to use a registrar's domain-query function (whois) on my own website?
Most registrars are happy to have you link to their services as they expect this will bring them additional business over the long term. However, you should always get permission from the registrar, or any web site for that matter, whose services you link to on your web site.
What can I do if I discover illegal contents on a website?
Please report the information to the appropriate legal authority.
Can my service provider help me to find out the source of Spam mails and internet attacks?
Generally speaking they can. Also generally speaking, they won't. However, if you report the abuse the service provider should notify the source administrator, as you should, and you should report the abuse to the appropriate Internet security and abuse organizations.
Finding out exactly who is committing the abuse can be a long tedious process of researching IP addresses using a number of tools. This is not for the faint of heart. I had a firewall that was hacked once and it took me about 100 hours of research to track down the student, at a well known tech university that was assaulting my, and other, servers. It was gratifying to have tracked the individual down, but I doubt anything further happened. My advice is to lock your systems down behind a firewall and don't waste your time trying to bring a miscreant to 'justice'.
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