Domains

Like the telephone system, numbers are used to identify various locations throughout the internet. These numbers, or I.P. addresses, are difficult to remember and so a system of Domains is used to give more meaningful names to things like website and e-mail addresses. The domain is the part between the http://www. and the next / of a web address or after the @ in an e-mail.

There are different categories of domain depending on who registers it and where. The standard .com, .net and .org are registered in the U.S. and are associated with commercial ventures, internet services and non-profit organizations, in that order. Other countries have their own specific domain types, e.g. .co.uk in the U.K. and .ie in the Irish Republic.

You don't have to live in a country or even have your website hosted there to register one of their domains.

If you have free webspace, either with your Internet Service Provider or with a company like Tripod then the web address you are given will tend to be fairly unwieldy or in the latter case your webpages are likely to be surrounded by unwanted advertising. Having your own domain name yourcompany.com looks professional and means you can also have a snappier e-mail address like all@yourcompany.com.

Looking through any internet magazine will give you an idea of the prices of registering your chosen name. Many commercial webspace providers will throw in one or more domains as part of the package if they host your site.

If you buy domains separately expect to pay around £30 (for 2 years) for .com, .net etc., less than half that for a .co.uk, .net.uk or .org.uk. For .ie domains you may have to pay well over €130, the only advantage being that it will probably be easier to find the name you want. Browse the links for more information.

Anyone with a credit card can order from the website of a third-party registration company. Make sure prices cover a standard two-year registration period and include web and e-mail forwarding, and that there will be no hidden transfer fees or advertising.

As with all potential purchases, do a bit of research on the net by typing the company name into www.google.com to see if any interesting comments or review articles turn up.

© D-WARD 2000-2006

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