How to read a Web Address
Every Web Address always contains two or more components separated by periods, called
"dots" (for example, the Web Address worldtenders.com is actually pronounced
"worldtenders dot com"). The best way to understand the structure of Web Address
is to look at their components from right to left:
The last part of a Web Address (the letters at the far right) is called the
"top-level domain." In the case of networksolutions.com, the top-level domain is
.com. The following is a list of top-level domains and the organizations they signify.
| .COM |
Designed for commercial entities. .com
rapidly became the top-level domain for business. Today, anyone can register a Web Address
in the .com domain. |
| .NET |
Designed for organizations directly involved
in Internet operations, such as network providers and network operation centers.
Today, anyone can register in the .net domain. |
| .ORG |
Designed for miscellaneous organizations,
including non-profit groups. Today, anyone can register in the .org domain. |
| .EDU |
Four-year, accredited colleges and
universities |
| .GOV |
US Federal Government entities |
| .MIL |
US military |
Country Codes
Other top-level domains include those for countries (IN for India, UK
for the United Kingdom, HK for Hong Kong, etc.), which are based on the
International Standards Organization's 3166 standard for country
abbreviations.
To the left of the top-level domain is what is called the "second-level
domain." In worldinfopages.com, "worldinfopages"
represents a
second-level domain within the top-level domain of .com. Using
whitehouse.gov as another example, "whitehouse" is the second-level
domain within the .gov top-level domain.
It is possible to have sub-domains. Sub-domains would appear to the left
of the second-level domain. For example, a company using the Web Address
worldinfopages.com might create a sub-domain called ecommerce.worldinfopages.com to
represent the ecommerce division of their company.
These various levels mean that the Domain Name System is hierarchical.
In fact, it is often compared to an inverted tree, with the root ("dot")
at the top, branches (the top-level domains) stemming from the root, and
the second-level domains beneath each branch representing "nodes" on the
branches.
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