.COM: Short for .commercial. Domain names with
the .com extension are by far the most popular,
and can be purchased by any individual or business.
.
.NET:
Short for .network, this domain extension was
originally designed to be used by technical Web
sites. However, domains using this extension can
be registered by anyone.
.ORG:
Short for .organization. Originally designated
for non-profit firms and any other organizations
that did not fit under the .com or .net extension,
any individual or business may now register a
.org domain name.
.AERO:
The TLD designated for the air transport industry.
Available only to aviation community members,
this domain suffix is now live and fully functional.
You can find more information on this TLD here:
http://www.nic.aero.
.BIZ:
The .biz TLD is a designated suffix for businesses.
Domains using the .biz extension must be used
for business or commercial use. This suffix is
fully active.
http://www.neulevel.biz has more information
on the .biz suffix.
.COOP:
This TLD is available to cooperatives, cooperative
service organizations and wholly owned subsidiaries
of cooperatives. You can find more information
on the .coop suffix here:
http://www.nic.coop.
.INFO:
The first unrestricted top-level domain since
.com, .info domains are available to the general
public. You can find more information here:
http://www.nic.info/gateway.
.MUSEUM:
This TLD is available only to museums, museum
organizations and individual members of the museum
profession. More information on the .museum TLD
is available at
http://musedoma.museum.
.NAME:
Available to the general public, .name email addresses
are listed as firstname@lastname.name or lastname@firstname.name,
while Web sites are listed as www.firstname.lastname.name.
More information on the .name TLD is available
here: http://www.nic.name.
.PRO:
The .pro suffix was created for certified professionals
including lawyers, doctors and accountants. RegistryPro,
the organization in charge of administering .pro
domains, has initiated steps to set up the new
registry, and anticipates taking registrations
in late 2002. More information is available at
http://www.registrypro.com.
Bandwidth: The amount of data that can be transmitted
at a given moment to a server. The higher your bandwidth,
the larger amount of traffic your site can handle
at one time.
CGI:
Short for Common Gateway Interface, a small script
that processes data taken from the user (such
as from a form application).
Cgi-bin:
The directory on a Web server where CGI scripts
are stored.
Domain servers:
This contains the DNS (Domain Name System) information
for a domain, and is usually listed in WHOIS records.
There are usually two lines of DNS information.
The first is typically a sites primary DNS information,
while the second contains secondary/back-up information.
DNS:
Short for Domain Name System which is used to
translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet
Protocol, addresses) into words.
Domain names:
The word sequences users enter in their URL bar
to visit your site.
Escrow:
A third party service that will essentially hold
on to the buyers payment when selling a domain
name, thereby protecting both the buyer and seller.
HTTP:
Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol
by which HTML files move across the Internet.
HTTP requires a client browser and an HTTP server
(typically a Web server).
ICANN:
Stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers, which is a not for profit organization
that handles IP address space allocation and most
other regulatory tasks associated with domain
names.
IP Address:
The numeric address behind a domain name that
holds a website's real location on the Web.
Domain Name Parking:
All domain names have to be stored on a server
in order to be purchased. Most domain registration
services will therefore temporarily place a newly
purchased name on their servers until a hosting
plan is purchased or the owner points the DNS
to a different site. This is known as parking.
Propagation:
The process where name servers throughout the
Internet add new domains and remove expired ones
from their records. This can be a lengthy process,
which is why connecting to a new domain name can
often take three or four days.
Reseller:
A company/person that sells domain names through
registry services provided by an ICANN approved
registrar.
SSL: Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol
developed by Netscape to handle and protect confidential/sensitive
information required for e-commerce transactions
(like credit card numbers). SSL address usually
begin with 'https'.
Subdomain:
Typically known as a "domain within a domain",
subdomains are individual Web addresses built
upon a pre-existing domain name (such as clientname.yourhostingcompany.com).
As a reseller, you will have the option of assigning
subdomains to clients if they do not choose to
have a domain name.
TLD:
Short for Top Level Domain, the suffix to a domain
name. TLDs include .com, .net, .org and country
codes such as .ca.
WHOIS:
A central database which tracks all domain name/IP
registrations. Each domain name registrar typically
maintains its own version of a WHOIS database.