how to domain names work

[Byan]

how the heck do domain names work, I mean, if I wanted a domain name, and I had a static IP and a server.., can I just claim a domain name?

how does that work?

[HAN]

All you have to do is buy it from a registrar. Verisign is a reputable site where you can get .com, .net, .cc and .tv http://www.verisign.com/products-ser...ces/index.html
When you search for a name, Verisign will verify that your name is unique.

Once you have the name paid for, the setup info asks for your primary (and secondary if there is one) DNS server IP address. Then give it around 24 to 48 hours to populate to the web and you're in business...

[SuperSparks]

Well you have to have a name that isn't already taken - I doubt you'd get far trying to claim www.microsoft.com But, yes, other than that you just think up a name and register it. It only costs a few dollars a year. But you do need to remember to renew it, or you can los it.

Here's an article on how to set up your own web site:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question222.htm

[Byan]

Domain names within the ".com" domain are managed by the registrar called VeriSign. VeriSign also manages ".net" domain names.

so then Verisign actually owns the domain names then?, I mean, I don't understand why I would have to pay for it, I mean.., what gives them the right to do something like that?

also, it seems they in charge of the .com, .cc, ect.
what if I wanted something else, like, uhh..
myname.crus (http://www.fourteenminutes.com/fun/words/)
if no one is in charge of .crus's, what is stopping me from being in charge of them myself or something like that..?

[HAN]

Not sure I can give you all the answers...but I'll do the best I can.

The web is organized so that things have a common way of working together. Basic standards of how to navigate from a web site URL in Russia to a URL site in Sweden are the same standards used to go from Los Angeles to New York. To facilitate this process, and make the web easier to find/use by using word-based URLs (instead of all numbers) a working group known as ICANN http://www.icann.org/ was established. To give the addresses some structure, ICANN approved the domain extension names and also approved of who could administer them. (FWIW, there are other domain extensions than those controlled by ICANN, .tv for example. I don't know who controls it BTW.) The example I used was Verisign. Verisign is not the only registrar out there but they are a well established, reputable company. (This is not to say ANY of the others listed in the ICANN list are not reputable. http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html )

ICANN controls the extensions listed in the above link, they accredit registrars and the accredited registrars equate domain names to IP addresses for the registered (paid) domain users.

Now, once you purchase a domain, do you own it permanently? It's my understanding that the answer is no. You only purchase the rights to use it granted to you by ICANN and the registrar. And if it's deemed misused, your rights to that domain can be terminated. So while I do see the word purchase quite a bit, you are actually renting/leasing it.

Can you use .crus? I have no idea if it is (or may be) an approved extension. But if it's not, no, you cannot just create your own. No DNS server would be able to resolve (equate) it to any address.

Hope this helps a bit!

[Tuttle]

To expand a bit on HAN's stuff, DNS is basically a tree. At the top, you have a root domain that doesn't actually have anything, but provides a starting point. At the next level down you have the "top level domains", including the generic (gTLD) ones (.com, .net, .org, .int, .mil, .info, .biz etc) and the country code (ccTLD) ones (.au, .nz, .uk, .us, .tv, .to, .cc etc). Under those you have second level domains (.example.com, .net.au etc), under those there are third level domains etc.

There is no box anywhere on the Internet which knows all the names -- each DNS server only knows about the part it's authoritative for. Looking up a full name therefore means getting info from a whole bunch of servers, starting (funnily enough) at the root.

The top of the DNS tree exists on a whole bunch of servers around the world which are presented to the Internet as 13 IP addresses -- ping A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET through M.ROOT-SERVERS.NET and you'll see what they are. Those servers only know about the TLDs, so they know that .com is handled by one set of servers and .au is handled by another. Then the servers which handle .com know about the second level domains under that (like example.com), but only enough to direct a query to the DNS servers that handle *.example.com.

So in order to get a domain name working on the Internet, you need to get it into one of those servers, and that's where the money/politics comes in. The top level domains are assigned by ICANN, and come about after a rather long process. You won't get .crus anytime soon.

Below that, however, each domain has an administrator (registry operator) which is responsible for setting policies about who can have domains under that domain, and for managing the DNS servers for that domain. Some registries do it themselves, others (like Verisign, who manage .com) only deal directly with registrars (like GoDaddy, or the separate registrar part of Verisign), and make end users deal with registrars instead. Some domains like .com and .net are really open, others have specific requirements (.mil is only available to the US military, .ca requires some sort of Canadian presence etc).

The upshot of all that is that in order to get a domain of the form yourstuff.theirstuff, you need to find out who the registry operator for theirstuff is, and do what they ask. That normally includes filling out forms and handing over money.

Hopefully that explains things a bit. If it rambles and gets confusing somewhere then let me know. Side note: Verisign is rather expensive if you want a domain in a gTLD. Shop around and go with someone else instead.

[hongman]

Great Thread

[Byan]

ok, I think I understand..

so really, if I wanted to do what I want to do and just have my own DNS server that would work correctly.., I would have to break away from ICANN.., in which case everyone would have to connect to a root DNS server on my network, which isn't going to happen...

would be quite interesting to try to implement though, I might have to try to do something like this later on.., just to see if I can do it..

thanx again,
Byan

[SuperSparks]

Trying to go outside ICANN has been done before, with very limited success:

http://www.new.net/

[Tuttle]

Believe it or not, new.net still works entirely within the ICANN framework. When new.net lets you hand over good money for my.shop, you're actually getting my.shop.new.net. Their stealthily-bundled system-hijacking miserable excuse for a plugin (can you tell I'm not a fan? ) just configures your machine to automatically try a DNS lookup on stuff.new.net if a lookup on stuff fails. You can accomplish exactly the same thing with a quick config change in Windows and no unstable plugin, but I digress...

[EARLE]

i was able to get my own name [earle] with
http://www.namezero.com
earle at earlea dot com
http://www.earlea.com
$19.95 a year
250 aliases
you can create 250 redirect address for family friends.
familymember@yourdomain.???
say you have joe who has an aol account and he would like to sport your new domain as an address.
you can have [email protected] e-mail redirected thriough namezero through your domain name.
you open the alias box,type in joe's aol address and give him [email protected]
as a new address.
now,all e-mail addressed to [email protected],will actually be sent to [email protected]'s inbox.
neat little net magick,lol.

[Byan]

yeah, well, if I go and do this, then I will be running everything off of my own server.., there will be no need to have mail forwarding.., cause I will have my own email server...

I need to get broadband first though.., and I doubt that I will be getting a static IP anyway.., so I will probably end up using something like no-ip.com