1. Introduction: The Internet
protocol number is the numeric location of a particular computer so that it is
an identifiable machine to all the other computers connected to the Internet.
The IP address is a 32 bit number divided into four octets and these octets are
written in dotted decimal format eg. 11.245.196.212. Each octets numbers lie in
between o and 255.
The
Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical distributed naming system for
computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private
network. DNS is an essential component of the functionality of the Internet. A
domain name for the website is a must. Domain name is alphabetical form or easy
to remember form of an IP address that is assigned to you in the form of a
website with some Top Level Domain (TLD). DNS translates the numerical IP
addresses like 68.73.129.32 to easily memorized domain names like lislinks.com needed for the
purpose of locating computer services and devices worldwide. Domain Name Server (DNS) is the host. If it will not
host and resolve the DNS, it will display an error like DNS address not found.
If the domain you would like to purchase doesn’t have much demand, then the
annual price of a domain name will comes in between Rs.300 to Rs.1000.
It may be noted that people who design
and develop their website by using Blogger (http://www.blogger.com), Google
Sites (http://sites.google.com) and such other platform, a free sub-domain is
provided by the company but this usually
isn’t ideal for businesses and should probably be avoided and to host it
in a custom domain, the developer need to purchase it from them or from any
other company.
2. Criteria for Choosing a Domain Name: In choosing the DNS, the following points should be
considered
a) Represent your Website: DNS should represent the website;
b) Short Name is Better: DNS should be as short as far as possible;
c) Mnemonic Value: DNS should have a memorable or mnemonic value.
d) Globally available
Domain: Look for a domain name that is
available across all social media channels, so that you can pick up that name
everywhere and use it for branding.
e) Top Level Domains: The top level domain should represent the goal and
objective of the organization. There are also lots of other TLD and you have to
choose the right one that reflects your website’s mission and vision. The age of the web
site’s domain name (i.e. the date at which each domain was registered)
sometimes influences the rank of a website. The older domain names will rank
more highly than newer domain names for the same content. So if possible, older
domain name should be chosen than that of the new or emerging ones.
3. Types of Domain Names: Domain
names are organized in subordinate levels subdomains of the DNS root domain,
which is nameless. The first-level set of domain names are the Top-Level
Domains (TLDs). A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at
the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. It indicates the
purpose of the institute / organization associated with the website. The
TLD includes the generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as .com, .info, .net,
.edu, and .org, and the country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), such as .in,
.au, etc. Below the top-level domains in the domain name hierarchy are the
Second-Level Domain (SLD) names. These are the names directly to the left of
.com, .net, and other top-level domains. As an example, in the domain gauhati.ac.in,
ac is the second-level domain. The third level domains are written immediately
to the left of a second-level domain. There can be fourth- and fifth-level
domains, and so on, with virtually no limitation.
a) generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD): generic Top-Level Domains uses three or more
characters and can be registered by anyone. The .com Top Level
Domains (TLD) intended for use by for-profit business entities, .org intended
for use by non-profit organizations.
For
example
.com: Commercial entities;
.net: Network resource providers;
.org: Nonprofit organization.
b) country-code Top-Level Domains
(ccTLD): Two-letter domains established for countries or
territories. With some historical exceptions, the code for any territory is the
same as its two-letter ISO 3166 code. Outside the United States a code
is included to which country a URL belongs. Though United States also have a
domain code (US) yet in reality it is used in rare instances on the Internet.
It is assumed that if there is no geographic code then the domain is located
within the United States. Sometimes, to register a
ccTLD, you have to be a resident or a business owner in that particular county.
For example:
.au: Australia;
.ca: Canada;
.in: India;
.va: Vatican, etc.
c) sponsored Top-Level Domain (sTLD): A sponsored
TLD is a specialized top-level domain that has a sponsor representing a
specific community served by the domain. The communities involved are based on
ethnic, geographical, professional, technical or other theme concepts proposed
by private agencies or organizations that establish and enforce rules
restricting the eligibility of registrants to use the TLD.
For example
.asia: Companies, organisations and individuals in the Asia-Pacific region
sponsored by DotAsia Organisation
.edu: Post-secondary institutions accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education and are sponsored by EDUCAUSE.
.gov: United States Government and are sponsored by General Services
Administration.
The
subdomain is a part of a higher ranked domain name in the DNS hierarchy.
Example of a subdomain is circular.lislinks.com. Some popular web services like
Blogger and others offer subdomain registration.
4. Domain Registrars: A domain name can be an extremely valuable asset and having the right
domain registrar is very much important. The
registration of the domain names is usually administered by domain name
registrars who sell their services to the public. You should register
your website’s domain name through an Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (ICANN) accredited registrar. There are hundreds of different
registrars out there all vying for your business and each one offer a different
set of services and perks, so finding a package that suits your needs can
sometimes be a time-consuming endeavor.
According
to Webhosting.info (https://webhosting.info/domain-registrar-statistics/),
GoDaddy (http://www.godaddy.com), Network Solutions (https://www.networksolutions.com),
Tucows Domains Inc. (http://www.tucowsdomains.com) and eNom
(http://www.enom.com) and are the top most popular domain name registrar
companies of the World. Google
Domains (https://domains.google) is a new addition to the existing competitive
market in the segment. So whenever you think
of purchasing a domain it is better to go with them to get the best possible
service.
a) Google Domains
(https://domains.google): Google Domains is an internet domain name
registration service offered by Google. Google Domains offers domain
registration including private domain registration, DNS hosting, DNSSEC,
Dynamic DNS, domain forwarding, and email forwarding. It also offers one-click
DNS configuration that connects the domains with Blogger, Google Sites,
Squarespace, Wix.com, Weebly and Shopify. The service is accredited by ICANN.
b) GoDaddy (https://in.godaddy.com/): GoDaddy Inc. is a publicly traded Internet domain
registrar and web hosting company founded in 1997 by Baltimore, Maryland
entrepreneur Bob Parsons. Besides Domain, GoDaddy also sells Website Builder,
Web Security, Online Marketing, Email and Microsoft Office.
c) Network Solutions, LLC
(https://www.networksolutions.com): Network Solutions, LLC
is an American-based technology company. In addition to being a domain
name registrar, Network Solutions provides web services such as web hosting,
website design and online marketing, including search engine optimization and
pay per click management.
d) Tucows Domains Inc. (http://www.tucowsdomains.com): Tucows Domains Inc. is a publicly traded Internet
services and telecommunications company, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, and incorporated in Pennsylvania, United States. Besides acting as a
domain registrar company, it continues to host its namesake directory of
shareware and freeware software downloads.
e) eNom (http://www.enom.com): Enom, Inc. is a domain name registrar and Web hosting
company that also sells other products closely tied to domain names, such as
SSL certificates, e-mail services, and Website building software. Enom was
founded in 1997 in Kirkland, Washington operating as a wholesale business,
allowing resellers to sell domains and other services under their own branding.
5. Criteria for Selecting a Domain Registrar: Kindly remember that buying and hosting a domain is not a tough job but to
choose the right domain registrar and right web hosting provider at right cost
is the toughest one. The domain register can be
evaluated based on the following points-
a) Convenient of Payment: Does
the domain register provide a payment option which is convenient to you?
b) Renewal Fees: What
will be subsequent domain renewal fees per year? Is the price justifiable?
c) Fees for Premium Services:
Kindly check out the premium whois privacy services in the name of “privacy services”, “whois masking”, “private registration” and so on.
d) Webhosting Services: Many people choose to purchase
their domain names form the same hosting provider that hosts their website. In
fact, hosting providers often provide a discount to users who do and it should
prefer to manage the domain easily.
e) Transfer-Out Fees: In
selecting a domain registrar kindly check their “transfer-out” fees - the fees
that need to be paid in the event of transferring your domain to other
registrar.
f) Other Value Added Services: Does the domain register provide Email hosting, SSL
certification and such others that may be needed for your website in future.
6. DNS Settings: Following
are the mostly used components of a DNS Settings
a) A Record: a means address. This means that a request from
the browser to the domain will be directed to which IP address of the server.
The A record maps a name to one or more IP addresses.
b) CNAME: CNAME stands for Canonical Name. CNAME records can
be used to alias one name to another. For example, if you have a server where
you keep all of your documents online, it might normally be accessed through
article.lislinks.com. You may also want to access it through
newsletter.lislinks.com. One way to make this possible is to add a CNAME record
that points newsletter.lislinks.com to article.lislinks.com.
c) ALIAS: An ALIAS record is a virtual record type that is
created to provide CNAME-like behavior on apex domains. An alias is a synonym
for the host. For example, if your domain is circular.com and you want it to
point to a host name like circular.lislinks.com
d) MX: MX stands for Mail eXchange. MX Records tell email delivery agents where
they should deliver your email.
7. Conclusion: If you
ready to pay then you can choose any name for your web address, provided that
address is not pick up by anyone else. One can check to see if a particular
name is already pick up by someone or not at any domain name registrar
companies like Google Domains, GoDaddy and so on. Ones the developer finds a
name that is not already taken, he / she should register it as soon as possible.
Now-a-days, you can pay the fees of a domain with lots of options like Internet
Banking, Debit Card, Credit Card, PayPal and so on.
How to Cite this
Article?
APA Citation, 7th Ed.: Barman, B. (2020). A comprehensive book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications.
Chicago 16th Ed.: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. Guwahati:
New Publications, 2020.
MLA Citation 8th Ed: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications, 2020.
Badan Barman
at present working as an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Library and Information Science,
Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014,
Assam, India. He is the creator of the LIS Links (http://www.lislinks.com) - India’s most popular social networking
website for Library
and Information Science professionals. He also created the UGC NET Guide (http://www.netugc.com) and LIS Study (http://www.lisstudy.com) website.
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