Domain Names
Frequently Asked Questions About
Domain Names
1. What is a domain
name?
2. Why do I need a
domain name?
3. What characters
can you use in a domain name and
how long can it be?
4. What is DNS and
how does it work?
5. What is an IP address?
6. What are Top Level
Domains (TLD) And what do they mean?
7. How can I find out
if a domain name is already registered?
8. Do I have to pay
for domain name registration?
A Domain Name is a group of letters,
numbers, and hyphens in the form
"yourownname.com" or "yourownname.net"
where "yourownname" can
be almost anything.
A Domain Name should be relatively
easy to remember. The domain can
be used as the address for your
web site and/or can be used as your
email address.
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All Domain Names are unique. It
is your identity on the World Wide
Web. For businesses and organizations,
a domain name can help brand your
products and services. For individuals
and clubs, a domain can identify
your affiliations, relationships,
or can just be your online personality.
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The valid characters for domain
names are the alphabet, numbers,
and hyphens. Domain names are not
case sensitive, therefore YourOwnName.net
and yourownname.net are NOT different.
A domain name cannot start or end
with a hyphen. Special characters
such as exclamation marks (!), question
marks (?), and underscores (_) are
not allowed and there can be no
spaces in a domain name.
A domain name can be 67 characters
long, which includes the extension.
Therefore, if you are using the
.com/.net/.org extensions, your
desired name can be 63 characters
long.
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DNS stands for Domain Name System
and is the system that the Internet
uses to find the information on
the web. Domain names are registered
with a central organization in each
country and each domain name is
associated with two DNS servers,
a primary server and a backup server.
When someone types in a Domain
Name into a web browser their Internet
Service Provider's (ISPs) DNS computer
looks into its cache for an IP (Internet
Protocol) address associated with
that domain name. If the ISP does
not have an entry cached it sends
a lookup query which returns the
DNS location associated with the
domain name back to the ISP. Once
the ISP's computer finds the IP
address it can access the web site.
IP addresses are typically 12 digit
numbers which identify a computer
on the internet. IP addresses are
like street addresses. They refer
to specific servers and their physical
location on the network. Domain
names are like the names on the
mailboxes, they are associated with
people and with content.
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The Internet Protocol address or
IP Address is a numerical identifier
for a computer (server) attached
to the internet. An IP Address is
four numbers separated with periods
and is typically a 12 digit number.
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The Top Level Domains (sometimes
called Generic Top Level Domains)
are the last two or three letters
in a domain name. Web sites outside
of the United States may have two
letter country codes (for example:
.jp for Japan or .au for Australia).
Top level domain signifiers
.com
.org
.net
.edu - (educational institutions
only)
.gov - (government institutions
only)
.mil - (military use only)
2 letters - Denotes a country/region
of the world
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Using our domain search (at the
top of this page) you can look up
any domain name instantly and find
out if it has been taken in the
.com, .net, and .org domains.
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Yes: In order to reserve a domain
name, a pre-payment of $25(CDN)
per year via credit card is required.
The domain owner is responsible
for paying renewal fees in a timely
manner. If the fees are not paid,
ownership is relinquished and the
domain may be lost.
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