Jamerbay Domains

Domain names help users to find their way around the Internet. Every computer on the Internet has a unique address, just like a telephone number, which is a complicated string of numbers. It's called the IP address (IP stands for Internet Protocol). IP Addresses are hard to remember. Domain names make using the Internet easier by allowing a familiar string of letters (i.e. the domain name) to be used instead of the hard to remember string of numbers that is the IP address. So instead of typing 207.151.159.3, you can type an easy to remember name like www.jamerbay.com.

Domain names can be registered through many different companies that compete with one another. These companies are call registrars (e.g. GoDaddy, Moniker, Dynadot). The registrar you choose will ask you to provide various contact and technical information that makes up the registration. The registrar will then keep records of the contact information and submit the technical information to a central directory known as the “registry.” You will also be required to enter a registration contract with the registrar, which sets forth the terms under which your registration is accepted and will be maintained.

The registry is the authoritative, master database of all registered domain names. There is only one. The registry operator keeps the master database and generates the “zone file” which allows computers to route Internet traffic to and from domain names anywhere in the world. In other words, the registry provides other computers on the Internet the information necessary to send you e-mail or to find your web site. Internet users don’t interact directly with the registry.

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is responsible for managing and coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS) to ensure that every address is unique and that all of us who use the Internet can find all valid Internet addresses. It does this by overseeing the distribution of unique IP (Internet Protocol) addresses and domain names. It also ensures that each domain name maps to the correct IP address.

IDN is short for Internationalized Domain Name. These domain names are represented by local language characters. Such domain names could contain characters with diacritical marks as required by many European languages, or characters from non-Latin scripts (for example, Arabic or Chinese).

TLD stands for Top Level Domain. An Internet address is made up of a series of characters separated by dots. TLDs are the names at the top of the domain naming hierarchy. They appear in domain names as the string of letters following the last rightmost dot. For example, in the website address www.jamerbay.com, the top level domain is .com and the second level domain is jamerbay. In some cases, you can also find third level domain names. Top level is not a term meant to describe the quality of the domain. In other words, .com, .org, .info, .mobi, .gov, .uk, .ca are all examples of TLDs.

ccTLD stands for country code Top Level Domain. These are domains that identify a country or territory. For example, the Internet extension .jp corresponds to Japan, while .eu corresponds to the European Union.

gTLD stands for generic Top Level Domain. These are Internet extensions without ties to a specific geography, such as .com, .net, .org, and .info.