What is a Domain Name

What is a domain name?

A domain name is a way to identify and locate computers and resources connected to the Internet. No two organisations can have the same domain name.

Every company or organisation that wants to be on the internet will register a domain name for use as their online identity or name that clients will use to access online services such as the organisation’s website or email system.

For example, WebAlive registered the domain name www.webalive.com.au, so users on the internet can access their website at www.webalive.com.au and send email to WebAlive employees at username@webalive.com.au.

Much like a company’s name, logo, or 800 numbers, a domain name has marketing value when customers can easily remember and associate it with the organisation.

Since over 11 million domain names have already been registered worldwide, it can be difficult to find a good domain name.

We can help you find domain names and will help you through the processes of registering a domain and setting up a website for your business or organisation.

Each domain name corresponds to numeric IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. An IP address takes the form of 4 numbers, each one between 0 and 255, separated by periods. The Internet uses the numeric IP address to send data.

For instance, you may be connecting to a World Wide Web server with the domain name “webalive.com.au”, but as far as the network is concerned, you are connecting to the Web server with the IP address associated with that domain name.

The Domain Name System completes the task of matching domain names to IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. Domain names and their corresponding IP addresses must be unique. If more than one organisation on the Internet had the same domain name, confusion would occur when the network tried to identify and communicate with the computers within those organisations.

For example, if there were two separate universities, one in Melbourne ( Swinburne University of Technology) and one in Sydney (Sydney University of Technology), they cannot both use the domain name “sut.edu.au”, because the Domain Name System would not know which one of the universities’ IP addresses were associated with that domain name.