An Overview of Domain Names
There are lots of quality articles online that explain exactly what a domain name is in very precise technical terms. However the purpose of this article is to give you a quick and basic understanding of domain name technology should you be looking to get a new web site up and running.
A Simple Definition
From the point of view of someone wanting to put a web site up on the internet, you can think of a domain name as a label given to the area on the internet that is personal to you or your company. This area is where your web site will be located, and where any email sent to your domain, will be delivered.
Ultimately this means that a domain name is a way of labelling a computer or a group of related computers on the internet. Computers recognise each other by their own unique numbers (or IP addresses).
Domain Name Servers (DNS) use unique names so that people can find their way around the internet. People are much better at remembering names than remembering numbers. You can therefore tell people that your new web site can be found at say, www.my-brand-new-website.com rather than asking them to remember a long series of numbers like 83.138.134.141 (IP address).
Buying a Domain Name
Buying a domain name means you also register the domain name. This means your domain name is entered into a big list of all domain names alongside your contact details. When you buy, you are buying the right to use the domain name for a pre-defined period of time. Once that period expires, the domain name will no longer be available to you unless you extend the period by purchasing the same domain name again.
Individuals and companies that have domain names for years are constantly having to re-new them as the period of ownership runs out.
You cannot buy a domain name that is already registered to someone else. If the domain name you want is already registered to another person or company, there are only three options open to you :
- You can approach the owner of the domain and offer to buy it from them (it may not be for sale, and if it is it might be very expensive, and the process of domain name transfer is not always straightforward)
- You can wait until the domain name expires and hope that the owner does not renew (but you could be waiting forever)
- You can think of a new name (this is the best and easiest option)
Sometimes you will think of a domain name, and them when you try to buy it you’ll find it is already owned by someone else who isn’t using it. Many people just buy domain names in the hope that one day they’ll be able to sell, or they buy them thinking one day they’ll put up a site, and they never get around to doing it. It’s annoying when this happens, but unless you want to enter into negotiations with the owner, it’s easier to simply think of another name.
When you first purchase a domain name, you’ll have to decide the time period you want to own it. This can be anything from 1 year to as much as 10 years. If you choose to only buy access to it for one year and you need it after this time, you will have to buy it again at the end of the year.
What Happens When a Domain Name Expires?
Before your domain name expires, as the registered owner, you will sent emails warning you that this is the case and giving you plenty of early opportunity to extend it. Even if you miss this deadline, there is a period of around four weeks during which only the previous owner can re-purchase the domain name. This period of limbo prevents someone who might want your domain name from purchasing it before you have had a chance to do anything about it.
If a domain name does actually expire the web site that you have associated with it will simply disappear. But even if this happens to you there is a grace period as already mentioned which will provide you time in which to get the domain bought and re-registered to you. Once this is done, your web site will re-appear.
Extra Resources
An in-depth discussion of how Domain Names Servers work
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