.LI Domain General FAQ Liechtenstein FAQ - What is a Domain Name?
- Just imagine that when you wanted to telephone someone, you simply had to key in their name rather than a number. That would be very practical, because we can all remember names a lot more easily than numbers. It is precisely this convenience that domain names provide in the internet. Computers that are connected to the internet communicate with one another by means of numerical addresses, called IP addresses, which identify each computer absolutely uniquely. A typical IP address looks like this: 130.59.10.40. The Domain Name System, DNS, makes it possible to use domain names instead of IP addresses. So you can call 101Domain's website, for instance, either by using the IP address of its web server, or the domain name, www.101domain.com. Domain names also have to be absolutely unique, just like IP addresses. In order to guarantee this, the issuing of domain names is handled by a limited number of central bodies.
- What domain names exist? What is the meaning of the endings .ch, .li, .com, etc.?
- * The name space of the Domain Name System, DNS, has a hierarchical structure. At the very top come the so-called Top Level Domains (TLDs). There are two sorts of these. On the one hand, there are the generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), such as com, net, org, which are not assigned to any particular country and, on the other hand, there are numerous Top Level Domains that are specific to individual countries; these are called Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs). They include ch (Switzerland), li (Liechtenstein), de (Germany), fr (France), it (Italy), uk (United Kingdom), and many more.
* The next tier below the Top Level Domains is comprised of the so-called Second Level Domains.
- What's the point in having a domain name of my own?
- Your domain name is your unmistakable identity in the internet. Having your own domain name is not, strictly speaking, a prerequisite for a web presence. It would also be possible for your website to be called by passing through the domain name of your hosting provider. This might then have an address something like: www.myprovider.ch/~myname. This is generally the sort of arrangement offered by free web hosting services. There are three clear disadvantages, however: such addresses are not easy to memorise, they are not very elegant and, worst of all, they are dependent on one provider. As soon as you move to a new provider, the existing address of your website would lose its validity. If you have your own domain name, the address for your web presence will never change, no matter how often you change providers, and it will also have some form of direct relation to you, your organisation or your sector of activity.
- What can I use a domain name for?
- The two most common uses of domain names are for one's own homepage (corporate web presence, web shop, private website and so on) and for e-mail addresses. A domain name can be used to divert a visitor to a website that already exists at a different address. You are not forced to have a website at all and you can use the domain name just for e-mail addresses. It is also possible to forward messages to another e-mail address that already exists. A website might be accessible via several domain names. So you can use several versions of your personal or company name or different product names as domain names, and they will all lead to the same website. It is also feasible for the same name to be registered under several Top Level Domains (for example, ch and com).
You also have the option of registering a domain name without actively using it. You might do that, for instance, if your planned internet presence is not ready yet but you want to secure a particular domain name before anyone else does. Alternatively, you might decide to register a domain name to make sure that a competitor is unable to do so.
- A domain name is shown as registered, but there doesn't seem to be a website to go with it. Why not?
- The most common explanation is that the domain name was registered without any name servers. As a general rule, the name servers are added when the domain name and the website are switched live by the hosting provider. However, even if name servers have been correctly set up for a domain name that does not mean that you will necessarily find a website. It may be that the web server (where the website's files are held) is not yet ready or that the files have not yet been installed on it. It is also possible that the holder does not want to use the domain name for a website, but only for e-mails or FTP. Another feasible explanation is that the name server is not (or no longer) correctly configured.
Source: https://nic.swith.ch/reg/
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