Domain, DNS, Hosting & Email

Introduction

The aim of this article is to explain what a domain is, how they work and why that is important to you.

When registering a domain often the Domain, DNS (Domain Name Servers), Hosting and Email services are all included in one package; but really they are four separate services.

The quick answer is:

• Domain: registering the exclusive use of a “Name” which can be used globally to reference your organisation.
• DNS (Domain Name Servers): The phone directories of the internet, these tell the rest of the world where to send someone looking for your website or emails.
• Hosting: The physical servers where your website exists
• Email: The physical servers where your emails are stored and your email clients (Outlook, Mac Mail etc.) fetch them from.

What is a Domain?

If you have a website or an email address you are already using a Domain, it is the www.ADRA.org or @ADRA.org part of a URL or Email address.

The Root Domain which is the WHO e.g. ADRA<Country Name> and the WHAT e.g. .org which is the TLD (Top Level Domain). 

The images below give a couple of examples.

Fig 3. jurisdigital.com (1) Figure 4. Jurisdigital.com (1)

Anyone can purchase a domain for a set period of time, so it is more like you rent a domain. You can go to https://godaddy.com or https://easyDNS.com to see what is possible. There are many more; and some countries restrict the companies who can register domains specific to their country and in extreme cases some countries will only allow in person registration.

Fig 1. GoDaddy.com

Fig 2. EasyDNS.com/

Activity

Go to one of those registras and see what options you have when you search for your own surname.

Can I use anything?

There are some standards to help keep things in check; these are mostly suggested, but sometimes enforced. The main restrictions are around the TLD (Top Level Domain), this is what defines WHAT the domain is used for, a few examples are:

• .com would be for international business (Commercial)
• .org would be used for international non-profits
• .org.vu is a non-profit for a specific country (Vanuatu in this example).

There are many variations, and more are added often, then standard would be to ideally use ADRA.org.<country 2 character abbreviation> (ADRA.org.vu) or ADRA<country>.org (ADRAVanuatu.org).

Pros and Cons

There is a strong benefit to use country specific TLD’s (org.vu) as it improves your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and establishes you within a specific country; but there are sometimes concerns that the government controls country specific domains might restrict or remove access to the domains.

What is DNS (Domain Name Server)?

Domain Name Servers (DNS) are like a phonebook, where you can lookup a person and find the phone number and sometimes the physical address where to find that person; but instead of a person you are looking for a Domain, and instead of a phone number or address you get the location where to find the website or email server.

References

1. https://jurisdigital.com/guides/choosing-law-firm-domain/