Any web address, like www.misk.com contains a domain name.
Domain names are what Misk.com does - we provide these to people with web sites.
If not for domain names, instead of entering "http://www.misk.com/", you'd have to enter an Internet Protocol Address (IP Address).
An IP Address is like a computer's home address. Misk.com's IP is 64.74.251.255. One of Google's many, many IP addresses is 63.146.123.31.
Why do we use domain names?
Some of the more important reasons we use domains include:
- These numbers are not very user friendly and hard for most people to understand.
- They also don't tell you much about what the service or site is.
- A bunch of numbers is very hard to market.
- The numbers can be easily mistaken.
- One IP Address is one only one path to a site. Large sites need hundreds or thousands of IP addresses.
Domains fix all these problems.
You can brand a web site like you can a car or a can of soup; you can also advertise it more easily.
It can be short and easy to remember. Also, one domain can lead to multiple different IP addresses; so many people can access the same data at the same time.
What happens when we input a domain name?
When you type in a web address, a long series of events happen in mere seconds. All these events bring a web page to you without the fuss of remembering IP addresses. A convenient way of thinking of how this service works is to consider how a road system works.
Let's say your logging onto Misk.com to check on your domains. You'd first go to your address bar and type in http://www.misk.com/. After you press "Enter", the computer begins the process.
- The computer sends the request for misk.com to your Internet Service Provider (or ISP). Each ISP has a Domain Name System server (or DNS). The DNS servers constantly ask other computers where things are, and it supplies the IP of the Host site.
- Once the request has the IP, it goes back to your computer.
- Your computer then connects directly to the Host system. The Host then replies with the requested information. In this case, it's the Misk.com home page.
Looking for more details?
There is a lot more to this process, including how the DNS server keeps track of things. For more information, please consult our Advanced section.