A Domain Name is a unique name that you choose for your web site. All websites are identified only by their names called as domain names (e.g: google.com, hscripts.com).

The domain names have to be registered for having the ownership for that name.
Domain name and ip addresses of web sites are managed by InterNIC.

Syntax: name.extension
domain names are of the syntax - name followed by a dot(.) followed by the extension.
e.g: hioxindia.com

Choosing an appropriate domain name for your web site is one of the first and most critical decisions you'll have to make on the road to Internet success.

What Makes A Great Domain Name?

Is it punchy, sticks in the mind, is short and fits your product/service? Does it begin with a letter closer to the beginning of the alphabet, instead of towards the end? If so, and it's not taken, you may have a winner!

However, with more than 60,000 new domain names being registered each month, many of the short, memorable, two-word names have already been snapped up. But don't despair: there are other ways to win at the domain game.

Expired or 'On-Hold' Domain Names

The Domain Name System is the system used on the Internet for the mapping of names, such as www.google.com, to IP Addresses such as 216.239.51.99. Every time a new domain, like bleepingcomputer.com, is registered, that domain is entered into one of the 13 Root Servers spread throughout the world and overseen by an organization called ICANN. Because your domain is in one of these servers, it can be reached and understood by the rest of the users on the Internet.

Another key element of the Domain Name System are DNS Servers run by Companies and Internet Service Providers. Every time you connect to a site, you are asking your ISP's DNS Server to resolve, or convert, the hostname such as www.google.com to a an ip address such as 216.239.51.99. If your ISP's name server is not working or can not be reached, then you will not be able to traverse the Internet using hostnames, but instead would have to use their IP Address equivalent.

Any time you connect to a site, your ISP DNS Server must find out what name server has the information about the domain for the site you are trying to reach. Your ISP's DNS Server will connect to a Root Server and ask it who the name server is that knows the information about the site you are trying to reach. The Root Server will tell your ISP's DNS Server what server they should next contact for information. Next your ISP's DNS Server will then contact the server that the Root Server told it to contact, where it will be given the IP Address associated with the site you are trying to reach.

On the World Wide Web your domain name is your own unique identity. No two parties can ever hold the same domain name simultaneously; therefore your Internet identity is totally unique. If you have a business site on the Internet your domain name is your own online brand and in a sense you can use your domain name as your online business card.