A domain name is really just another way of listing an IP address — the unique numeric code that identifies a particular computer or other device connected to the Internet. When you type www.allbusiness.com into a Web browser, for example, a special domain name system (DNS) server looks up the name and matches it with the appropriate IP address (in this case 209.0.254.7). DNS servers periodically download updated lists of domain name/IP address matches from central databases located at key locations on the Internet.

Domain names make the Internet more usable, since they help people to remember Web sites by memorable names instead of obscure sets of numbers. Each name follows a standard format, including a suffix that indicates the top-level domain to which a name belongs. In addition to six generic top-level domains (.com, .org, .net, .gov, .edu, and .mil), most countries also administer their own top-level domains, such as .ca for Canada and .de for Germany.

Domain names ending in the familiar .com, .org and .net suffixes are getting scarce. In order to keep up with the demand, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) the nonprofit agency that regulates the domain name system has approved new top-level domains. ICANN will almost certainly approve additional top-level domain names in the future. The current list of domain extensions can be found on the ICANN Web site.

For more information on domain names, be sure to read Top-Level Domain Names.