Domain Name Registration and Hosting

Skills Covered
IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)
Domain Names
DNS (Domain Name System)
VeriSign
Hosting Deals

Would you like your very own domain name? It's easy to do, but it is going to cost you some money. I can't require you to do this, but you should read on anyway.... even if you don't acquire your own domain name, you need to know the basics of how this all works!

IP Address
Say the fine folks at Microsoft wanted you to check them out on the web, so they run a T.V commercial directing you to their IP address: 207.46.250.119

Whoa! Better get a pen and write that down! How many people are going to visit the Microsoft website with a system like that? Maybe four? But that's how it works. IP stands for Internet Protocol and it represents the unique number that ALL computers must have in order to communicate with each other over the internet. The computer that holds the Microsoft web presence has the unique IP Address: 207.46.250.119

Domain Names
You can also get to the microsoft website via their domain name: microsoft.com That's MUCH easier to remember than 207.46.250.119 and it get's you connected to the SAME computer... but how?

The Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) does many things, but the most important task for the DNS is to translate domain names to IP addresses. So, when you type in microsoft.com, your web browser resolves that domain name to the IP Address: 207.46.250.119 and you are connected to the computer. Thank goodness for DNS! By the way, if you want to look up the IP address for just about any web site, you can use this tool.

Of course, it's much more complicated than all that. But you should have a basic idea of the theory behind all this stuff.