Domain Basics

Domain Names

A domain name is used by DNS servers to route traffic to an IP via DNS queries and domain name resolutions. While this guide is geared towards an internet environment, they’re also often used in intranet environments. A typical internet domain structure looks like subdomain.domain.tld. Functionally, each level domain is its own and they’re organized in a hierarchical manner for use in reverse and forward DNS lookups.

• Subdomain – You have complete control over the subdomains for your domain. They can be used to organize content for your domain and provide an easy to remember name for other services or websites you may offer.

• Domain – A Domain, in the context of the aforementioned example structure, is typically used to identify an organization. In addition to identity, it serves as a landing page for a website and is often used for email purposes. A domain is typically registered and purchased through a Domain Registrar who’ll register the domain name with the company that controls the TLD. The annual costs are typically low.
• TLD – A Top Level Domain serves as the root (top) for which DNS queries are resolved. It also serves as an indication of the purpose for a site. Examples include .com for commercial, .edu for educational and .gov for governmental. They can also be used to specify a locale like .uk or .jp. Some TLD’s are reserved, such as .localhost.

Note: www isn’t a managed domain name and isn’t required for use in your environment. Due to the widespread use as a prefix to a website, it’s standard practice to create a DNS record resolving www subdomain queries.

In the case of this website, the domain is nimble-nimbus.com