DOMAIN NAMES

Even if you have never hosted a web site before, you have undoubtedly used domain
names. Every time you use a web browser to visit a web site by name, such as
a2hosting.com, you are using domain names.

Domain names are organized hierarchically from right to left. The right-most
portion of a domain name is called the top-level domain (TLD). The .com TLD is
probably the most well known, but there are many others, such as .net, .org, .edu,
and .mil. (Country codes, such as .us and .fr, are also TLDs.) When you register a
domain name, you can choose which TLD to use (though some TLD's, such as .edu
and .gov, are restricted to certain types of organizations).

The next domain name level after the TLD is called the second-level domain. This is
the part of the domain name that you define. For example, a2hosting is the second-
level domain in a2hosting.com. When you purchase a domain name, this is the portion
that you “own”, as well as any subdomains beneath it. A domain name always contains
a TLD and a second-level domain.

As you may have guessed, a subdomain is a third-level domain. The www subdomain is
probably the most well known, but you can name subdomains anything you want.
Subdomains are sometimes used to subdivide web site functionality. For example, you
could have an English version of your web site at en.example.com, and a French
version at fr.example.com.