To know the origin of domain names we must go back to the tender youth of the Internet, when it received the name of ARPANET and was formed by just a handful of interconnected computers.
Before using this domain system, all ARPANET computers were registered in a file called hosts.txt that synchronized on all the computers that were part of the network. That way everyone knew everyone’s addresses.
They soon discovered that this system was inefficient and decided to centralize the file on a single server, a fact that soon after, and as ARPANET was growing, it would not be too successful either as continuous synchronization errors occurred.
Given this situation, engineers Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel proposed to create a domain name system that would be administered by the US Department of Defense.
This system would allow you to associate previously registered domain names with IP addresses of connected computers in a simpler way.
That was the seed of what would later become the Internet and that basically maintains the same concept today.
Following this new organization by domain names, domain extensions were added that would allow cataloging and better structuring the use made of the different domains.
Thus, in 1985 six domain extensions began to be used that are still valid today: .com (commerce), .net (network infrastructure), .org (organizations), .gov (government and public entities), .mil ( US Department of Defense) and .edu (education services).
Anatomy of domain names
Domain names consist of two parts: name and domain extension.
The name is the one that really identifies you to your visitors. This should be easy to remember and relate to your business.
It can be your name, the name of your business, or any name or phrase that can be related to the theme of your website. In the case of this portal, the name would be computerhoy.
If the choice of a domain name for your website is important, its domain extension is not less important since the same domain name can have several different extensions such as Google.com, Google.es, Google.fr, etc. .
On the extension of the domain or top-level Domain, as this part of the domain is technically known, the most administrative part falls since it is the one that determines the correct cataloging and structuring of the Internet.
The extensions must be consistent with the activity of the website or with its geographical location and must be approved by the regulatory body that administers them called ICANN (acronym in English of the Internet Corporation for the Assignment of names and numbers of Domains).
These administrative procedures have to be done by domain name registrars, who are accredited companies before ICANN and represent you to carry out all the procedures so that the domain you have chosen can begin to function.
