Different types of domain

names
As mentioned, there is a hierarchy within the domain name registry that distinguishes
domains from one another.

Top-Level Domains (TLD)

In 1985, The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) released six top-level domain
names. These top-level domains (TLD) became known as domain name extensions and
represent the highest level in the Domain Name System hierarchy. They include:

● .com:​ shorthand for commercial, .com was the first top-level domain in common
use. While .com was initially created for use by commercial organizations,
restrictions on this were not stringent. By the mid-1990’s, .com had become the
most popular and commonly used type of top-level domain for businesses,
websites, and email.
● .net:​ shorthand for network, .net was created expressly for institutes that partook
in network technologies such as an internet service provider or an infrastructure
company. Like with .com, the restrictions meant to limit .net to networking
purposes, was never upheld and it became one of the more popular top-level
domains, with many seeing it as a close second to using the .com top level
domain.
● .edu:​ shorthand for education, .edu was made for education institutions. Although
it was intended for universities everywhere, the TLD .edu became associated with
only educational centers in America. Schools from other countries will use .edu in
conjunction with their country-level domain, which we will discuss in the next
section below.
● .org:​ shorthand for organization, .org was created for nonprofits. As we’ve seen
with these other top-level domains, such intentions were often not upheld or
enforced over time. These days, .ors is used as top-level domain by nonprofits,
for-profit businesses, schools, and communities.
● .mil:​ shorthand for military, .mil was created expressly for U.S. military branches.
Unlike the other different types of top-level domains, this restriction is still upheld.
Now, it is quite common for .mil to use second and third-level domains in
conjunction with the .mil TLD.
● .gov:​ shorthand for government, .gov, like .mil, was restricted for American
federal governmental agencies and personnel use only. These days, .gov is used
 by governmental agencies, programs, cities, states, towns, counties, and native
American tribes.

Country code top-level

domains (ccTLD)
In order to distinguish one country from another, especially one that would like to use a
top level domain such as .gov or .mil, two letter domains were established and became
associated with countries or geographical locations; .uk and .au, for example, to
represent England and Australia, respectively. When initially created it was intended for
registration to a corresponding ccTLD to be limited to that countries residents, however,
certain countries have let outside parties register domain names using their country
code.

Internationalized country code

top-level domains (IDN ccTLD)
This was a top-level name with an encoded format that lets non-Latin character sets or
other special characters be used.

Generic top-level domain

(gTLD)
Generic top-level domains function as a category of top-level domains within the DNS.
As of now, there are currently 21 generic top-level domains within the root zone, which is
the highest level of the domain name system structure. While there are over 1,500
gTLDs in use, these 21 make up the vast majority of all types of domain names. They
include four sub-categories:

● Generic (.com, .net, .org, .info), domains that can be used for general purposes.
● Generic restricted (.pro, .biz, .name) domains that can only be used for their
specific purposes.
 ● Sponsored (.edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .aero, .cat, .asia, .mobi, .coop, .travel, .tel, .jobs)
domains that can only be used by businesses involved specifically with that
industry.
● Infrastructure (.arpa) which was one of the original top-level domains used to help
with the DNS infrastructure.

Second-level domains
Within the DNS hierarchy, second-level domains are domains that follow top-level
domains. For example, in Nike.com, Nike is the second-level domain of the ​.com
top-level domain​. Quite often, second-level domains are the name of the business or
vendor that registered the domain name with a registrar. The brand name, company
name, or project name is the identifier for potential customers.

On top of these general second level domains, there are also country code second-level
domains (ccSLD). In such cases, the second-level domain will be found to the right of
the period; for example, in a domain such as nike.co.ca, the country code top-level
domain is .ca and the ccSLD is .co.

Third-level domains
Within the DNS hierarchy, third-level domains naturally follow second-level domains.
They can be found to the left of SLD and are often referred to as the subdomain. Larger
companies will often use third-level domains as identifiers that can distinguish between
various departments. Generally speaking, “www” is the most common third-level domain.
If a company does use multiple third-level domains, those are generally referring to a
specific server within the company.

Registration
There are many different types of domain names out there waiting to be owned. But
before you can do anything with one, you need to know how to register your domain
name. If you have a domain name you want to use or check for availability, you must
first register with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
ICANN assigns and categorizes different types of domain names and ensures that the
process goes smoothly. In order to register a name with ICANN, you must use a domain
name registrar. We at ​Domain.com​ are a registrar’s service that can help you launch a
website or register a domain name.
Once you have selected the right name and made sure that it was available for
purchase, you will need to submit the following information that includes:

● Your contact info; including first and last name, payment info, billing info, physical
address, phone number, and email address.
● Your desired domain name.
● The chosen ​domain name registration​ term.