Internet Addressing

In order that the user be able to access a particular piece of information on a specific server or be able to send E-mail to a person, a definite address has to be specified. The addressing protocol uses domains. A domain is a method of identifying a particular group of computers on the internet. The domain name forms part of the Internet address. World Wide Web addresses usually, but not always, begin with www. I will use the website at Fanshawe College in London, www.fanshawec.on.ca, as an example.
Internet Addressing image

Take note that the various components of the address are separated by a dot. If the Fanshawe site were accessed, the address would tell the software that we were looking on the World Wide Web (www), for a machine called fanshawec, in the Ontario domain (on), which is in the top level domain of Canada (ca).

The following list includes many, but not all, of the top level domains.

com
edu
gov
mil
net
org
ca
firm
store
web
arts
rec
info
Commercial
Educational Institution (usually U.S.)
Government
Military organization
Network resource (usually ISP's)
Other organizations (usually charitable and non profit)
Canada
Business
On line stores
Web related organizations
Cultural and entertainment organizations
Recreational organizations
Organizations that provide information

E-mail uses a similar addressing system. My E-mail address is
millerg@claven.fanshawec.on.ca. This indicates that for E-mail, I am identified as millerg. Any E-mail will be sent to me at (@) a machine called craven, which is connected to a machine named fanshawec, which is in the domain of Ontario (on), which is in the top level domain of Canada (ca).

Using this system of addressing, it therefore becomes possible for a user to "guess" at the address of a particular business or organization. For example, if I were wishing to look at the new cars available from GM this year, and I wanted information that was relevant to Canada, I might try www.gm.ca. Or, if I were looking for information on a particular breed of dog and wished to contact the American Kennel Club, I might try www.akc.org.
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