Domain Names Explained

All computers on the internet have an address that is used to locate and communicate with that computer. This address is called an IP address and looks like 192.168.1.1. These addresses work great for computers but aren't very easy for us humans to remember and use. Domain names, like findfreewebhosting.com, are a way for us to associate a name with an IP address. When you enter a domain name into your web browser it gets translated into the IP address associated with that domain and your request is sent to that address. This translation is done through the Domain Name System (DNS) which consists of a collection of Name Servers across the internet that keep a database of domain names and their matching IP addresses. Your browser asks these servers for the matching IP address of the website that it is trying to go to and uses that address to find the page you requested.

If you want your own domain name for your website then you need to register that domain with a registrar and tell the Name Server of your domain which IP address it goes to. This IP address will be given to you by your hosting company and the Name Server is usually handled by the company you register the domain with. Many webhosting providers will register and point the domain name for you, but you need to be carefull. You want to make sure that you can easily move it to a different IP address incase you are unsatisfied with your hosting provider and want to switch. You also want to make sure you own the domain name and not the hosting company or the registrar. The best way to ensure this is to register and manage it yourself, but this requires you to learn a little bit about how the DNS system works. The first step is to learn how to register your domain name