A Closer Look: Definition of Domain

You may have heard the expression, "master of my domain" which means, essentially, in charge of my own land or area. In fact, there was even a famous Seinfled episode which played upon this term to create a slightly off-colored joke. However, despite the popular culture usage, a domain is a term most commonly used in the field of computers. It is defined within the area of computer networking as a set of network addresses. In the broader environment of the Internet, a domain name is a specific network address that can be used to locate a set of web addresses or HTML pages.

There is a hierarchy in the networking of computers. The smallest increment of the network is a single computer. As you move up the organization of the network, a small number of computers that work on common tasks and need to communicate with each other is called a workgroup. Many workgroups within the same company or organization are grouped into a domain. The domain is made up of many computers and workgroups but also can include Domain Name Servers, Mail Servers, Print Servers, Internet World Wide Web Servers and FTP Servers.

Function of a Domain

A domain governs the ability of all the computers within a given organization to communicate with other groups of computers both within and outside of the organization. The domain defines what resources on the network are accessible to a given user and keeps track of login and password information for all users. The security for the network is handled through the domain server.

The domain server oversees remote access connections to the network. Each connection and information about what resources are accessed is logged by the domain server to provide traceability to the security personnel. Due to the large amount of private information and company assets that are stored within the computer systems of organizations, security and accessibility to information are mission critical resources.

Domains on the Internet

The extension of domains to the Internet came about through the Domain Name Servers (DNS). These servers store and update network addresses of all the various websites on the Net. Each website has a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with it.

In Internet jargon, the location of a website is broken down into domains and associated extensions that specify the type of organization or information about the author. The extensions that are commonly seen are .com for commercial, .gov for governmental publishers or users, and .edu for all educational institutions. The military has its own communication network through the use of the extension .mil Each of these extensions are part of the unique name associated with a domain. For example, Microsoft.com is distinct and different from Microsoft.edu. This example doesn’t mean that there is a site such as Microsoft.edu but there could be. The domain name owned by a company becomes part of the company’s assets. The value of a website domain name can be set by how much the company is willing to pay to secure the site name. Website names have now become sellable items.

Ownership of Domains

Domain names are limited and registered by an international organization called ICANN. This organization coordinates the sale of domain names that companies use on the Internet and ensures that no two companies or individuals use the exact same domain name for their content. Similiar to domain names, e-mail addresses are also owned and used to specify a unique user on the Internet. By assigning a user name to a person they are then allowed to send and receive electronic mail from anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes.

Origins of Domain Names

The idea of a domain began in an era where interconnectivity of computers was all that was necessary. It provided the ability to access other users in a network and insured a form of security for the information contained within that network. Access to privileged information was blocked to those without authority.

As the Internet grew into a wonderful place of information and expression, the idea of domain grew with it. A domain now doesn’t necessarily refer only to a small group of computers interacting within a small geographic area, but can mean a company interacting with all its facilities over the entire world.