For those who are new to website hosting and domain names, Streamer Cloud has put together a complete list of common and popular domain name terms and acronyms. It will greatly help those who are new to domain names.

A domain name is a crucial part of streamer branding and streamer channel branding. The domain name a streamer would choose should complement their streaming brand. Before a streamer chooses a domain name it is a good idea to familiarize themselves with the latest domain name terminologies and acronyms. When a streamer is ready to buy their streaming user or channel domain name they can easily purchase it from our Domain Names page. Using our Popular Domain Name Terms list below, streamers can familiarize themselves with these popular domain name terms and become more informed before purchasing their first domain name.

The following is a short list of the most popular domain name terminologies and acronyms:

DNS | Acronym for Domain Name Server

Domain name servers translate human readable alphabetic text domain names into a computer/machine readable numeric IP address. Domain name servers also store important information about a website and its domain name. When a DNS server is contacted, typing in www.example.com in a browser address bar for example, the domain name server’s job is take the letters in example.com and match them to the IP address of the website’s hosting server. Without domain name servers, there would be no way to find the servers of a given domain name.

Example: See example used in domain name below.

Domain name

A domain name is the alphabetic and human readable side to connecting to a website’s hosting server. An example of a domain name would example.com or www.example.com. The idea behind a domain name is it allows humans an easy way to remember how to get to a website, subsequently the website’s hosting server. Without a domain name address, humans would have to remember a numeric IP address (Example: 192.168.1.0) to access a website. By assigning memorable terms or words to an IP address (Example: www.example.com) humans can retain the website’s address much easier.

Example:

If you wanted to get to a Google search you can do so using one of the two following methods:

https://google.com

https://8.8.8.8

Both of scenarios above will get you to a Google search. The https://google.com is the alphabetic domain name way and https://8.8.8.8 is the numeric IP address way. Computers/Servers almost always prefer the IP method and humans almost always prefer the domain name method.

Domain Extension

The domain name extension is what is used after the “.” in a domain name.

Example:

.com, .net, .org, .blog, .info

Domain Registrant

The entity which registers ownership of a given domain name.

Domain Registrar

A domain registrar is the ICANN accredited source that executes and handles the registrations of domain names. A domain name registrar provides information the following:

• Availability of a domain name
• The ability to register a domain name
• The ability to change or update information about a domain name’s ownership
• The ability to sell domains at the retail level

Domain Registry

A domain registry is the main source which holds all information and data related to top level domain names and their ownership. Domain registries allow third party ICANN accredited registrars access to administrative the functions of a domain name.

Registrar Lock

“Register lock” or also known as “Client Transfer Prohibited” is a status that a registrar can assigned to a domain name which prevents ownership of the domain name from being transferred. Locking a domain name prevents it from being transferred. This is done to prevent domain name theft, unauthorized transfers, accidental deletion, accidental transfers or if the domain name has expired.

Domain Forwarding

Domain forwarding is a function which points a given domain name to another IP or website. Domain forwarding changes the URL to the IP or website it is pointed to.

Domain Parking

Domain parking is when a registered domain name that is not in use (for e-mail or a website) and pointed to a web page that is not relevant to the domain name. Instead of having the domain name point to nothing, it is pointed to a name server which typically has ads or advertisements on it.

Domain Transfer

Domain name transfer is when a domain name is transferred to another registrar by a current owner or the domain name ownership is transferred to another entity.

60 Day Lock

The 60 day lock is a requirement of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) when a domain name is initially registered or after a domain name has been transferred. The premise behind the 60 day lock period is to prevent unauthorized transfers of a domain name or domain name theft.

ICANN

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a nonprofit organization created by the U.S. government to maintain the domain name servers and internet protocol (IP) databases to ensure the internets stability. ICANN was also set in place to help develop and expand the internet while keeping it accessible to everyone. ICANN also ensures that the internet will remain and viable source for commercial commerce and exchange.

Country Code Top Level Domain

Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLD) are domain name extensions consisting of two alphabetic characters which depict a country code which the ccTLD is assigned to. ccTLD domain names are region specific and are reserved for businesses and citizens of the assigned country the ccTDL represents.

Example:

.us (United States), .uk (United Kingdom), .jp (Japan)

Generic Top Level Domain

Generic Top Level Domain (gTDL) are the domain names extensions most are familiar with.

Example:

.com, .net, .org, .edu

Subdomains

Subdomain names are normal domain names with a forward-facing extension assigned to them. When a subdomain is created from a domain name that subdomain name acts is if was its own domain name. To create a subdomain name a DNS “A” record or “CNAME/DNAME” record is created within a domain names DNS zone.

Example:

www.example.com, blog.example.com, forums.example.com

IP Address

Internet Protocol (IP) address is the numeric address, separated by periods, that specifies the protocol used to find the path to a computer or server over a public or private network. An IP address can be used in IPv4 (192.168.1.0) or IPv6 (2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334) format.

Website

A website is a configuration of files using a language code. These files are then placed in a root directory on a computer or server and shared publicly or privately over a network.

Example:

Streamercloud.com is an example of a website.

WhoIs Privacy or Domain Name Privacy

WhoIs privacy or domain name privacy is an additional service, either provided or purchased, placed on a domain name that keeps the ownership information of that domain name private and from the public view.