How do internet domains work? Who are you paying?
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The Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) works like a phonebook. Its most common use is when you want to use an online service, it converts its human-readable names (like “example.com”) to IP addresses (like “93.184.216.34”), which your computer can then connect to in order to talk. Your computer automatically reaches out to a DNS server (called a “resolver”) tasked with navigating this phonebook to find this information. DNS has other uses as well, like finding the email servers a domain uses.
This phonebook is a massive database, it not owned and operated by just one group, but all kinds of different people. There’s 3 main common levels:
– The “root servers”, which is where all name lookups start. These servers are run by Verisign, USC-ISI, Cogent, UMD, NASA, Internet Systems Consortium, US Dept of Defense, ARL, Netnod, RIPE NCC, ICANN and WIDE. The root knows who runs each of the top level domains.
– The “top level domain registries”, which include com/net/org/us/edu/dev/io and so forth know where to find records for domain names, like “example.com”. The top level domain registries knows who to contact to provide records for the domains.
– The “authoritative servers”, which actually host the domain names themselves. These servers are typically run by your hosting company, but anyone can run an authoritative server.
The registries don’t usually directly deal with the public. They have a lot of work already in the big picture in maintaining the fleets of servers and their part of this massive database, their part possibly containing millions to maybe billions of records. So they allow allow web hosting companies and other companies to become “registrars” who are responsible for following and maintaining the individual records.
Now, when you pay for a domain name, what you are actually paying for is to have your registrar add and maintain records into the top level domain registry so that your name can be reserved, get connected to your authoritative servers and actually start working.
Part of this fee also goes to the registry, so they can maintain things on the bigger picture, and another part of the fee goes to maintain the root servers on the even bigger picture, so everyone’s names work.
While are so many different groups, ICANN, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers provides coordination between everyone for ensuring everything works.
Edit: Correcting some grammar.
How much would buying a top level domain require? By buying it it means I would have to maintain it? Why would someone even think of buying a .potato or a .elonsucks domain anyway? Is there any benefit to buying a top level domain?
What a huge scam this is. You do not buy a domain, you rent it for a period of time. They sell it cheap the first time and then jack up the renewal rate for no reason, just because….
If you come up with a great name but you don’t buy it, it’ll be triple the price 3 days later. Just a big ponzi. I bought and sold domains for a few years.
Fun fact: Over 270 of the newer top level domains are all sold by the same company. Formerley “donuts domains”, they’re now called “Identity Digital” and have a near monopoly on anything that isn’t a regular .net/.com/.org/.co.uk/etc. Obviously another huge win for the free market /s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donuts_(company)
As a web dev and general techie, I understand why we have the TLD system we have. As a person who hates the direction most of the internet has taken in the past fifteen years or so, it feels counter to the founding philosophy of the internet and open source that a few giant corps control this fundamental element of the internet. I want to be able to create my own domain, that isn’t already being used, and own it. The fact that I have to pay an internet mafia for the privilege of using a domain I created that no one else has yet feels wrong.
I assume Onion sites operate more in line with original internet philosophy but no one can remember an onion address. I don’t know what kind of new invention in this space would give power back to creators and developers but I’m all for it if someone figures something out.
As a web dev and general techie, I understand why we have the TLD system we have. As a person who hates the direction most of the internet has taken in the past fifteen years or so, it feels counter to the founding philosophy of the internet and open source that a few giant corps control this fundamental element of the internet. I want to be able to create my own domain, that isn’t already being used, and own it. The fact that I have to pay an internet mafia for the privilege of using a domain I created that no one else has yet feels wrong.
I assume Onion sites operate more in line with original internet philosophy but no one can remember an onion address. I don’t know what kind of new invention in this space would give power back to creators and developers but I’m all for it if someone figures something out.
How much would buying a top level domain require? By buying it it means I would have to maintain it? Why would someone even think of buying a .potato or a .elonsucks domain anyway? Is there any benefit to buying a top level domain?
Fun fact: Over 270 of the newer top level domains are all sold by the same company. Formerley “donuts domains”, they’re now called “Identity Digital” and have a near monopoly on anything that isn’t a regular .net/.com/.org/.co.uk/etc. Obviously another huge win for the free market /s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donuts_(company)
Follow up ELI5: how do infastructure companies like lumen/level3 fit into this or is that something else completely.
Follow up ELI5: how do infastructure companies like lumen/level3 fit into this or is that something else completely.
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