- URL: http://www.example.net/index.html
- Domain name: www.example.net
- Registered domain name: example.net
As a general rule, the IP address and the server name are interchangeable. For most Internet services, the server will not have any way to know which was used. However, the explosion of interest in the web means that there are far more websites than servers. To assist with this, the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) specifies that the client tell the server which name is being used. This way, one server with one IP address can provide different sites for different domain names. This feature goes under the name virtual hosting and is commonly used by web hosts.
Top-level domains
Every domain name ends in a top-level domain (TLD) name, which is always either one of a small list of generic names (three or more characters), or a two-character territory code based on ISO-3166 (there are few exceptions and new codes are integrated case by case). Top-level domains are sometimes also called first-level domains.
The generic top-level domain (gTLD) extensions are:
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| Unsponsored | .biz · .com · .edu · .gov · .info · .int · .mil · .name · .net · .org |
| Sponsored | .aero · .asia · .cat · .coop · .jobs · .mobi · .museum · .pro · .tel · .travel |
| Infrastructure | .arpa · .root |
| Proposed | Locations: .berlin · .lat · .nyc · Children: .kid · .kids · Language communities: .bzh · .cym · .gal · .sco · Technical: .geo · .mail · .web · Other: .post · .xxx |
| Deleted/retired | .nato |
| Reserved | .example · .invalid · .localhost · .test |
| Pseudo-domains | .bitnet · .csnet · .ip · .local · .onion · .uucp |
| Unofficial | See Alternative DNS roots |
| See also: Country code top-level domains | |