Internet Addressing

Although there are several organizations that serve the Internet community, technically no one is in "charge" of the Internet. Despite this chaotic structure (or lack thereof), the Internet continues to function thanks to Internet addressing. Internet addressing makes it possible to assign every computer on the Internet a unique address. These addresses work in much the same way as a postal address.

Every computer on the Internet is assigned a four-part series of numbers (for example: 134.35.81.92). This is the computer's IP address. Fortunately, these hard-to-remember IP addresses are usually translated into domain (or host) names by a domain name server. Host names are more descriptive than IP addresses.

Translating IP Addresses & Domain Names

By learning how to interpret host names, you can often determine where a server is located and who it belongs to. For example, a host named "extension.umn.edu" belongs to the Extension Service at the University of Minnesota. In this address, the ".edu" indicates that this host belongs to an educational institution. It is an example of a top-level domain. Top-level domains are general categories and include:

There are also national domain names for countries. Some common ones are:

County domains usually appear at the end of the address. For example,

• bloomington.k12.mn.us = Bloomington school district in Minnesota, United States
• www.royal.gov.uk = official home page of the British Monarchy, United Kingdom
• www.agr.ca = Agriculture and Agri-Food Electronic Information Service, Canada.