What is a domain Name?

Simply put, its the name you type in to go to a website. Litteraly the address of the website, such as google.com or msn.com.

The term domain is very broad in nature. The word domain usually means an area controlled by someone. In the world of networks a domain is used to describe or define all the area or items that make up the set.

In the early phases of the internet, websites were cotroled by large companies that had substantial networks already in place. Getting a website was beyond the reach of the average individual. And a domain was the subset of pages, servers and systems that were controlled by the main network.

But now, websites are cheap and easy and almost every business either has one or is thinking about it.

In most cases a domain only points to a single website and would be more correctly termed as the website address rather than the doamin name. It does not make sense to most people that a huge network can be behind a domain but rather than its just a basic website.

With every companies getting websites the domain names have become big business. Since each domain name can only be used by one person the common names are in demand and tend to be horded and offered for sale for big bucks.

But the average person can still buy a domain name for usually under $10 at places like pageBuzz Domain Sales or often get free domain names when signing a yearly hosting contract with companies like yahoo or bravenet.

Everyone is buying up their piece of internet realestate. Setting up a blog or their own homepage often to make some cash or just to share ideas and meet people.