I have returned....lol Question

[Google]

Hey, everybody, I used to be a regular on this wonderful site, but I kinda forgot about it actually Now, I have been thinking about this question for quite a while and I could not find the answer on google. So here it is: How do webservers get domain names to sell/rent to people?? Like I know you can pay for a domain but how did those people renting it to you get it in the first place???

Hope you understand my question and that someone can help me out

-Google

[burritoMan]

They register it with GoDaddy or Network Solutions or Namecheap or whatever - domain registrars.  Haven't heard of anyone actually renting domain names out, though.

[ChrisXPPro]

IIRC many act as sorta ''agents'' and do the ''paperwork''.  GoDaddy I think uses Wild West Domains and their DNS is often domaincontrol.com or some such but - everything seems to go back to Network Solutions in the end. I may easily be wrong but they seem like the ultimate Domain HQ.

Again I forget - someone will know - a "WhoIs" query will come out of the Network Solutions database in the end.

[Google]

Yes, but how does network solutions get it in the first place. That was the initial question. Like where does it come from....

[ChrisXPPro]

Like where does it come from....

Anything pretty much can be a domain - using one of the now plentiful ''extensions''.  Seems the only prerequisite for getting one for oneself is finding something not already ''taken''.... and that then when applied to hosting will have it's ascribed DNS and an IP.

If I read you right here - Net Solutions does not ''get'' domains - rather they allocate according to availability for uniqueness.

[Google]

Yea, I sorta understand, but not really, like where do they get them from?? Where do the domains originate from?? Shouldnt anyone be able to get a free domain?? Or does the govenrment sell domains or like *censored* Sorry, i dont know if you understand me or If I dont understand you??

[kpac]

They dont get them! They basically have a huge database of all the internet's websites and their files, and when the user in front of the computer requests the website, it retrieves it from the database.

[Google]

They dont get them! They basically have a huge database of all the internet's websites and their files, and when the user in front of the computer requests the website, it retrieves it from the database.

Where does the data base come from. Can we not access it then??

[kpac]

Where does the data base come from. Can we not access it then??

The database if probably spread out over hundreds, if not thousands, of remote web servers around the globe.

Dont you think there is enough hacking and spamming going on without everyone gaining control of every website out there? If everyone could access them, this would most likely happen.

[Google]

So if you make your own web server, could you not gain access to it?? Or what?

[kpac]

No, you couldnt. You would need a password, probably hundreds of letters long, and a username to get access to the database.

Having you own server wouldnt help either.

Besides, you would have to get through multiple firewalls, all while the worlds security agencies, like the NSA (click here), are watching you.

[Google]

So how do the domain providers access it then?? With password and username you say?? Where do they get it from???

[kpac]

The administrators probably have a "whitelist" of sites that can access it. So they mightnt have to have a u/n and password.

[Google]

Ok, im completely lost.

[kpac]

Okay! Have you heard of a blacklist? For example, you have a blacklist in your internet browser, which tells it which websites not to visit.

A blacklist in a webserver would tell the server which websites are not allowed to connect to it. A whitelist would  do the opposite.