Domain Name System
Domain names are the common and easy-to-remember names for Internet websites (e.g., "www.ecommerce.gov"). They represent specific Internet Protocol (IP) numbers (e.g., 98.37.241.30) that function as routing addresses on the Internet. The domain name system (DNS) translates Internet names into the IP numbers required for transmission of information across the network.
When the first computers began linking to one another over Wide Area Networks (WAN's), like the ARPANET in the 1960's, a form of identification was necessary to properly access the assorted systems. Alphabetic host names were presented on the ARPANET soon after its introduction, and greatly enhanced usability since alphabetic names are much simpler to recall than semantically pointless numeric addresses. It wasn't long before people saw that saving multiple copies of the hosts file was inefficient and error-prone. Beginning with a formal proposal for centralization in Host Names On-line, it was determined by March, 1974 with On Line Hostnames Service, that the Stanford Research Institute Network Information Center (NIC) would function as the official source of the master hosts file.
This centralized system ran well for nearly a decade, roughly 1973 to 1983. The new Internet proceeded to grow throughout the 70's with the introduction of electronic mail (e-mail) and newsgroups and by the early 1980's the disadvantages of centralized management of an immense quantity of ever-changing data were becoming evident. The hosts file was becoming larger, the rate of change was increasing as the network enlarged, many more hosts were downloading the entire file every night, and there were always errors that were then spread network-wide.
To send an email to someone, you had to first be a human router and determine a valid path to the destination as part of the address. If you didn't know a valid path, the software couldn't assist you. This problem was addressed by researchers and technicians at the University of Wisconsin who produced the first 'name server' in 1984. With the new name server, users were no longer expected to know the precise route to other systems. Domain names were formulated to supply each person with one address no matter where email was transmitted from.
RFC 805 outlines a lot of of the fundamental principles of the eventual domain name system, including the need for top level domains to furnish a starting point for delegation of queries, the need for second level domains to be unique -- and consequently the necessity for a registrar type of administration, and the acknowledgement that distribution of individual name servers responsible for each domain would provide administration and maintenance advantages.
A year later the Domain Name System was put in place and the initial top-level domain names, including .com, .net, and .org, were ushered in. Suddenly 121.245.078.2 became 'company.com'.
In 1990, the Internet exploded into commercial society and was succeeded a year later by the release of the World Wide Web by mastermind Tim Berners-Lee and CERN. At first the registration of domain names was free, subsidized by the National Science Foundation through IANA, but by 1992 a new organization was necessary to specifically handle the exponential growth in flow to the Internet. IANA and the NSF together created InterNIC, a quasi-governmental body mandated to coordinate and sustain the growing DNS registry and services.
Overwhelming growth of Internet Providers drove the NSF to end subsidizing domain registrations in 1995. InterNIC, due to budget requirements, began charging a $100.00 fee for each two-year registration. The next wave in the development of the DNS took place in 1998 when the U.S. Department of Commerce released the 'White Paper'. This document outlined the conversion of management of DNS systems to private organizations, permitting increased competition.
That same year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was formed. This non-profit, private sector corporation organized by a wide coalition of the Internet's business, technical, and academic concerns worldwide is acknowledged as the "global consensus entity to coordinate the technical management of the Internet's domain name system, the allocation of IP address space, the assignment of protocol parameters, and the management of the root server system." One of ICANN's chief interests is to further a greater spirit of competition within the domain registration industry.
Today there are an estimated 19 million domain names registered, with forty thousand more enrolled each day. The Internet continues its unprecedented growth into the stratosphere and there is truly no end in sight. This emergence only serves to emphasize the benefits of shifting registration from government control to private sector control, benefits that are implanted within the spirit of the Internet itself: accessibility, freedom, competition.