IANA experience

I had not previously heard of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority specifically, but was aware that some organization HAD to be responsible for the structure and upkeep of protocols on the Web.  Such a large and complicated network needs guidance and I just found out now that the IANA is that guidance.

I was intrigued at all that I found out about Internet protocols from this group.  One interesting fact that I discovered is how the IANA coodinates IP addresses.  Surprisingly, there are different versions of the IP system.  IPv4 and IPv6 being the two most common used today.  IPv4 uses 32 bit strings while IPv6 uses 128 bit strings.  Possibly due to the fact that many more combinations are needed to track all computers connected to the Internet in these days?

I also didn’t realize how many different top-level domain extensions there were.  Basically every country in the world has its own extension.  The only one I knew about before this was .uk as that was the only only I saw actually used.  Incidently, there is a .us for the United States yet people still prefer the standard .com extension. 

I was also intrigued at the different protocols that IANA conducts to make sure the structure of the Web remains organised.

With the quickly growing size of the Internet, the necessity for various TDLs (top level domains) is great.  I was aware that SOME countries had their own TDLs such as .uk for United Kingdom but was unaware that lots of other countries also had TDLs.  Amazingly, the United States has .us but I am surprised that virtually noone uses it.  Everyone seems to to go for .com.  I was also surprised to hear about the domain ARPA.  It is not a publically available TDL but it is neccessary for regulating the flow of the Web.  .biz is another neglected example used for business websites but then again most people opt for .com. 

All in all, a good percentage of TDLs are reserved as country codes.  Though I have not seen a lot of them in use until I found them just now.

In trying to find a domain name, I too like Professor Katz found that my name johncrowley.com was not available.  I added a “r” though for my middle initial and found that johnrcrowley.com was available.

But honestly, I would not base a domain directly off my name anyway.  My personal name tells nothing about me to users browsing the internet.  Instead, I would opt for a domain that hints at what the site contains.  In my case, I would want to give a “graphic design” feeling name to my site.  I tried CrowleyDesign but that was taken.  So was jcdesign.  Finally, I found that crowleygraphicdesign was available but it was too long for convenience of typing in.  I then shortened it to crowleygd which was available and seemed rather appropriate.

~ by jcrowley1985 on March 29, 2008.