Please Whitelist This Site?

I know everyone hates ads. But please understand that I am providing premium content for free that takes hundreds of hours of time to research and write. I don't want to go to a pay-only model like some sites, but when more and more people block ads, I end up working for free. And I have a family to support, just like you. :)

If you like The TCP/IP Guide, please consider the download version. It's priced very economically and you can read all of it in a convenient format without ads.

If you want to use this site for free, I'd be grateful if you could add the site to the whitelist for Adblock. To do so, just open the Adblock menu and select "Disable on tcpipguide.com". Or go to the Tools menu and select "Adblock Plus Preferences...". Then click "Add Filter..." at the bottom, and add this string: "@@||tcpipguide.com^$document". Then just click OK.

Thanks for your understanding!

Sincerely, Charles Kozierok
Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide


NOTE: Using software to mass-download the site degrades the server and is prohibited.
If you want to read The TCP/IP Guide offline, please consider licensing it. Thank you.

The Book is Here... and Now On Sale!

Enjoy The TCP/IP Guide? Get the complete PDF!
The TCP/IP Guide

Custom Search







Table Of Contents  The TCP/IP Guide
 9  TCP/IP Application Layer Protocols, Services and Applications (OSI Layers 5, 6 and 7)
      9  Name Systems and TCP/IP Name Registration and Name Resolution
           9  TCP/IP Name Systems: Host Tables and Domain Name System (DNS)
                9  TCP/IP Domain Name System (DNS)
                     9  DNS Name Registration, Public Administration, Zones and Authorities

Previous Topic/Section
DNS Organizational (Generic) Top Level Domains and Authorities
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
123
4
Next Page
DNS Second-Level and Lower Domains, Delegation of Registration Authority and Public Registration
Next Topic/Section

DNS Geopolitical (Country Code) Top Level Domains and Authorities
(Page 4 of 4)

Drawbacks of the Geopolitical TLDs

The geopolitical domains have been very popular for certain uses; for one thing, national governments and other “official” institutions like to use them, for obvious reasons. Typing “www.gov.XX” or “www.government.XX” where “XX” is a country code is likely to bring you to the national government Web site of most countries. Some companies and organizations use the ccTLDs because they allow them to choose a name already taken in the generic hierarchies, or simply to express national pride.

For many other companies and organizations, however, the generic TLDs have been much more popular than the country codes. I believe there are several reasons for this, but I think the most important one is that organizations are easier to locate using the generic domains.

Here's a good example of what I mean. In the town near where I live, a new grocery store called Aldi recently opened. I like the store and wanted to learn more about them, so I fired up my Web browser and sought out their Web site. Yes, I could have typed it into a search engine, but like most people I am lazy. It was much easier to just enter “www.aldi.com” into my browser, and lo and behold, up popped the web site of Aldi International.

Now, Aldi is actually headquartered in Germany, and they do have a web site at “www.aldi.de” as well. But I had no idea where they were originally from. I found them easily by going to “www.aldi.com”, because I didn't need to know their physical location, and because I know that most large companies have a “.COM” domain. Of course, being “findable” is very important, especially for commercial organizations trying to do business.

Another good example is the United States, which as mentioned above has its own country code, .US, in addition to dominating the generic TLDs. The authority in charge of this domain chose to make it follow a strict geographical hierarchy, so every domain must be of the form “organization.city.state-code.US”. So, to use this part of the name space, a company in Boston must be within the “.boston.ma.us” domain.

That's very neat and logical, but it makes names both longer and harder to guess than the generic equivalents. Suppose you wanted to get information on metals giant Alcoa. If you're in the industry you might know they are located in Pittsburgh, but if not, which is easier to find, “www.alcoa.pittsburgh.pa.us”, or “www.alcoa.com”? Anyone here know how to spell Albuquerque? J

It is for this reason that the .US domain achieved success in certain segments of society but not in others, especially commercial entities (corporations). The strict hierarchy does have some real advantages, however, such as avoiding name space conflicts. The .US authority eventually abandoned the strict geographical hierarchy due to its non-acceptance.


Previous Topic/Section
DNS Organizational (Generic) Top Level Domains and Authorities
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
123
4
Next Page
DNS Second-Level and Lower Domains, Delegation of Registration Authority and Public Registration
Next Topic/Section

If you find The TCP/IP Guide useful, please consider making a small Paypal donation to help the site, using one of the buttons below. You can also donate a custom amount using the far right button (not less than $1 please, or PayPal gets most/all of your money!) In lieu of a larger donation, you may wish to consider purchasing a download license of The TCP/IP Guide. Thanks for your support!
Donate $2
Donate $5
Donate $10
Donate $20
Donate $30
Donate: $



Home - Table Of Contents - Contact Us

The TCP/IP Guide (http://www.TCPIPGuide.com)
Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005

© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.