Hierarchical namespace

DNS Hierarchial Name Space

The DNS Hierarchial Name Space is a map of how DNS servers determine what IP address to take you to when you type "en.wikipedia.org" into your address bar.

Registrars

Registrars, appointed by ICANN, have the ability to add a domain name to the WHOIS directory. Verisign, the operator of the .com and .net top-level domains, is one such registrar. Any company, organization, or private individual may register a TLD for any number of years. The domain name is then added to the directory, and may point to a specific DNS server, which translates the domain name into an IP address.

Map

Domain names are read from right to left. Different sub-domains under a domain name are generally used to point to different servers, however, this is not always the case.

                                .
         -----------------------|-----------------------------------
        /          /            |          \           \            \
       com        net          mil        org         gov          int
       |           |            |          |           |            |
    google        nsf         army     wikipedia   whitehouse      fr
                                        /  |  \
                                      en  es  sv
                                       |
                                database (imaginary)*

• Full address: database.en.wikipedia.org