Chapter 8. Internet NamesAs you have seen in previous chapters, the Internet's addressing system is what makes its destinations accessible and usable. Without IP addressing, you couldn't use the Internet or any other IP-based network. Despite this, it's a rare geek who actually uses IP addresses directly. It can be done, but it would take a better man than I am to remember all the numeric addresses of the hosts I need to access. More important than facilitating access to known hosts, mnemonic names greatly increase your chances of discovering new hosts. Although there are many tools for finding desired destinations, including search engines and hyperlinks, guessing at a domain name remains a very useful and expedient technique. Thus, mnemonic names are absolutely essential to making the Internet, and all IP-based networks, usable and useful. This chapter traces the emergence of names as an informal and local-use mechanism, through its standardization across ARPANET (the Internet's predecessor) and its maturation into a standardized and hierarchical system that can reliably translate user-friendly names into numeric addresses. |