Glossary

Here we explain the most common terms that are used when handling domain names. For more terms on networks and network technology you can try the glossary at the Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education (in Norwegian only).

Please give us a notice if you have suggestions about more terms to be explained.

ACE, ACE coding (ASCII Compatible Encoding)

International standard for converting national characters, for example æ,ø and å, to international standard characters (ASCII characters) which are allowed in domain names. See "IDN (Internationalized Domain Name)".

Applicant declaration form

The applicant declaration form is part of the contract between Norid and the applicant. It verifies that the holder knows and complies with the domain name policy for .no and that he takes full responsibility if the domain registration violates the rights of a third party.

Bill-c

Billing contact for the registrar.

DNS (Domain Name System)

An Internet service which translates between domain names and IP addresses. Instead of number based IP addresses, for example 158.38.130.17, we can use readable names, for example www.uninett.no.

Domain name, domain

All computers on the Internet have their own IP address which consists of numbers. The domain name system connects unique domain names to the IP addresses so users do not have to remember a long string of numbers. Domain names consist of a varying number of segments, but in Norway the most common form is companyname.no. They are used in web addresses (http://www.companyname.no) and in email addresses (firstname.lastname@companyname.no) among other things.

Domain name holder, holder

An organisation which has registered one or more domain names.

Draupne

Name of the new registry system for .no. To be implemented during 2010. More about Draupne.

EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol

Communication protocol designed for registry/registrar communication specifically. Gives better opportunities for automatization at both ends than email does. Will be offered with the new registry system for .no. More about EPP.

Handle, Norid handle

A handle is a unique label for an object, see "object".

IDN (Internationalized Domain Name)

Only names which consist of the ASCII letters a-z, the numbers 0-9 and hyphen can be registered in the DNS. IDN is a technique which makes it possible to use national characters, for example æ, ø and å, in domain names by translating them to a version called ACE form, which only uses the international standard characters. It is this version which is registered in the DNS. For domain names consisting of standard characters only, the two forms are identical. The translated form can be a challenge to read. The domain name blåbærsyltetøy.no will for example be registered in the DNS with the ACE form xn--blbrsyltety-y8ao3x.no.

IP address

An address which consists of four sequences of numbers separated by three full stops, for example 158.58.130.17. It identifies a computer or another unit in an IP based network. The network sends and routes messages based on the IP address of the receiver.

ISP (Internet Service Provider)

A company who sells access to the Internet. The provider acts as a bridge between your computer and the network of computers which form the Internet.

Legal-c

Legal contact person for the domain name holder or the registrar.

Name server

A computer which implements the protocol used in the DNS.

Norid - the Norwegian registry for Internet domain names

Norid runs the .no registry and maintains the database for all Internet domains within .no.

Object

When a domain is registered, one or more objects become associated with the domain, for example an organization object and a person object. You can find the object in the whois database for .no.

PGP - Pretty Good Privacy

A program which encrypts or signs messages digitally. Norid and the registrars use PGP to authenticate the sender and ensure that the message is not changed on the way. More about PGP.

Registrar

A company which has signed a contract with Norid in order to offer registration and upkeep services for domain names. The registrar is the link between the applicant and Norid. More about registrars.

Registrar-ID

Unique identification code for each registrar. The code has the form REGxxx-NORID and can be found in the whois database. See "handle".

Subscribing to a domain

Have the right to use a domain name.

Tech-c

Technical contact person for the domain name holder or the registrar.

Ticket-ID

Each application receives a unique ticket-ID in the form NDYYYYMMDDxxxxxx, where ND is a constant prefix for all applications sent to Norid. The next numbers indicate the year (YYYY), month (MM) and day (DD) before xxxxxx - a six digit serial number starting on 000001 each day. Example: "ND20070620001015" is the ticket-ID for application number 1015 received on 20.06.2007. The same system of ticket numbers is used for inquiries sent to info@norid.no, The prefix is then "NI" and the serial number has five digits.

Top level domain, TLD

A letter code which indicates the top level under which a domain is registered. There are two categories of top level domains, national (ccTLD) and generic (gTLD), such as .com and .org. In addition to .no, Norid is responsible for .sj (Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands) and .bv (Bouvet Island). It is not possible to register domains under .sj and .bv. The most common top level domains in Norway are .no and .com. Top level domains around the world.

Whois, the Whois database for .no

The Whois database for .no is a searchable database which contains all registered information about .no domains. Most registries for top level domains have a whois service.

Zone-c

Zone contact for the domain name holder or the registrar. This is a technical contact person for the name servers of a domain who should be available in case there are problems with the name server configuration.