Domains
Your digital name on the internet
A website needs an address where it can be accessed.
Domains make it easy to find and remember websites – for companies, organisations and private individuals.
What is a domain?
Computers recognise each other via IP addresses – long strings of numbers or characters such as 192.0.2.42 (IPv4) or 2001:DB8::1234:DE:1C (IPv6). These strings are difficult for us humans to remember.
A domain is therefore like an easy-to-understand name that belongs to an IP address. This allows you to simply call up a website by its name instead of having to remember complicated numbers.
The Domain Name System (DNS) –
the navigation system of the internet
The Domain Name System (DNS) ensures that domains are assigned to the correct computers and services.
It is like a signpost on the Internet.
The DNS can also be used to identify the services associated with a domain. For example, it provides information about which computer acts as the mail server for a particular domain, which name servers are responsible for the domain, and much more.
.de domains and more
DENIC manages all domains with the country code .de. This makes it the central authority for German Internet addresses.
DENIC also manages ENUM domains under .9.4.e164.arpa. ENUM (derived from telephone number mapping) connects telephone communication with the Internet. This means that a single telephone number can be used for various communication services – from e-mails to telephone calls.
