Sub Domains

Although sub domains are not technically a part of the core domain name system, their increasing popularity deserves a mention in this section.

The term sub domain refers to when an additional prefix is added to an existing domain name and separated by a period.  An example of a sub domain is “yourname.uk.com”. In this example, the domain “uk.com” belongs to a company (CentralNIC) who in turn charges a fee for a user to register and use the sub domain “yourname.uk.com”.

Although sub domains are not handled technically in the same way as regular domains (on the backend), for the most part they work the same way so far as the end user is concerned.

There are two significant reasons that sub domains are used: to allow users to register otherwise unavailable domain names or to organize large websites.
In the first instance, a sub domain is created when an existing domain owner allows you to register and use a new domain directly under their existing domain name, similar to how a regular Registry works.

In the first instance, a sub domain is created when an existing domain owner allows you to register and use a new domain directly under their existing domain name, similar to how a regular Registry works.

These sub domains give the end user an opportunity to register a great sounding domain name that would otherwise be unavailable at a regular Registry. Having been widely recognized and accepted by the Internet community, sub domains are being used by many as their main website URL and are now being sold in the domain aftermarket as well.

In some cases, sub domains are also used for organizational purposes. For example, if you go to microsoft.com, you arrive at the main Microsoft website. However, the company has separated various Microsoft services into sub domains. If you to office.microsoft.com, you arrive on their Microsoft Office site. This is particularly useful if you have a need to create a separate website for specific data or company departments, but need to keep it all connected within the main domain name.

Let’s take a closer look at exactly why domain names are so special (and what makes them sometimes so expensive).