Networking Fundamentals

Top-level domain (TLD)

The TLD is usually the rightmost part of an FQDN that we normally see. In our example, com is the TLD. The management of these top-level domains is controlled by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

TLDs fall under one of three main categories:

• Country-code TLD: This is a two-letter domain name that reflects the country of origin, for example, .uk and .au. Usually, you will see these paired with a second-level domain, such as .co, giving us .co.uk or .co.au.
• Sponsored TLD: These TLDs reflect the community that they represent. Let's look at some examples: .edu is for post-secondary education organizations, while .gov is for the US government. What about .museum? Well, I think you can guess ...