EC285 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Icann, Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
Document Summary
Fortunately hosts can be given human-friendly names that can be used to identify them on the. These domain names, as they"re called, are mapped to specific ip addresses using something called the domain name system (dns) Dns provides a hierarchical structure for naming hosts. The us based, non-profit internet corporation for assigned names and numbers (icann) is responsible for the creation of top-level domains. A department of icann, the internet assigned numbers authority (iana) oversees the global allocation of blocks of ip address. Icann and iana authorize various domain name registrars to do the work of assigning specific domain names and ip addresses or ranges of addresses to individuals and organizations, commercial or otherwise. The . ca top-level domain, for example, comes under the management of the canadian. Internet registration authority (cira), which maintains a website at http://cira. ca. Cira, in turn, authorizes various internet companies to act on its behalf as registrars for domain names that end in . ca.
