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href="/provider-search/" tabindex="0">Provider Search</a></li> <li id="menu-item-2409" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2409"><a href="/whois-search/" tabindex="0">Whois Search</a></li> <li id="menu-item-2410" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2410"><a href="/report-abuse/" tabindex="0">Report Abuse</a></li> <li id="menu-item-3057" class="right-align-submenu menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-has-children menu-item-3057"><a tabindex="-1">Policies</a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li id="menu-item-3059" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-3059"><a href="https://tucowsdomains.com/making-the-internet-better/" tabindex="0">Making the Internet Better</a></li> <li id="menu-item-2411" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2411"><a href="/tucows-domain-promise/" tabindex="0">Our Promise</a></li> <li id="menu-item-3080" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-3080"><a href="https://tucowsdomains.com/policy-and-advocacy/" tabindex="0">Policy & Advocacy</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-2412" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2412"><a href="/help/top-questions/" tabindex="0">FAQ</a></li> </ul> <div class="eyebrow_menu"> <div class="container"> <p>Tucows is the parent company of:</p> <nav class="brandNav" id="brandNav"> <ul> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2985"><a href="http://opensrs.com" tabindex="0">OpenSRS</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2986"><a href="http://www.enom.com" tabindex="0">Enom</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2987"><a href="http://www.ascio.com" tabindex="0">Ascio</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2988"><a href="http://www.hover.com" tabindex="0">Hover</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> </nav>  </div> <div class="overlay" id="burgerOverlay"></div>  <div class="hamburgerContainer"> <button id="responsiveToggle" class="iconBtn" label="toggle mobile navigation"> <img src="/wp-content/themes/tucowsdomains-2021/assets/images/mobile_nav_icon.svg" alt="Navigation Icon"> </button> </div> </div> </div> </header> <main id="primary" class="site-content"> <div class="heroBanner"> <section> <div class="container"> <h1>Glossary of Key Terms</h1> </div> </section> </div> <div class="singlePage"> <section> <div class="container"> <div class="content"> <article class="contentWrapper"> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="#registrant-reseller-registrar-registry">Registrant, Reseller, Registrar, Registry</a> | <a href="#what-is-DNS">DNS (Domain Name System & Domain Name Servers)</a> | <a href="#domain-names-vs-tlds">Domain Names vs. Top Level Domains (TLDs)</a> </span><br /> <a name="registrant-reseller-registrar-registry"></a></p> <h2>What is a Registrant, Reseller, Registrar, Registry?</h2> <h3>Registrant</h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you own a domain, you are a Registrant. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Registrant is an individual or company that makes the purchase of, and therefore legally owns a particular domain name(s). For example, Jessica Smith (Registrant) registers the name EXAMPLE.COM through a Domain Provider (Reseller). </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <h3>Reseller (Domain Provider)</h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Also referred to as the Domain Provider, a Reseller is a company which sells domain name registrations to the public. Your Domain Provider, or Reseller, is the last company you paid money to for your domain name registration. Your most recent payment may have been for the renewal, transfer, or initial purchase of your domain. </span></p> <h3>Registrar</h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Registrar, for example, TUCOWS, is an organization that has the authority to issue a domain name license to a Registrant. However, TUCOWS operates under a unique wholesale model. Though some Registrars directly facilitate the sale of domain names to the public, we do not. If you own a Tucows Domain, you would have purchased it from one of our affiliated Resellers. Alternatively, you may have transferred it to a Tucows affiliated Reseller from another Domain Provider.</span></p> <h3>Registry</h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Registry is an organization that manages one or more top-level domain names (TLDs). Registries create domain extensions, for example, .com or .org. They also set the unique terms of registration and use for their TLDs, and manage them within a backend database. For instance, example.com and tucows.com are both operated by the .COM Registry. </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tucows</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> shares access to these databases to create a channel for </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Domain Providers (Resellers</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">) to sell domains to the public. </span></p> <p><a name="what-is-DNS"></a></p> <h2>What is DNS? The Domain Name System & Domain Name Servers</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">DNS stands for Domain Name System, and effectively functions as the phonebook of the internet. This directory system translates a memorable alphanumeric address, such as </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">example.com</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, into a purely numerical IP address, such as </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">5.8.15.16</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All domains have at least two DNS servers, which are visible through a <a href="/whois-search">Whois search</a>, and appear in a format similar to NS1.EXAMPLE.COM and NS2.EXAMPLE.COM</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example, the DNS servers for </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">tucowsdomains.com</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">DNS1.TUCOWS.COM and DNS2.TUCOWS.COM. </span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you type </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">tucowsdomains.com</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> into your browser, sends a request to one of the DNS servers listed above. A response is sent back in the form of an IP address, which directs your browser to the appropriate web page. A similar process is involved in the sending and receiving of email, which also relies on DNS as a directory system.</span><br /> <a name="domain-names-vs-tlds"></a></p> <h2>What is the difference between a <i>Domain Name</i> and <i>Top-Level Domain</i>?</h2> <h3>Domain name</h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A domain name is essentially a signpost on the Internet. Think of it as a piece of online real estate. Every website you have ever been to and every email you have ever sent has used a domain name as its address. For example, you might visit a site located at </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">example.com </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> or send an email to</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> help@example.com.</span></i></p> <h3>Top Level Domain (TLD)</h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Top Level Domain refers to the last portion of a domain name. It is sometimes also called the domain “extension”. To distinguish between a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Top-Level Domain </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">and a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">domain name</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, let’s consider </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">example.com. </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this case, the domain name would be </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">example.com, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">which falls into the Top-Level Domain category of .COM. Similarly, the domain name </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">example.org</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> would be considered a .ORG TLD.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Each TLD group is managed by a particular registry and exists as an independent product type. Consequently, the regulations for registration and use vary across TLDs, as does the technical set-up. The TLD-specific nature of Domain Name Servers illustrates this point. For example, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">the Name Server NS1.EXAMPLE.COM can be used with all .COM domains. For it to be used on a .ORG domain, however, this .COM Name Server must first be added to the .ORG TLD Registry by </span><a href="/provider-search/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">your Domain Provider</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (if hasn’t been already).</span></p> </article> </div> </div> </section> </div> </main> </div> <footer class="page-footer"> <section> <div class="container"> <div class="content footerMain"> <div class="footerLogo"> <div class="logo"> <img src="/wp-content/themes/tucowsdomains-2021/assets/images/LogoWhite.svg" class="logo" title="Tucows Logo" alt="Tucows logo" /> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="footerNav"> <ul class="subMenu"> <li id="menu-item-2981" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2981"><a href="/help/legal-policies/" tabindex="0">Legal Policies</a></li> <li id="menu-item-2982" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2982"><a href="https://approve.domainadmin.com/tld-info/007b48cabc6113d5867b40f10839fcfe9861c8587f4fab55ffee7606a8e2cc052f7f6d22cadfa4d9dfd5a972e9e087a919ce29e209cad7ad3d65611918a4feb8b82305a63af198d9d38edf7cdd62ea" tabindex="0">Data Use Information Page</a></li> <li id="menu-item-2983" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-2983"><a href="/officer-and-company-information" tabindex="0">Officer and Company Information</a></li> <li id="menu-item-2984" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom current-menu-item menu-item-2984"><a href="/glossary-of-key-terms" aria-current="page" tabindex="0">Glossary of Key Terms</a></li> </ul> </nav> <div class="footerFoot"> <div class="icann_logo"> <img src="/wp-content/themes/tucowsdomains-2021/assets/images/icann.png" title="icann accredited logo" alt="icann accredited logo" /> </div> <div class="info"> <p class="copyright"> © Copyright 2025 Tucows</p> <p>Tucows has been ICANN accredited since 1999.</p> <p>96 Mowat Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 3M1, Canada</p> </div> </div> </div> </section> </footer> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript" id="custom-content-types-data-js-before"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var CUSTOM_CONTENT_TYPE__INITIAL_STATE; 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