Vanity domain
Encyclopedia
In the Domain Name System
(DNS), a vanity domain is a domain name whose purpose is to express the individuality of the person on whose behalf it is registered. This contrasts with domain names which resolve to an organisation (e.g. a company) or a service that organisation offers. Vanity domains may be compared with vanity car registration plates
, which similarly identify their owner as an individual and not just someone relying on another organisation's services.
A subdomain
of an ISP's domain that is aliased to an individual user account is a vanity domain. Other definitions include:
These uses apply primarily to regular domain names registered at the highest allowed level rather than subdomains (although, technically speaking, a second-level domain is actually a subdomain of its top-level domain).
Because vanity domains are operated for or on behalf of individuals, they typically will not offer the full complement of services an organisational domain name (or rather, the host
that it points to) would be expected to honour; for example, the DNS record may contain only an MX record identifying a mail server accepting e-mail
for that domain (which may itself be an e-mail forwarding server) and an A record identifying a shared web hosting service
only offering HTTP (which may itself be a URL redirection
service).
As well as being easily remembered, vanity domains (especially when registered at the highest level allowed by the registrar
) offer the advantage of personal mobility
; they continue to be associated with a person even when that person switches service provider.
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
(DNS), a vanity domain is a domain name whose purpose is to express the individuality of the person on whose behalf it is registered. This contrasts with domain names which resolve to an organisation (e.g. a company) or a service that organisation offers. Vanity domains may be compared with vanity car registration plates
Vanity plate
A vanity plate or personalized plate , prestige plate, private number plate, or personalised registration or custom plate or personalised plate is a special type of vehicle registration plate on an automobile or other vehicle...
, which similarly identify their owner as an individual and not just someone relying on another organisation's services.
A subdomain
Subdomain
In the Domain Name System hierarchy, a subdomain is a domain that is part of a larger domain.- Overview :The Domain Name System has a tree structure or hierarchy, with each node on the tree being a domain name. A subdomain is a domain that is part of a larger domain, the only domain that is not...
of an ISP's domain that is aliased to an individual user account is a vanity domain. Other definitions include:
- the Free On-line Dictionary of ComputingFree On-line Dictionary of ComputingThe Free On-line Dictionary of Computing is an online, searchable, encyclopedic dictionary of computing subjects. It was founded in 1985 by Denis Howe and is hosted by Imperial College London...
defines it as "A domain you register for the sole purpose of having your own domain so you can have an easily remembered URL and e-mail address", - while the Jargon FileJargon FileThe Jargon File is a glossary of computer programmer slang. The original Jargon File was a collection of terms from technical cultures such as the MIT AI Lab, the Stanford AI Lab and others of the old ARPANET AI/LISP/PDP-10 communities, including Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Carnegie Mellon...
defines it as "An Internet domain, particularly in the .com or .org top-level domains, apparently created for no reason other than boosting the creator's ego." - The Sun iPlanet Messaging ServerSun Java System Messaging ServerOracle Communications Messaging Exchange Server is Oracle’s highly scalable and robust messaging server software. The software was obtained by Oracle as part of the company's acquisition of Sun in 2010....
usesmsgVanityDomainto set up a domain name for e-mail use which is not fully hosted.
These uses apply primarily to regular domain names registered at the highest allowed level rather than subdomains (although, technically speaking, a second-level domain is actually a subdomain of its top-level domain).
Because vanity domains are operated for or on behalf of individuals, they typically will not offer the full complement of services an organisational domain name (or rather, the host
Host (network)
A network host is a computer connected to a computer network. A network host may offer information resources, services, and applications to users or other nodes on the network. A network host is a network node that is assigned a network layer host address....
that it points to) would be expected to honour; for example, the DNS record may contain only an MX record identifying a mail server accepting e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
for that domain (which may itself be an e-mail forwarding server) and an A record identifying a shared web hosting service
Shared web hosting service
A shared web hosting service or virtual hosting service or derive host refers to a web hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. Each site "sits" on its own partition, or section/place on the server, to keep it separate from other sites...
only offering HTTP (which may itself be a URL redirection
URL redirection
URL redirection, also called URL forwarding and the very similar technique domain redirection also called domain forwarding, are techniques on the World Wide Web for making a web page available under many URLs.- Similar domain names :...
service).
As well as being easily remembered, vanity domains (especially when registered at the highest level allowed by the registrar
Domain name registrar
A domain name registrar is an organization or commercial entity, accredited by both ICANN and generic top-level domain registry to sell gTLDs and/or by a country code top-level domain registry to sell ccTLDs; to manage the reservation of Internet domain names in accordance with the guidelines of...
) offer the advantage of personal mobility
Personal mobility
In Universal Personal Telecommunications , personal mobility is the ability of a user to access telecommunication services at any UPT terminal on the basis of a personal identifier, and the capability of the network to provide those services in accord with the user's service profile.Personal...
; they continue to be associated with a person even when that person switches service provider.