Top-Level Domain (TLD) refers to the last segment of a domain name, which follows immediately after the “dot” symbol. They form the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System (DNS) of the internet. While there are over a thousand TLDs available today, each TLD can further be classified into one of two categories: generic TLDs (gTLD) or country-code TLDs (ccTLD). Examples include .com, .org, .net (which are gTLDs), and .ca, .de, .uk (which are ccTLDs). Each TLD has different regulations for registration.
ENGINEERING is one such top-level domain that was delegated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is responsible for managing the DNS. TLDs like .ENGINEERING are called “generic” since they can be used for any purpose but are typically used by individuals, organizations, or businesses that are associated with the specific industry or topic the TLD represents.
The .ENGINEERING TDL is a category specific TDL maintained by the Donuts registry. Donuts Inc. is an American company that provides various services, including domain registration operations. In their pursuit to expand specificity and market relevance, they introduced the .ENGINEERING TLD among others.
As per the Donuts’ criteria, the domain can be registered by any person, group, or business, intending to create a digital hub for engineering. They might be engineers offering their services, companies promoting their engineering department, schools featuring their engineering programs, publications posting engineering news and trends, or forums gathering for engineering discussions. However, it is not limited to these, and any creative usage fitting the .ENGINEERING TLD is possible.
When it comes to technical specifics, despite the various types of TLD, the technical aspect of all TLDs works in the same manner. The name is translated into an IP address by a DNS server, which helps in route-finding over the internet. When a domain name is registered, it is added to large domain name registers managed by designated organizations like ICANN.
Thus, in terms of use, the .ENGINEERING TLD is open to any websites that consider this TLD relevant to their content. In terms of technology, it functions precisely as other TLDs do, acting as a guide for DNS servers to facilitate online navigation.
Sources:
1. ICANN | Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) (https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtlds-2012-02-25-en)
2. Donuts Inc. Official Website (https://donuts.domains/what-we-do/top-level-domains)
3. Mozilla Developer Network | Domain Names (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Common_questions/What_is_a_domain\_name)
4. Domain.com | What is a Top-Level Domain? (https://www.domain.com/blog/2018/12/06/what-is-a-top-level-domain/)
