I need some basics explained

[Barry Margolin]

In article <8ffhrh$9v8$1 at nnrp1.deja.com>,  <lauren_fanthome at my-deja.com> wrote:
>I don't understand the way the internet is set up.  If a person has a
>web server at home, then the world can dial in if they type the IP
>address in their browser.  It is my understanding that a DNS is
>necessary to convert that number into a domain name that is much nicer
>to type in for the user.

Correct.

>My question: why can't you directly register with one of these DNS
>things without going through an internet service provider.

I'm not sure what you mean by this.  The ISP connects your machine at home
to the Internet.  There are plenty of companies that you can purchase DNS
services from, and they don't have any relationship with your ISP.

Are you asking why the registry that you purchase the domain name itself
from can't do this?  I think some of them do, but some have chosen to
perform just the task of registering domains rather than managing their
contents.  Managing domain content requires more resources, but in hardware
and personnel: hardware for the increased amount of data that their servers
will have to hold and the larger number of queries they'll have to service,
and personnel to handle the more frequent update requests and customer
support that will be necessary.  The nature of the DNS protocol allows
different companies to specialize in different aspects.

>Hmmm, one more thing.  Is there a more appropriate place to be asking
>this question?

comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains is for general DNS questions that aren't
specifically related to the BIND software package.

-- 
Barry Margolin, barmar at genuity.net
Genuity, Burlington, MA
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