web dev//domain

A domain is a human-readable name (like `3clabs.io`) that points to the IP address where a server lives. It is a name and an extension, rented through a registrar (Cloudflare, Namecheap, Google Domains) and kept for as long as the rent is paid.

A domain is a human-readable name (like 3clabs.io) that points to the IP address where a server lives. It is a name and an extension, rented through a registrar (Cloudflare, Namecheap, Google Domains) and kept for as long as the rent is paid.

The name does nothing by itself. The mapping from the domain to an address is handled by DNS, and the company that rents out the name is not necessarily the one that answers for it or the one that hosts the site: those are three jobs, separated in provider.

A domain can have any number of subdomains (crm.3clabs.io, api.3clabs.io), each one a record of its own in the zone.

The bare domain, with nothing in front of it, is the apex, and it follows stricter rules than its subdomains.

Cloudflare can be both registrar and DNS provider. When a domain is on Cloudflare, the DNS records, SSL and caching are managed from the same dashboard.