Procedure to register an URL

Question

this is a newbie question.

I want to set-up a web site (let call it www.mywebsite.com) on a server I own with a public IP address:

1. What is the precise procedure to register the URL? What I mean is, how to tell the world that requests to www.mywebsite.com should come to my server?
2. Is this a free procedure?
3. I guess I cannot use any name for my URL. What are the rules?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Companies that sell domain names are called registrars. You purchase a domain from them for a yearly fee, and in return they let you control the DNS records for the domain. DNS records are stored on nameservers, which translate domain names into IP addresses.

You should find a registrar that sells the top-level domain (TLD) that you are interested in, such as .com or .net. Most registrars have a search that lets you see if the domain name you want is available.

Namecheap is a popular registrar, for a start.

Answer 2

1. What you want to do is register the domain mywebsite.com (or whatever you call it). There are many companies online that will do this for you.
2. No. Some companies will throw in a free domain name if they host your website but that doesn't apply to you.
3. There are different rules depending on the last part of the domain - .com, .not, .co.uk whatever. The company that you choose to register with will be able to tell you the rules.