The domain names example.com, example.net, example.org, and example.edu are
second-level domain names in the
Domain Name System of the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. They are reserved by the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, Autonomous system (Internet), autonomous system number allocation, DNS root zone, root zone management in the Domain Name Syste ...
(IANA) at the direction of the
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet standard, Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster ...
(IETF) as
special-use domain names for documentation purposes. The domain names are used widely in books, tutorials, sample network configurations, and generally as examples for the use of domain names. The
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...
(ICANN) operates websites for these domains with content that reflects their purpose.
Purpose
The domains ''example.com'', ''example.net'', ''example.org'' and ''example.edu'' are intended for general use in any kind of documentation, such as
technical
Technical may refer to:
* Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle
* Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match
* Technical advisor, a person who ...
and
software documentation, manuals, and sample software configurations. Thus,
documentation writers can be sure to select a domain name without creating naming conflicts if end-users try to use the sample configurations or examples verbatim. The domains may be used in documentation without prior consultation with IANA or ICANN.
In practice, these domain names are also installed in the Domain Name System with the
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet.
IP ...
(IP) addresses for
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...
of a
web server
A web server is computer software and underlying Computer hardware, hardware that accepts requests via Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, co ...
managed by
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...
. The domains are digitally signed using
Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC).
The zone files of each domain also define one subdomain name. The
third-level domain name ''www'' resolves to the IP addresses of the parent domains.
History
The second-level domain label ''example'' for the
top-level domain
A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...
s
com,
net, and
org have been reserved and registered since at least 1992.
The IETF established the authority of this use in 1999.
In 2013, the status and purpose of the domains was restated by the IETF as belonging to a group of ''special-use domain names''.
See also
*
.example – Top-level domain name reserved for documentation purposes
*
.local –
Pseudo-TLD with
no meaning in the DNS for use with local
zeroconf networking only
*
Fictitious domain name
*
IPv4 § Special-use addresses – some special-use IPv4 address ranges are reserved for documentation and examples
*
Reserved top-level domains
References
{{Reflist
External links
example.comexample.netexample.orgexample.edu
Domain Name System
Placeholder names
Internet properties established in 1999