The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority assigns and maintains internet addresses, including top-level domain management and IP and ASN numbers. It operates under ICANN’s policies to ensure unique web numbering addresses.
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority®, often called IANA® for short, is the worldwide organization that assigns Internet addresses and maintains a database of numeric and textual Internet addresses to help direct Web users to the correct Web site. The functions performed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority are many, but include root zone management, top level domain database management, and IP and autonomous system numbers (ASN). The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority operates under a system of policies established by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers® (ICANN®).
A top-level domain is the part of a domain name at the right end of the domain name expression. This element of the domain can be one or two parts separated from the rest of the domain by a point often called a dot or dot. Common examples of top-level domains include .com, .co.uk, and .edu. A top-level domain is often connected to a country or a type of organization such as a school or government office.
An ASN is a number assigned to certain types of networks, typically those with multiple routers operating under the same network administrator using the same set of rules. These rules are usually called internal gateway protocol (IGP). One type of network that might receive an assigned ASN is an Internet Service Provider (ISP). When a user connects to an ISP using a router, they often need to use a router that matches the ASN assigned to the ISP.
Although a person browsing the Web usually enters a text address that includes a domain into the browser’s address bar, the addresses computers use to find each other are actually numerical addresses called an IP address. Every computer and web server has its own unique IP address through which other computers can find the information stored on it. One of the responsibilities of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is to correlate IP addresses with text addresses entered by human users to direct them to a website. The two types of IP addresses used by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority as of September 2010 are IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6). The addresses used by IPv4 are 32-bit and have the usual arrangement of 182.168.1.1, while IPv6 addresses are 128-bit and are usually arranged in hexadecimal strings that look like combinations of letters and numbers with colons.
Created in 1998, the related organization ICANN® is a non-profit corporation that establishes the rules for the distribution of identifying numbers such as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. IANA® is the organization that implements and enforces the protocol established by ICANN®. Both the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and ICANN® help ensure that web numbering addresses are unique and registered where they can be used to accurately route web traffic.
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