# Network domain

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{{Short description|Grouping of computer networks or hosts}}A '''network domain''' is an administrative grouping of multiple private computer networks or local hosts within the same infrastructure.<ref>
Compare: {{cite book
| last1                 = Anderson
| first1                = Howard
| last2                 = Yull
| first2                = Sharon
| last3                 = Hellingsworth
| first3                = Bruce
| year                  = 2001
| title                 = Higher National Computing
| url                   = https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7p6tXtEXfIC
| edition               = 2
| location              = Oxford
| publisher             = Routledge
| publication-date      = 2004
| page                  = 260
| isbn                  = 9781136398988
| accessdate            = 2015-08-18
| quote                 = A network domain is more formally defined as a group for servers controlled by a primary domain controller. The idea is that this group of servers can behave as a single combined unit.
}}
</ref><ref>
Compare:
{{cite book
| last1                 = Chen
| first1                = Lidong
| last2                 = Gong
| first2                = Guang
| author2-link          = Guang Gong
| title                 = Communication System Security
| url                   = https://books.google.com/books?id=ooDV8MQiO_cC
| series                = Chapman & Hall/CRC Cryptography and Network Security Series
| date = 29 May 2012
| publisher             = CRC Press
| publication-date      = 2012
| page                  = 313
| isbn                  = 9781439840368
| accessdate            = 2015-08-18
| quote                 = The terminology, ''network domain'', comes from the cellular systems. Traditionally, a cellular service provider owns not only radio frequency spectrums but also certain network infrastructure, for example, base stations, switches, and servers. All these entities are connected through a wired network to provide telephony service. A network domain is the wired portion of an operator's network.
}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc920.txt|title=RFC: 920 - Domain Requirements|last=Postel|first=J|date=October 1984|website=Internet Engineering Task Force|access-date=27 January 2019|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112055314/https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc920.txt|url-status=live}}</ref> Domains can be identified using a domain name; domains that need to be accessible from the public Internet can be assigned a globally unique name within the Domain Name System (DNS).

A domain controller is a server that automates the logins, user groups, and architecture of a domain, rather than manually coding this information on each host in the domain. It is common practice, but not required, to have the domain controller act as a DNS server.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-r2-and-2008/cc732715(v%3dws.11)|title=Planning DNS Servers|last=Archiveddocs|website=docs.microsoft.com|language=en-us|access-date=2019-01-27|archive-date=2019-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128083014/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-r2-and-2008/cc732715(v%3dws.11)|url-status=live}}</ref> That is, it would assign names to hosts in the network based on their IP addresses.

== Usage ==
Use of the term ''network domain'' first appeared in 1965 and saw increasing usage beginning in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=network+domain&year_start=1960&year_end=2019&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cnetwork%20domain%3B%2Cc0t1;,network%20domain;,c0|title=Google Ngram Viewer|website=books.google.com|access-date=2019-01-27}}</ref> It initially applied to the naming of [radio stations](/source/Radio_broadcasting) based on [broadcast frequency](/source/Broadcast_band) and geographic area.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y6jnCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22network+domain%22&pg=PA35|title=A History of Broadcasting in the United States: 2. The Golden Web: 1933-1953|last=Barnouw|first=Erik|date=1968-02-20|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=9780195004755|language=en|access-date=2021-12-03|archive-date=2022-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118185553/https://books.google.com/books?id=y6jnCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22network+domain%22&pg=PA35|url-status=live}}</ref> It entered its current usage by network theorists to describe solutions to the problems of subdividing a single homogeneous LAN and joining multiple networks, possibly constituted of different [network architecture](/source/network_architecture)s.<ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Integrating local area networks to improve reliability and performance|url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0051894|publisher=University of British Columbia|date=1986|first=Kenneth Chi-Kin|last=Chan|access-date=2019-01-27|archive-date=2019-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128082719/https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0051894|url-status=live}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

Category:Computer networking
Category:Domain Name System

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Network domain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_domain) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_domain?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.