Fully qualified domain name

A fully qualified domain name (FQDN), sometimes also referred to as an absolute domain name, is a domain name that specifies its exact location in the tree hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS).

Description

It specifies all domain levels, including the top-level domain and the root zone.

Unambiguous

A fully qualified domain name is unambiguous: it can be interpreted only in one way.

DNS root domain

The DNS root domain is unnamed, which is expressed by the empty label, resulting in a fully qualified domain name ending with the dot character.

Origin

The need for fully qualified domain names first arose out of a requirement for uniformity as the Internet was quickly growing in size in the 1980s.

See also

• Domain level
• Domain name
• Domain Name System
• Top-level domain
• Root zone

External Links

• Fully qualified domain name @ Wikipedia