Section 4 - Parts of an Email Address

Every email user on the Internet has a unique e-mail address that identifies an electronic post office box on a network where e-mail can be sent. Different types of networks have different formats for e-mail addresses. On the Internet, all e-mail addresses have a similar form. All addresses must have a user name and a domain. For example, an email address at St. Edward's University might look like this:

itccmail@stedwards.edu

username@domain

The first part of the address <itccmail> is also known as the user name. This is the unique name recognized by the mail server.

The @ symbol separates the unique user name from the domain. The domain in this case is stedwards.edu. The domain name may also be broken down into parts. Understanding the parts of the domain name is helpful in deciphering the origin of an email address.

The mail server at St. Edward's University for all faculty, staff, and students is <stedwards>.

The last part of the address, <edu>, is the top-level domain (TLD) in the hierarchical Domain Name System. Examples of top-level domains include:

• gov - Government agencies
• edu - Educational institutions
• org - Organizations (nonprofit)
• mil - Military
• com - Commercial business
• net - Network organizations
• ca - Canada or th - Thailand - both of these are examples of country domains.