Domain Naming FAQ
The University on Maine System provides name service to a number of educational and non-profit organizations in Maine as well as to the University of Maine System itself. A topic that seems to consume a lot of time and effort is coming up with a domain name for a group. This FAQ provides answers for questions on domain name rules and conventions as they apply to the University of Maine System, K-12 Schools, libraries, technical and vocational schools and community colleges.
Index
- What is a Domain Name?
- Are domain names case sensitive?
- How long can a domain name be?
- What characters or symbols are allowed?
- What are the conventions for K-12 schools?
- What are the conventions for Libraries?
- What are the conventions for Technical and Vocational Schools?
What is a Domain Name?
A domain name may be the name used on the internet for a machine, a mail drop or for
an organization or group. If you have sent or received e-mail, it is the part of the
mail address after the @.
Are domain names case sensitive?
No they are not case sensitive. Maine.edu is the same as MAINE.EDU.
How long can a domain name be?
It depends. The maximum length without a period is 63 characters, and the total maximum length of a name is 254 characters.
What characters or symbols are allowed?
Only the letters "a" through "z", the numerals "0"
through "9", the hyphen "-" and the period "."
may appear in domain names.
Also, while the first character of a domain name my be a numeral, it is not encouraged as some software does not handle it properly.
What are the conventions for K-12 schools?
For the last few years, Schools in the Kindergarten through grade 12 range have been
required to register under the .US TLD (Top Level Domain).
The convention for public schools is names of the form: school.district.K12.ME.US.
Where school is some designation for the particular school and district is the name
of the school district. Examples: DEERING.PORTLAND.K12.ME.US,
TELSTAR.SAD44.K12.ME.US, RMG.U102.K12.ME.US. Naming
conventions for hosts under these domains are up to these schools.
Private schools have the choice of two different conventions. The first is much like
the public schools, but uses PVT for the district name. Example:
FOXCROFT.PVT.K12.ME.US, GOULD.PVT.K12.ME.US. Since private
schools are considered businesses, they may also register under the locality.
This leads to names of the form: school.locality.ME.US. Example:
WESTWOOD.EAST-NOWHERE.ME.US.
What are the conventions for Libraries?
For the last few years, Libraries have been required to register under the
.US TLD (Top Level Domain).
In the case of Maine, this leads to names of the form: library.LIB.ME.US.
Examples: PORTLAND.LIB.ME.US, VHAVEN.LIB.ME.US. Naming
conventions for hosts under these domains are up to these libraries.
What are the conventions for Technical and Vocational Schools?
For the last few years, Technical and Vocational Schools have been required to register
under the .US TLD (Top Level Domain).
In the case of Maine, this leads to names of the form school.TEC.ME.US.
Example: MTCS.TEC.ME.US. Naming conventions for hosts under these domains
are up to these schools.