Domain Names Explanation Could someone please help me?

I need to understand domain names becasue im moving my parents hosting soon and need to have their domains go with them.Could someone please explain:* how they work* who 'holds' then i.e. what are the point of retailers* anything else i need to knowthanks in advance

hi organicbmx ...Well i think its like there is the main Registrar for domains with a database of domains whoose affilates are register.com,directi and many other domain companies. which further give u option for becoming affilates, this is general thing abt domains..Now if you have problem shifting your parents hosting to your domain its very easy.!First get to know the present hosting dns server of your parents hosting company...! {better ask the hosting company ...as for example on Xisto its nsi.astahost.com and ns2.astahost.com .} find this and when u bought the domain ... the domain company will have provided you with control panel for domain management..!Go there and go n point it to your hosting company dns server !next step ....Your parents hosting company will have given acess to Cpanel or something similar to controll ! there enter ur domain in the parked domains..! {well it takes more than 24 hours for the domain company to turn n register ur dns server so try 2nd step after 24 hours}And this way you can shift the domains!Well i guess i may be wrong here n there but i said what all i knew about domains. Donno anything more

* how they work

Domain names are part of the public DNS system, run by an (officially) international and independent body called ICANN. The main purpose of the DNS system is to allow one to use words instead of the numbers of an IP address to find a website, or any other "host" on the Internet. It is much easier to type "yahoo" into the address bar of your browser, and have the browser to convert it to "http://yahoo.com/;, which DNS will then convert to an IP address, than to type in "http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/; . In addition, the use of a name allows the site owner to quickly and transparently change to a different server or network if there are technical problems with one.
The DNS system is hierarchical. In general, except for the name of the protocol at the beginning, you read a URL from the right. Take http://www.broker-reviews.us/index.shtml or http://broker-reviews.us/index.shtml (one of my sites). Ignore the index.shtml at the end. It has nothing to do with the domain name; it is a specific document on my virtual server. Since the virtual server has a default document, if you just type in the domain name, with a protocol name and a trailing slash if you have a browser which doesn't provide them, you will get the same document.
Once DNS starts to look for a numerical address corresponding to broker-reviews.us , it first checks to see if you are on the same domain. You aren't, because I "own" (really 'rent') that domain, and would know if you were on it. It then checks to see if one of the local DNS servers has a copy of that name cached, if it has been used recently by someone near you. Unlikely. It then goes to the end of the domain name and sees .us. It checks copies of the few main ICANN servers to see where it can find a list of "second-level domains" in that "top level domain". It goes to one of those DNS servers and finds the corresponding IP address, and then sends your request for a document to my virtual server. The www. near the beginning of the URL used to represent a subdomain, and if it were replaced in something like "george.broker-reviews.us" it still would, but today the www. means very little. On my server, like many others, it's a meaningless redirect.

Some top level domains are called "unrestricted" and some are called "restricted". Anyone can rent ("buy") an unrestricted subdomain like .com or .org. Many top level domains are restricted, and some are more restricted than others. .us is technically restricted to US citizens, companies located in the US, or companies doing substantial business in the US. It is technically restricted, but very easy to get. If you try to get your own .mil domain, on the other hand, you will find it impossible.

* who 'holds' then i.e. what are the point of retailers

There are retailers for domains because ICANN, who really controls the domain system, doesn't sell domains to the public. Some retailers are authorized by ICANN directly to sell domains to the public, some are "resellers", who are in effect marketers for domains sold by others. You will find different opinions on the different retailers all over the Net. One warning: it is usually bad to buy a domain name from one of the more expensive retailers, like Network Solutions, because their service is no better and often worse. You'll just pay more for the same name. You also might want to avoid the very cheapest resellers, who may be fly-by-nights who won't be there when you need to renew your domain, which will cause problems for you.

* anything else i need to know

It's very hard to answer that one. Ask a more specific question, and I'm sure that someone here will try to help.