.gb
Encyclopedia
.gb is a reserved Internet
country code
top-level domain
(ccTLD) for the United Kingdom
. Introduced at the same time as the UK's other top-level domain (.uk
), it was never widely used. It is no longer possible to register under this domain.
The rule in the Domain Name System
is that a top-level domain for a country is derived from the corresponding two-letter code in the ISO 3166-1
list. Accordingly the correct code for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is GB, and the .gb top-level domain was therefore delegated.
The pre-existing JANET Name Registration Scheme
had used "UK" as a country code, so the UK also applied to Jon Postel
of IANA
for the .uk TLD. This was granted, and all UK domain names are now issued as .uk, rather than .gb.
.gb was used for a number of years, mainly by British government organisations and commercial e-mail
services using X.400
-based e-mail infrastructure. This simplified translating between DNS domains and X.400 addresses, which used "GB" as a country code.
With the demise of X.400
e-mail and IANA's general aim of one TLD per country, use of .gb declined; the domain remains in existence, but it is not open to new subdomain registrations.
One .gb subdomain still exists in the DNS (as of 2010):
, and has three known hostname
s remaining:
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
country code
Country code
Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The best known of these is ISO 3166-1...
top-level domain
Top-level domain
A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...
(ccTLD) for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Introduced at the same time as the UK's other top-level domain (.uk
.uk
.uk is the Internet country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. , it is the fourth most popular top-level domain worldwide , with over 9.5 million registrations....
), it was never widely used. It is no longer possible to register under this domain.
The rule in the Domain Name System
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
is that a top-level domain for a country is derived from the corresponding two-letter code in the ISO 3166-1
ISO 3166-1
ISO 3166-1 is part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , and defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation of names...
list. Accordingly the correct code for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is GB, and the .gb top-level domain was therefore delegated.
The pre-existing JANET Name Registration Scheme
JANET NRS
The JANET NRS was a pseudo-hierarchical naming scheme adopted for use on British academic and research networks before the superficially similar system used by the Internet DNS had been fully established....
had used "UK" as a country code, so the UK also applied to Jon Postel
Jon Postel
Jonathan Bruce Postel was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards...
of IANA
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is the entity that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System , media types, and other Internet Protocol-related symbols and numbers...
for the .uk TLD. This was granted, and all UK domain names are now issued as .uk, rather than .gb.
.gb was used for a number of years, mainly by British government organisations and commercial e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
services using X.400
X.400
X.400 is a suite of ITU-T Recommendations that define standards for Data Communication Networks for Message Handling Systems — more commonly known as "email"....
-based e-mail infrastructure. This simplified translating between DNS domains and X.400 addresses, which used "GB" as a country code.
With the demise of X.400
X.400
X.400 is a suite of ITU-T Recommendations that define standards for Data Communication Networks for Message Handling Systems — more commonly known as "email"....
e-mail and IANA's general aim of one TLD per country, use of .gb declined; the domain remains in existence, but it is not open to new subdomain registrations.
One .gb subdomain still exists in the DNS (as of 2010):
dra.hmg.gb, belonging to Her Majesty's Government's former Defence Research AgencyDefence Research Agency
The Defence Research Agency , was an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time the DRA was Britain's largest science and technology organisation...
, and has three known hostname
Hostname
A hostname is a label that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network and that is used to identify the device in various forms of electronic communication such as the World Wide Web, e-mail or Usenet...
s remaining:
hermes.dra.hmg.gb, delos.dra.hmg.gb and dfhnet.dra.hmg.gb.External links
- IANA .gb whois information
- JANET(UK) website
- www.dra.hmg.gb Last accessible copy of www.dra.hmg.gb in the Internet Archive
- Official country code for Britain = GB or UK? Email discussion on GB domain (2002) with historical zonefiles.