Understanding Internet addresses

An Internet or Web address (sometimes called a URL, or Uniform Resource Locator) typically is composed of four parts:

A protocol name (a protocol is a set of rules and standards that enable computers to exchange information)
The location of the site
The name of the organization that maintains the site
A suffix that identifies the kind of organization it is (such as .com for a commercial organization)

For example, the address http://www.microsoft.com/ provides the following information:

http:	This Web server uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
www	This site is on the World Wide Web.
microsoft	The Web server is at Microsoft Corporation.
com	This is a commercial institution.

When you are viewing a Web page, the page's address appears in the Address bar in Internet Explorer.