MPPSC 2019 Prelims Q25: The domain name of the E-mail address

Q: What is the answer to MPPSC 2019 Prelims Q25?

C. Correct — C, ITdesk.info. Every e-mail address has the form local-part@domain. Whatever follows the '@' symbol is the domain name. Here the part after '@' is 'ITdesk.info', so that is the full domain name of the address.

MPPSC 2019 Prelims Paper-I · Question 25 of 99

Verified against the official question paper. Answer as per the official MPPSC answer key.

The domain name of the E-mail address mark.sttol@ITdesk.info is

(a)mark.sttol
(b).sttol
(c)ITdesk.info
(d).info

Answer

Why

Correct — C, ITdesk.info. Every e-mail address has the form local-part@domain. Whatever follows the '@' symbol is the domain name. Here the part after '@' is 'ITdesk.info', so that is the full domain name of the address.

Why the others are wrong

(a)mark.sttol — This is the username (local part) — the portion before the '@', which identifies the mailbox, not the domain.
(b).sttol — Just a fragment of the username; it is neither the domain nor any standalone part of the address.
(d).info — The trap — '.info' is only the top-level domain (TLD), a component of the domain, not the whole domain name.

Concept

An e-mail address is structured as local-part@domain. The local part (before '@') names the individual mailbox; the domain (after '@') identifies the mail server's domain. A domain name itself has parts — e.g. in 'ITdesk.info', 'ITdesk' is the second-level domain and '.info' is the top-level domain (TLD).

The question tests whether you can split an address at the '@'. The tempting wrong answer is '.info', because it looks like the 'domain-y' bit — but that is only the TLD; the complete domain name is everything after the '@'.

Key facts

E-mail address format: local-part@domain
The domain name is the whole string after '@' — here, ITdesk.info
'.info' alone is the top-level domain (TLD), only a part of the domain
In ITdesk.info, 'ITdesk' is the second-level domain and '.info' the TLD

Anatomy of mark.sttol@ITdesk.info

mark.sttol (A)→Username / local part — before the '@'

.sttol (B)→Just a fragment of the username — not a domain

ITdesk.info (C)→The DOMAIN NAME — everything after the '@'

.info (D)→Only the top-level domain (TLD) — a part of the domain

In any e-mail address local-part@domain, the whole string after '@' (ITdesk.info) is the domain name; '.info' alone is just the TLD.

Study next

Structure of an e-mail address: local part, '@', domainDomain Name System (DNS) — how names map to IP addressesTop-level domains (TLDs): generic (.com, .info, .org) and country-code (.in)URL structure: protocol, domain, pathE-mail security concepts: spoofing and phishing

Common traps

Selecting '.info' (the TLD) instead of the full domain name
Mistaking the username (local part) before '@' for the domain

Computer-awareness sets ask you to pick out the domain, the username or the TLD from a given e-mail address or URL; anchor 'everything after @ is the domain name.'

Related PYQs

MPPSC_2021_PRE_PaperI_Q292021Open & attempt →

On the Internet, the database that stores the names and addresses of different hosts is called ________.

(a) Domain Name Service
(b) Domain Name System (DNS)
(c) DNS File System
(d) None of these

Answer(b) Domain Name System (DNS)

Same domain-name concept — this later MPPSC question tests the DNS, the system behind the domain names identified here.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
In the e-mail address ram@gmail.com, the part 'gmail.com' is the:
- (a)username
- (b)domain name
- (c)protocol
- (d)password
Answer(b) domain name — the portion after the '@'.
practice — not a real PYQ
In a domain name such as example.info, the part '.info' is called the:
- (a)subdomain
- (b)top-level domain (TLD)
- (c)local part
- (d)IP address
Answer(b) top-level domain (TLD) — the last segment of a domain name.