Why is WWW necessary in some URLs?

[Nehmo Sergheyev]

How come sometimes it's necessary to use WWW in a URL and sometimes it's
not? This is an example. The first link doesn't work but the second
does.
http://packet8.net/
http://www.packet8.net/

But with other URLs, the WWW doesn't seem to be needed.

http://enterprisenetworksandservers.com/
http://www.enterprisenetworksandservers.com/

I'm using IE6

 

[Andrew Cameron]

How come sometimes it's necessary to use WWW in a URL and sometimes
it's not?

It has nothing to do with the browser or even HTML - it's just how the
server the site is stored on is configured. I always configure mine to
respond to requests for URLs without the "www".

 

[Leif K-Brooks]

How come sometimes it's necessary to use WWW in a URL and sometimes it's
not?

www. is just a subdomain, similar to foobar.somewhere.com. It has to do
with the site, not your browser.

 

[brucie]

How come sometimes it's necessary to use WWW in a URL and sometimes it's
not?

http://www.webdeveloper.com/management/manage_fix_www.html

 

[Richard]

www. is just a subdomain, similar to foobar.somewhere.com. It has to do
with the site, not your browser.

Give that man a ceegar for the best bullshit of the day!

 

[Richard]

How come sometimes it's necessary to use WWW in a URL and sometimes it's
not? This is an example. The first link doesn't work but the second
does.
http://packet8.net/
http://www.packet8.net/

But with other URLs, the WWW doesn't seem to be needed.

I'm using IE6

It was originally required that all web sites use the "WWW" prefix
regardless.
Then Microsoft introduced into IE a way that you didn't need to include it
every time.
From there, server software evolved to totally disregard if desired.
If you use IE 4, yep, you'll need to include it.
I think.

 

[Hywel Jenkins]

Give that man a ceegar for the best bullshit of the day!

The thing is, he's correct, though "HTTP server configuration" may have
been better than "site". The "www." in "www.hyweljenkins.co.uk" has the
same context as "demo." in "demo.hyweljenkins.co.uk".

What's your take on the OP's question?

 

[Leif K-Brooks]

Give that man a ceegar for the best bullshit of the day!

s/that man/Richard

 

[somebody]

Give that man a ceegar for the best bullshit of the day!

Erm, that's my understanding of it...

It's DNS, has jack all to do with the browser.

 

[Richard]

Give that man a ceegar for the best bullshit of the day!

[/QUOTE]

Erm, that's my understanding of it...

It's DNS, has jack all to do with the browser.

The "www" is not a subdomain of anything.
It was required by ICANN and other authorities.

 

[somebody]

The "www" is not a subdomain of anything.
It was required by ICANN and other authorities.

I don't know what you mean by "not a subdomain of anything". Unless
there's a DNS entry for www.domain, it won't resolve, and you won't be
able to get to it.

 

[Toby A Inkster]

The thing is, he's correct, though "HTTP server configuration" may have
been better than "site".

Even better: DNS configuration. HTTP server configuration only comes into
play in some cases.

 

[Toby A Inkster]

I think.

You don't give that impression.

 

[Andy Dingley]

It was originally required that all web sites use the "WWW" prefix
regardless.

No you dipstick, it was a convention that people did this because
admins who ran "real" applications over the 'net (like email) didn't
want these upstart web people getting out of their playpens. www. is
just a convenience for DNS, so web traffic could easily be routed
separately, even back in the days before port-based routing was
commonplace.

There has _never_ been a browser (counterexamples welcome) that had a
problem resolving sites without the www. However (AFAIR) some IE
mutants did have a habit of assuming it at one time.

The only reason to use it these days is that a URL printed on a
billboard is sometimes a little long for easy reading.
http://foobar.com or www.foobar.com are both obviously "web site
addresses", but "foobar.com" alone doesn't have quite the same brand
recognition to Joe Punter.

 

[SeeSchloss]

Le 01/01/2004, Richard a écrit cet amas de lettres dans le

The "www" is not a subdomain of anything.
It was required by ICANN and other authorities.

Please could you refrain yourself from posting when you
don't have the slightest idea of what you're saying ?

 

[William Tasso]

Le 01/01/2004, Richard a écrit cet amas de lettres dans le


Please could you refrain yourself from posting when you
don't have the slightest idea of what you're saying ?

/shocked

What you are suggesting would be a break from one of the oldest traditions
of usenet. It's part of the culture godamit.

 

[Hywel Jenkins]

The "www" is not a subdomain of anything.

IN this URI, "www.hyweljenkins.com", "www" is a subdomain of the
"hyweljenkins.com" domain. It is just the case that my host has
configured both *different* URIs to point at the same root directory.

It was required by ICANN and other authorities.

Oh just STFU. You whinge when people shoot you down, then you continue
to talk crap. You really are an idiot.

 

[Hywel Jenkins]

If you use IE 4, yep, you'll need to include it.
Rubbish.


I think.

Liar.

 

[Richard]

The "www" is not a subdomain of anything.
It was required by ICANN and other authorities.

[/QUOTE]

I don't know what you mean by "not a subdomain of anything". Unless
there's a DNS entry for www.domain, it won't resolve, and you won't be
able to get to it.

www.subdomain.domain.com http://subdomain.domain.com

Now that is a subdomain. A subdomain means you can put files into it and it
acts like any directory.
www.domain.com/subdomain/
resolves to the same thing as above technically speaking.
but can be something else depending on the software setup.
Or, the host can setup a redirect page letting you know not to come in this
way.

"www" is not a subdomain of any domain name.

 

[somebody]

www.subdomain.domain.com http://subdomain.domain.com

Now that is a subdomain. A subdomain means you can put files into it and it
acts like any directory.
www.domain.com/subdomain/
WTF?

resolves to the same thing as above technically speaking.
but can be something else depending on the software setup.
Or, the host can setup a redirect page letting you know not to come in this
way.

"www" is not a subdomain of any domain name.

http://tinyurl.com/ywf8o

Or maybe you need this:

http://tinyurl.com/36j7d