Data routing

Using domain names for addressing and gateways for translation greatly facilitates the routing of the data being transferred. Routing is the assignment of a path by which a message reaches its destination.

The domain name effectively defines the message destination. In a large network like the Internet, information is routed from one communications network to the next until that information reaches its destination. Each communications network checks the domain name and, based on the domains with which that network is familiar, routes the information on to the next logical stop. In this way, each communications network that receives the data contributes to the routing process.