Adding "www" to a domain name offers several technical advantages, mainly related to DNS flexibility and cookie management. It's not about making your website address longer; it's about leveraging the www as a specific hostname, which provides operational benefits.
The Technical Advantages of Using www
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| DNS Flexibility | Using www as a hostname allows for more flexible DNS configuration, enabling easier server changes or migrations without impacting the naked domain. |
| Cookie Restrictions | www can help to restrict cookies to the www subdomain and prevent them from being unintentionally shared with other subdomains. |
| Legacy Compatibility | While not as critical today, some older systems or configurations might expect the www subdomain to be present. |
Explanation
- Hostname: The "www" acts as a specific hostname which, is a label that identifies a specific device on a network.
- Flexibility: Hostnames provide more flexibility in configuring DNS settings. For example, it becomes easier to point the www subdomain to a different server or IP address compared to the non-www version.
- Cookie Scope: Without a designated hostname like www, cookies can unintentionally become shared across subdomains. By using www, cookies can be confined to the main site. For example, using www.example.com ensures that cookies don't automatically apply to blog.example.com or other subdomains.
Practical Implications
Here are some practical implications of choosing www over a naked domain:
- Easier Server Migration: If you need to change hosting providers or servers, having www as the designated hostname simplifies the DNS update process.
- Subdomain Management: You can host different services under separate subdomains, such as blog.example.com, while keeping the main website under www.example.com, with different cookies.
- Redirection: While using the naked domain is also an option, one can configure a redirect from the naked domain to the www address.
In Conclusion
The www prefix provides a hostname for a website that helps with flexibility in DNS, the ability to restrict cookies to the www subdomain, and more. It doesn't offer a technical disadvantage, and while not strictly necessary for modern sites, it has become a convention with practical implications.
