Domains

Domain Names

Before we jump into the different types of web hosting, it’s important to remember although you do not require a domain name most clients choose to have one. A domain name (eg. bowseranana.com) is your unique address so your website can be found on the internet in easily remembered terms. The domain name is essentially your company’s internet address; the same way your company’s street address is used to find your offices, a domain name is used to find your website. Considering this, pick a domain name that’s memorable and relevant.

 

Registering a Domain

Since domains are so simple, buying them is too. This process is called registering the domain. This gives you control and ownership over this name and makes it unavailable to anyone else.

 

Registrar

A domain name registrar is an organization or commercial entity that manages the reservation of internet domain names. Many registrars also offer registration through reseller affiliates, like a lot of web hosting companies. An end-user registers either directly with a registrar, or indirectly through one or more layers of resellers. The resellers determine the costs and charge the clients directly, paying the affiliate registrar’s according to their terms.

 

 

Domain Costs

Domains vary in cost between different registrar’s and resellers. Some are included free with certain hosting plans. Different extensions can cost more as well as add-ons like domain privacy.

Extensions

A domain extension is the suffix at the end of a web address, like .com or .net. If you’re having trouble getting the web address you want, consider using different extensions.

 

TLD

Short for top-level domain, and refers to the suffix attached to Internet domain names. There are a limited number of predefined suffixes, and each one represent a top-level domain. Current top-level domains include:

com- commercial businesses; this is the most common TLD

gov- U.S. government agencies

edu- Educational institutions such as universities

org- Organizations (mostly nonprofit)

mil- Military

net- Network organizations

ca- Canada

th – Thailand

 

Transfers

A domain name transfer is the process of changing the designated registrar of a domain name.

The end user verifies that the whois admin contact info is correct, particularly the email address; then obtains the authentication code (EPP Transfer Code) from the old/current registrar, and removes any domain lock that has been placed on the registration. If the whois information had been out of date and is now updated, the end-user should wait 12–24 hours before proceeding further, to allow time for the updated data to propagate.

The end user contacts the new registrar with the wish to transfer the domain name to their service, and supplies the authentication code. This can be done through a form on most registrar’s websites.

The gaining registrar must obtain express authorization from either the registered name holder or the administrative contact. A transfer may only proceed if confirmation of the transfer is received by the gaining registrar from one of these contacts. The authorization must be made via a valid standardized form of authorization, which may be sent e.g. by e-mail to the e-mail addresses listed in the WHOIS. The registered name holder, or the administrative contact must confirm the transfer. The new registrar starts electronically the transfer of the domain with the help of the authentication code (auth code).

The old registrar will contact the end user to confirm the authenticity of this request. The end user may have to take further action with the old registrar, such as returning to the online management tools, to re-iterate their desire to proceed, in order to expedite the transfer.

The old registrar will release authority to the new registrar.

The new registrar will notify the end user of transfer completion. The new registrar may have automatically copied over the domain server information, and everything on the website will continue to work as before. Otherwise, the domain server information (name servers) will need to be updated with the new registrar.

 

Expiry/Redemption

Expired domains are held for a grace period defined by the Registry. During the grace period, all services (such as the website and email) cease working until the name is renewed (if and when this happens). As well, name server/DNS changes are not possible. When the domain expires the DNS is temporarily changed, and a web page explaining the need for renewal may be shown

Below you will see examples of how a domain’s loading page may appear when they are expired. * Note they usually reflect whatever domain register they are are purchased through.

 

When the domain is renewed, the DNS will be changed back to the previous DNS entries.

At the end of the grace period one of three things may happen, the domain is marked for deletion, and the domain name enters a redemption period, which is an additional period of time provided to recover the domain name. The cost to recover the domain will be more than the cost of a renewal, and recovery is only available to the former domain owner. The precise time when the domain is finally deleted depends on the registry, but many domains are deleted 30-35 days after entering the redemption period.

 

Privacy

Domain registrar’s require the collection of essential contact information, such as the registrant’s name, email address, mailing address, phone number, etc. This information is often displayed in the global Whois system, which is public, and can be viewed by anyone. If you would like to keep your contact information private for a domain then you may sign up Whois Privacy. This service will replace the public information that you provide with an anonymous email address and replacing your address and contact information with the information from an entity called “Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc.”. Please check with your registrar for additional cost as some do charge for this add-on.

 

Renewal options

Domains can be set to be purchased for up to ten years in advance, and are at minimum a one year renewal. You can choose many options for this like pre-paying, have one included with your hosting renewal, or set the domain to auto renew with billing details kept on file.

 

Primary domain

The primary domain is the main domain on the hosting account in which all other domain types are under. As you will learn in the information below you can have several variations of domain names and additional domains attached to the hosting package. The primary being your main domain.

 

Sub-domains

A sub-domain is an easy way to create a memorable web address for unique content areas of your site. For example, you could create a sub-domain for pictures on your site called “pics” that is accessible through the url: learnstuff.bowseranana.com. These are no extra fees as far as the domain fees are concerned, but possibly extra for hosting concerns.

 

Name servers

A name server is a computer hardware or software server that implements a network service for providing responses to queries against the directory service. Setting up name servers on your domain is how you tell the domain name what server to look to for the sites DNS basically. Some name servers have only two name servers, some more. The basic and most common being ns1.domainname and ns2.domainname, like below example:

 

ns1.bowseranana.com

ns2.bowseranana.com

The registrar normally defaults to their own name servers, and your account and if hosted with them too they will normally also provide a default site page. Something like “under construction, or welcome to the future site of “domain name”. Name servers can only be updated on the register side and take a 24-48 hour time frame to propagate. This is normally much quicker these days but we choose to give a worst case scenario causing less confusion or conflict.

 

Contact Information

Each domain registered must include contact details. These contact details are entered into a WHOIS database so that the domain owner can be contacted if necessary for various reasons.

• (Registrant Contact)The organization or person that has the rights to use (or “ownership” of) the domain.
• (Administrative Contact)Contact person for the domain for administrative, non-technical matters. Example, for legal matters,          change of ownership, etc.
• (Technical Contact)Contact person for domain’s technical matters.

No contact details are used for sub-domains. Sub-domains will use                        the “parent” domain’s contact information.

 

EPP Code

The EPP Authorization Code is a secret code, a case sensitive string, assigned by the registrar when creating a domain name. The EPP Code is basically a password for the domain, and is one of the most powerful safeguards against unauthorized transfers of a domain name, and it protects your rights as a domain owner. In other words, EPP Codes are an extra security measure ensuring that only the actual domain name owner is able to initiate an outgoing domain transfer towards another registrar.

 

 

IPS Tag

IPS tags are similar to an EPP code where they are used to transfer a domain. The IPS tags are the form of transfer security to mark the registrar to the domain and used by UK domains, like bowseranana.co.uk. This protects domains from being transferred away from a current owner if the domain’s tag has not been updated to another registrar’s tag. Only the current registrar is able to update a domain’s IPS tag.