How to Register a Domain Name
By John Bates: johnbates@mordesigns.com
06-04-2003
I thought it might be nice
for those who're thinking of registering a domain
name but haven't done so before or are inexperienced
to have a mini-tutorial and some pointers:
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Tutorial:
One registers a domain name
with a Domain Name Registrar by supplying specific
information and paying a fee, usually in increments
of a year (or years), which depending upon the
Registrar's TOS entitles one to either outright
ownership of or "leasing" of the specified
domain name for the specified time.
Along with the domain name
Registrant, there are three Contacts you will
need to identify and supply information for.
In addition, you will need
to supply Domain Name Server (DNS) information.
When one's contract with a
Registrar expires one needs to renew the contract.
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Definitions:
Registry
- A registry is responsible for delegating Internet
addresses such as Internet Protocol (IP) numbers
and domain names, and keeping a record of those
addresses and the information associated with
their delegation. Generally speaking, you will
have no interaction with any registry.
Registrar
- The organization through which one registers
a domain name. This organization interfaces
between a registry and one who wishes to register
a domain name.
Registrant
- The individual or organization that registers
a specific domain name with a domain name Registrar.
This individual or organization holds the right
to use that specific domain name for a specified
period of time. The Registrant is the "legal
entity" bound by the terms of the Service
Agreement with the Registrar. Ensure
that your own information is used here.
----
Contact
(aka "role" and "handle")
- There are usually three of these (sometimes
two and sometimes four), and they simply define
to the Registrar whom is in charge of what,
and where they can be contacted.
You can put yourself as all
three Contacts, if you wish.
These Contacts are:
Administrative Contact
- Who administers the account. This is the most
important contact to define correctly as it
has the greatest amount of control (ALL control).
The administrative contact has rights to change
any information related to the domain name account
including - Ownership, Transfer of Ownership,
Contact information, Domain Name Servers (DNS),
etc. Ensure
that your own info is used here.
Technical Contact
- Who administers the technical aspects related
to the domain name. This contact has limited
authorities including renewal of the domain
name, changing the DNS, and changing the technical
contact info. This contact does NOT have authority
to transfer ownership of the domain name. Usually
this contact is reserved for whomever will be
modifying the DNS info and has webmastering
abilities concerning your site.
Billing Contact
- Who will be handling the billing for the domain
name. Invoices for registration and re-registration/renewal
will be sent to this contact. This contact has
no authority to make any changes.
(Zone
Contact -
Now deprecated.)
----
Domain Name System
- A distributed database of information that
is used to translate domain names, which are
easy for humans to remember and use, into Internet
Protocol (IP) numbers, which are what computers
need to find each other on the Internet. People
working on computers around the globe maintain
their specific portion of this database, and
the data held in each portion of the database
is made available to all computers and users
on the Internet. The DNS comprises computers,
data files, software, and people working together.
(Domain name system is sometimes also called
DNS).
*Example -> IP = 123.123.123.123
-> translated to domain name -> www.yoursite.com
----
Domain Name Server
(DNS) - The actual
machine(s) in the domain name systems that store
and translate IP's to web addresses (domain
names). These are also referred to as "Host
Name Servers" or just "Name Servers".
Your host will supply you
with the Domain Name Server addresses that you
need to supply to your Registrar.
These Domain Name Servers
might look like:
ns1.hostserver.com
ns2.hostserver.com
ns3.hostserver.com
ns4.hostserver.com
----
Propogation
- The length of time it takes for ALL domain
name servers/systems to update their databases
so that your IP address correctly resolves to
your domain name (web address). This usually
can take up to 72 hours.
Whois
- A searchable database maintained by many Registrars,
which contains information about networks, networking
organizations, domain names, and the contacts
associated with them. You can use Whois to look
up information on any domain name or IP address.
****
So, in essence, you pick a
domain name, register it with a registrar by
supplying contact and DNS info, make your payment,
wait for it to propogate, enjoy the fruits of
your labor, and don't forget to renew before
it expires.
****
Pointers:
Ensure that you
are listed as the "Administrative"
contact, using a
current viable email address, as this
will allow you to retain complete control over
your domain name.
Keep
records (in a file cabinet?) of all information
you supply!!!
Ensure that you know when
your registration will expire and renew in plenty
of time beforehand.
Watch
out for "scams" in which some
third party attempts to pass themselves off
as one's registrar in order to wrest control
of the domain name from you, usually by sending
an "official" looking email, snailmail,
or fax, stating that your domain name is about
to expire and asking you to "renew"
your domain name.
****
A personal recommendation:
Stay away from Netsol/Verisign. They are a behemoth
and there are many horror stories across the
net about the domain name nightmares they cause.
We give positive recommendations
to GoDaddy. Cheap and Easy!
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We hope you find
this helpful!
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