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[HOWTO] Web Domain Registration service recommendation?

Subject: [HOWTO] Web Domain Registration service recommendation?
From: Lou Quillio <public -at- quillio -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 19:43:35 -0400


charjt -at- helpstuff -dot- com wrote:

When we register domains for our clients, *they* retain
ownership. We're the technical contact and usually the billing
contact, while they are the administrative contact. This is part
of the service we provide, in that we take care of their renewals
and they don't have to worry that another company will 'steal'
their account.

I think that's the level of service most folks expect from their registrar/reseller. It's unfortunate there's even a market for hand-holding, but I guess there is.

Let's talk a little more about "ownership" and retaining control.

Be the Admin Contact, Always
============================

Domain name "ownership" is a misnomer. When you register an Internet domain name, you've purchased an exclusive use license for a certain period, usually measured in years. It's okay to *think* in terms of ownership, but that's not exactly what's happening. Just so we're clear.

There are "administrative", "technical", and "billing" contacts listed on the domain record. "Administrative contact" is the one that matters. The admin contact can change anything. In general, then, the "owner" is the admin contact.

When you register a domain name, make certain that you're the admin contact.

Admin Contact Email is the Key
==============================

You also want to make sure to list an administrative contact email address that you're certain you'll retain control of. That email address is the key to altering the record: change confirmations will be authenticated through the admin contact email address.

You should NOT list an email account at the domain itself.

Probably the sturdiest choice (at this moment) for an admin contact email address is a Gmail account. If you use an account at your Internet service provider and later move or change providers, you'll lose control of the domain record. There are fax and postal-mail fixes for this but, trust me, you don't want to be in that position. A employer-based account presents the same problem.

So some kind of third-party email account is best. Webmail is ideal, but Hotmail or Yahoo Mail are iffy, since if you stop using those accounts for awhile they may be suspended. Right now, Gmail will not suspend you for inactivity.

(I'll be happy to send a Gmail (Google Mail) invite to anybody who asks.)

If you're serious about keeping the domain name you've registered, go ahead and register it for multiple years, say three. Thirty bucks U.S. Why fool around? It's your *brand*, damn it, and it's cheap to do.

Verify the Domain Record
========================

Immediately after registering your domain name, look-up the domain record to ensure that YOU and YOUR chosen email address are listed as administrative contact. For that matter, you should be the billing and technical contacts, too. There is NO advantage to having these be another party.

There are many ways to look-up the domain record. A simple way is to use the whois query at Geektools.com:

http://geektools.com/whois.php

If your registrar/reseller has helpfully listed itself as the admin, technical or billing contacts, have those changed immediately. It is your right to insist on this. Domain name registration is a public matter. No one may attach conditions.

Don't Get Played
================

Look, ICANN doesn't have a lot of money, that's why they license commercial concerns to process domain registrations. There's no money in it for those concerns unless they can also get you to buy hosting services. That's why they make it seem like it's all one ball of wax. It's not. You can use any provider's ICANN gateway and have nothing to do with them again.

So register your domain name on price, ensure that the domain record lists only you and your sturdy email address, and that there's a tool to alter the record. Make all other decisions on a separate basis. Maybe you'll use them for hosting, maybe you won't. Maybe you will at first and change later.

If you want *total* control, hire a DNS service. I pay DNSMadeEasy.com $30US/yr to handle DNS for up to fifty domains. They have five redundant nameservers globally.

Wherever I registered a domain, I point the record to DNSMadeEasy's nameservers (not directly to the host I plan to use). Then I login to my DNSMadeEasy account, and point each domain to the IP of the host I've chosen. Host screws up? I go to DNSMadeEasy and point the domain to another host. Time-to-live (TTL) is minutes, not days. I can even re-point domains to my local box. DME also does real-time monitoring, and will advise every time your host goes down, if you like.

------------- ----------- --------
| Domain | -> | DNS | -> | Web |
| Registrar | | Service | | Host |
------------- ----------- --------

These don't have anything to do with each other, unless you want them to.

Oh yeah, DNSMadeEasy.com also has a domain name registration service:

http://www.domainsmadeeasy.com/

These are the good guys. They tell the truth. No BS. $7.85US/yr for .coms.

LQ

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Follow-Ups:

References:
Web Domain Registration service recommendation?: From: Kathleen
Re: Web Domain Registration service recommendation?: From: Ed Wurster
Re: Web Domain Registration service recommendation?: From: charjt

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