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Buying and Owning a Domain Name 3

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BoulderBum

BoulderBum

Programmer
Jul 11, 2002
2,179
US
Does anyone know how domain name purchasing works? How does one go about owning a name? Do the sites that claim they will "register" your name for you actually give you ownership (for the yearly fee), or do they sort of rent it out to you?
 
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"go to a registration site and ask them maybe?"

Actually, I did (after I wrote the post), but I wanted to get the informed opinion of someone who wasn't looking to sell me something also.

I guess the way it works is that you pay to register a name and point it to a site. I was worried that if a site got popular, the registration companies would sort of blackmail you into paying more for the "registration" but I guess that is not the case (at least with Verisign's register.com).

Thanks for the replies, guys.
 
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Never use Verisign/Netsol. They are the very ones who cause problems, promote by spam, and have been the subject of 3 Class Action suits, and was the target of ridicule for their highjacking of "non existing" domain names to their Sitefinder site. They were also slapped in the face by a federal judge for their deceitful practices.

I suggest you use godaddy. They are cheap, and will set-up a way to park your domain until you find hosting.
 
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use a place called hostingrevolution.com very good and very cheap ecspecailly if your site isnt very 'popular' right now i spend 25 bucks a year for a gig of bandwidth an 50 mega of space an thats all i need...i use that stie just for like testing new scripts or learning new languages but there really good an have many options
 
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Jammer1221 is indirectly making a point I was about to make. Since most people don't run their own web servers, you need not only a domain but a hosting service. The easiest (and often cheapest) way to get a domain registered is to choose a hoster and let them handle the registration as part of their service to you (almost all of them do that). I use Netfronts (they aren't as cheap as jammer1221's favorite, but I can say that they do a great job at features, uptime, improvements, and customer care; some hosters won't even answer email - I know firsthand). Anyway, there are tons of hosters out there - you can read about various ones, and find sites who critique them.

Regarding how the domain thing works, I don't know whether you want to call it ownership or rental, but once you have it, it's yours - while it is registered to you, no one can take it away from you. But if you don't keep the registration current (which is cheap but isn't free), it becomes available again. Again, if you go with a good hoster, they will remind you when your registration needs renewing.
 
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One thing about the actual name registration, cheaper is not always better. I once had a client who had their domain registered with the cheapest people they could find (it was also a hosting company). When my client decided to move their site to another host, the hosting company refused to transfer the domain, stating that THEY owned it and my client had only been renting it. My client had to register a new domain name for his web site, email, etc...

Now, I'm sure these situations are few and far between, but it does happen so make sure you know what you're getting in to before you "sign on the dotted line".

Hope This Helps!

Ecobb
- I hate computers!
 
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I've been happy with mydomain.com. They have 8.50 domain name registration and also offer e-mail and web hosting. I haven't tried their hosting and have only had one problem with their domain service when the went through a major upgrade (which they resolved promptly).

Kevin
A+, Network+, MCP
 
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Check the fine print with any of the registrars you use. You never "own" the name you register, you are actually leasing the name. the name is yours for as long as you continue making annual payments to keep the name. If you fail to make a payment, the name goes back to the public domain and will be available to anyone that wants to lease it.

When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.
 
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My personal favorite is ipowerweb.com. I have been using them for a couple of years now & have not a single complaint.
 
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If I have my way, the site I develop will outgrow a hosting environment and be run on my own servers. For the time being, however, I will probably go with some host.

Anyone know of any good ones that support ASP.NET/ SQL Server and offer lots of storage? I plan to build a sort of community, complete with profiles, stored mail, forums and the like, and I'm sure 50MB of storage won't cut it.

Also, has anyone tried transferring info off of these hosts? How hard is it to import your data to a new environment? Do you actually have full access to your databases? ...Maybe I'd be better off hosting from home at the get-go.
 
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Netfronts ( your choice of Windows or Linux server, and the Windows Bronze plan has 150MB and a whole list of services, including ASP.net and ODBC connection to database (I assume that means there is a database back there to connect to :)). If you need more, you can move up to Silver (250MB and more services) or beyond for a couple dollars more per month. I don't know a lot about the ins and outs of Windows servers (I like Unix/Linux myself), but you can check it out yourself. I'm sure someone else will beat the price (11.95/month for Bronze), but I have had two domains hosted on Netfronts for about three years, and I can say that their quality of service is top-notch - they'll take care of you. They even changed the configuration of their web server for me when I had a need (added additional default page file extensions). They keep their servers upgraded, and normally without any downtime at all. And again, I don't know how Windows servers work, but I have full access to my database for dumps and stuff - if there is something I can't do through the database tools on their "control panel", I can log on with SSH and work from the command line as if I was sitting at the server's console.

No, I don't get a referral fee - I'm just a happy customer. I host a third domain on a different hoster (I needed Japanese language support for a database, which Netfronts doesn't have), and I have been quite frustrated with them - they don't even answer my emails! So don't just shop by price.

Good luck in your search and establishing your domain and site(s).
 
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Goattoes here. I used freewebs.com to begin a website. Decided I wanted my own domain name and used their registration link. The charge for the name and privacy shows up on bank statement but when I do a search the name appears as not registered. When I go to free webs it says I have no domain name and I cannot get to my account info or to edit my homepage. Have I been stiffed? Also did a WHOIS search and did not find my domain name. I am grateful for any assistance you can render.
 
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Hi mate,

It takes time for the domain to show in a Whois search, the Whois databases are not updated in real time. If after 24 hours the domain still shows as available, then most likely there is a problem.

Hope this helps

Wullie


The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell
 
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Whoever you register your domain with, MAKE CERTAIN that you are the administrator of record! Many companies that "do it for you" list themselves as the administrator and thus, retain ownership of the domain name. If they go out of business, your domain name goes with them. There was a post in the HTML forum about this very thing a few weeks ago. Poor chap had his hosting company fold and they had done the "domain thing" for him. Now he is unable to recover and use his domain because his name doesn't exist on the domain ownership records.

There's always a better way. The fun is trying to find it!
 
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Thanks to both Wullie and tviman for responses. I registered this domain on 5/21/04. Will keep lookingto get in to freewebs site to get an email to them.
 
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