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| Manage your domain name or domain names |
Administering Your Domain Name
This article deals with the responsibilities you have for administering your domain name. Various registrars use different interfaces for the procedures related to administering your domain name. The article will give you a general idea of the responsibilities you have for administering your domain name. For the exact way, in which the process is carried out you should read the relevant pages on your registrar’s web site (in our case - FateBack.com).
1. Providing/Changing DNS server information
In order to point your domain name to a website you should provide information that matches the IP address of the site with the domain name. The Domain Name Server (DNS) converts the text string of your domain name into a number comprehensible for a computer. If you change the IP address of your site by moving it to a different web host, for example, you have to modify the DNS data for your domain name. There are two DNS servers that are linked to your domain name – a primary and a secondary one. When someone searches for your domain name in a web browser, it gets the DNS information from the primary server, and if the primary server is not available, for any reason, the browser refers to the secondary DNS server. Occasionally more than two DNS servers can be linked to a domain name to improve reliability.
A DNS record is something similar to this:
Primary DNS: dns1.fateback.net
Secondary DNS: dns2.fateback.net
You should get the correct format for the DNS records from your web host. When you get the DNS records from your web host, you should update the settings for your domain name through your registrar’s administrative interface.
If you check the Whois database on the next day, you should see the updated DNS settings for your domain name. You should know that the changing of DNS settings is not immediate. The root server is updated one or two times a day and then the changes automatically spread across the internet, but the whole process will need between 48 to 72 hours to complete. During this time, your site will become inaccessible for some Internet users. If you modify your DNS setting right after you change your web host, the traffic to your web page will drop almost completely for the first day, and then will rise to about half the normal level in the next 24 to 48 hours before steadily reaching its usual level. Your registrar has no control over this process; this is simply how the DNS system works. After your registrar records the DNS changes for your domain all you can do is wait until they reach all Internet users.
If you want to check the IP address connected to your domain name, you can use the ping tool that is included in most operating systems. Just type ping domainameyoucheck.com on the command prompt (or open a DOS or command prompt window, on a computer using Windows) of a computer that is connected to the internet and you will get some technical information together with the IP address you seek.
2. Changing technical or billing contact information for your domain name
The technical contact is the person who gets the e-mails that verify changes to your domain name records. The billing contact is the person or enterprise that gets renewal invoice for your domain name. Your registrar should let you change this information relatively easy through their domain name control interface, since the technical and the billing contact do not control the domain name. The admin contact is the person, who has control of the domain name and he is discussed in the next item.
3. Changing the admin contact information for your domain name
The admin contact is the person who can authorize the change in ownership of a domain name. Since this person has control over a domain name ownership, many registrars require specific safeguards if you want to change that field of your domain name record. These safeguards may include confirmation by e-mail, fax on a company header or a notarized official instruction for the change.
If you find the procedure required by your registrar to change the admin contact of your domain name record too difficult, you may consider moving your domain name to another registrar and making the necessary modifications during the transfer.
4. Deleting the registration of a domain name
If you need to delete your domain name registration on a rare occasion, you should know that such deletions are final and once you confirm the operation you will lose control over that domain name. You should also know that you would not receive a refund for the remaining registration period of your domain name.
Domain name deletions are so rare that most registrars do not have a computerized procedure to deal with them. You will have to contact the support personnel of your registrar and you should expect to sign a written confirmation for your request, as well as a document waiving the liability of your registrar for the deleted domain name. The completion of a deletion procedure may take months and if you want to speed up the process, you may need to pay your registrar an extra fee. After you delete the domain name, the registrar decides what to do with it. Some registrars can make the domain name available for registration by an interested party; others can put the name “on hold” and release it for new registration in months.
5. Renewing the registration of your domain name
If you buy a domain name, you are essentially buying the rights connected with this name for a period ranging from one to several years. You can set up a website for that domain name, retain the name and use it later or sell the name to someone else. If you wish to keep the domain name after the specified time is over, you will have to pay a renewal fee for a subsequent period. If you do not pay the renewal fee, you will lose control over the domain name and it can be acquired by someone else.
Many registrars remind you when a registration period is about to end. Other will do that repeatedly, concluding with a warning urging you to pay or give up your domain name. Still others can even provide you with a grace period after the official renewal date during which you could pay and keep your domain name. Since different registrars have different rules about this, you would be much better off if you pay the renewal fee well ahead of the expiration date.
Some registrars keep only electronic correspondence with their clients. Even if you do not know what the case with your registrar is, make sure that the e-mail addresses in your domain name record are accurate and accessible all the time, because that is the usual way to get your renewal invoice. It is pointless to complain to your registrar if you lost your domain name, because you had not received your renewal invoice, since most registrars require functioning e-mail addresses in their Terms of Service.
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