[Hidden-tech] domain name acquisition

[Rich Roth]

I need to clarify something here:
There appears to be a confusing in this discussion between a registrar and a hosting company.

There are NO small registrars - a registrar is certified by ICANN (the group that 'runs' 
the internet structure)
and you can't get certified without serious bucks and showing a major investment in system 
infrastructure.
Similarly there are no 1-location registrars,
See http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registrars

What you will find is many small hosting companies are resellers (RSP for many) of the 
registrars.
We an RSP of Opensrs.com (TNR Global has 2000 some domains we handle) - as is Hover.com
The 'original registrar' is Network Solutions. (NetSol to many)

The key item to understand is that gTLD domains (.com, .net, .org) shouldn't cost you more 
then $15/yr

As for support, that is a very different issue - many of the larger hosting companies will 
provide a 'free domain'
as part of a hosting package.  Or first they will tell you is that you MUST transfer your 
domain to them
if you already have one - this is patently not true.
Smaller hosting companies resell names (just like we do, only we do volume accounts), and 
a smaller one
can be terrible or great -- talk to our own Matt Crocker (Crocker.com) for a great local one.

The other warnings are good about making sure you know how to mange your domain and to 
make sure the renewal get
handled - automatic is good for any active domain.  For a critical domain, renew for 5 or 
even 10 years.

Make sure any corporate domain is registered with a role email address and company 
information: domreg at YOURCOMPANY.com
NOT sally_the_admins_home_email at gmail.com - although mycompany_domreg at gmail.com is not a 
bad idea so it is detached from
your domain email.

BACK TO THE QUESTION - what Kris asked was: "best, most ethical site to obtain a domain name?"

I don't think anyone really answered that question -- I can second that Hover.com (for 
retail domains, not large volumes),
as a division opensrs which is a branch of the long lived tech company: TuCows.com that 
dates from 1994 online,
as far as ethical.  I vote against either GoDaddy or NetSol for that rating.

On 4/10/2013 4:43 PM, Bruce Hooke wrote:
>
>
> Thanks Matt,
> Fair enough.
> This is at least a question to ask of any registrar: make sure they have 24/7 support, 
> are not dependant on one physical location that could be taken out by natural or 
> man-made disasters (I'd prefer to see them not even be dependant on one region, where a 
> weather event could cut off power to everyone), and are certainly not dependant on one 
> person. Also do a little research and make sure the registrar you have in mind has a 
> good reputation when it comes to support.
> It doesn't happen that often but I've seen people run into major problems with small 
> registrars, where it ended up taking a lot of work to recover control of the domain 
> name. This, of course, shouldn't happen with a well-run registrar because a well-run 
> registrar will have systems in place to manage things like natural disasters. It is 
> important for the domain owner to handle their end properly too: keep the contact 
> information up to date, if the owner is a business, make sure the business name is 
> listed on the registration, not just a single person's name, and make sure to keep track 
> of any userIDs and passwords. Also, if you work with someone who manages your domain 
> name registration and website hosting for you make sure you are listed as the domain 
> name owner not that person, because if something happens to that person it is much 
> easier to get control of the domain name if your name and/or your business name are 
> listed as the domain owner (the other contacts can be the person who manages this stuff 
> for you).
> Where I've seen real problems develop is when both the registrar and the domain owner 
> failed to do things properly. One or the other probably won't be that big a deal, but 
> both can be a real mess!
> My basic point is that the domain name registration is the "key to the kingdom" when it 
> comes to websites and some attention should go into the registration.
> Thanks,
> Bruce
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* matt lampiasi [mailto:mattl at florenceit.net]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 10, 2013 4:06 PM
> *To:* hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> *Subject:* Re: [Hidden-tech] domain name acquisition
>
> Hi,
>
> those are valid points, however:
>
> At Jagfly Hosting we use a system that allows your domain to be auto renewed without 
> intervention if you choose for setup that way. We also have a management team monitoring 
> help desk tickets 24/7. So, if, in the sad event that I did end up in the hospital, 
> you're covered.
>
> I do know that some of my friendly local competitors use similar systems of domain renewals.
>
> I hate to see local business steered the wrong way for the wrong reasons.
>
> Best,
>
> Matt Lampiasi
> Florence I.T. / Jagfly Hosting
> 888-688-7096 for Jagfly
> 413-584-3239 for Florence I.T.
> twitter: @florenceit <http://twitter.com/florenceit>
> newsletter signup <http://eepurl.com/fHbT-/>
>
>
> On Apr 9, 2013, at 4:27 PM, hidden-discuss-request at lists.hidden-tech.net 
> <mailto:hidden-discuss-request at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote:
>>
>> When it comes to domain names I highly recommend going with one of the big places (at 
>> least assuming we are talking about a professional website, not a small personal site). 
>> You want a place that you can be confident will be around for the long haul, and that 
>> you can be certain will be reachable at any time of the day or night, every day of the 
>> year. This is not the place to go with a small, local operation where if the owner 
>> lands in the hospital you suddenly have nobody to call. This is also not the place the 
>> save $10/year by going with the cheapest place you can find, at the expense of customer 
>> service.
>>
>> Bruce Hooke
>> B.G.Hooke Consulting
>
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Rich Roth
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