Domain name
From EDeskWiki
The benefits of domain names
- Project a professional image. Distinguish yourself from competitors with a unique identity. Build brand recognition. Increase your credibility with your own address yourname@yourdomain.com instead of using a free email address such as yourname@yahoo.com. Your domain name is not linked to a third party's name e.g. yourname@ISPname.com.au.
- No need to reprint business cards and letterheads when you change Internet Service Provider. Your internet address remains the same. Have a fixed address. If you move premises, your customers can contact you by email or look on your website to find out where you have physically relocated.
Tips on choosing a good domain name
- Use keywords in your domain name: search engines are more likely to retrieve your website in their search results.
Top-level domains
Every domain name ends in a (top-level domain) (TLD) name, which is always either one of a small list of generic names (three or more characters), or a two characters territory code based on ISO 3166-1 alpha-2(ISO-3166) (there are few exceptions and new codes are integrated case by case). Top-level domains are sometimes also called first-level domains.
The gTLD(generic top-level domain) (gTLD) extensions are:
Other-level domains
In addition to the top-level domains, there are second-level domain (SLD) names. These are the names directly to the left of .com, .net, and the other top-level domains. As an example, in the domain en.wikipedia.org, "wikipedia" is the second-level domain.
On the next level are third-level domains. These domains are immediately to the left of a second-level domain. In the en.wikipedia.org example, "en" is a third-level domain. There can be fourth and fifth level domains and so on, with virtually no limitation. An example of a working domain with five levels is www.sos.state.oh.us. Each level is separated by a dot or period symbol between them.
Domains of third or higher level are also known as subdomains, though this term technically applies to a domain of any level, since even a top-level domain is a "subdomain" of the "root" domain (a "zeroth-level" domain that is designated by a dot alone).
Traditionally, the second level domain was the name of the company or the name used on the internet. The third level was commonly used to designate a particular host server. Therefore, ftp.wikipedia.org might be an FTP server, www.wikipedia.org would be a World Wide Web Server, and mail.wikipedia.org could be an email server. Modern technology now allows multiple servers to serve a single subdomain, or multiple protocols or domains to be served by a single computer. Therefore, subdomains may or may not have any real purpose.
The benefits of domain consolidation
Consolidating your domain names can save you time and money. You need to remember a userid and password for each one and are not quite sure of which features come with each domain name. Luckily this problem can be easily corrected...
- Price and features: Domain prices have been steadily coming down. If you registered some of your domains at a more expensive rate, consolidating these domains with a lower cost registrar can save you a substantial amount of money. In addition, registrars are now offering many features for free that were once expensive add-ons. In many cases, you may be able to save money while switching to a registrar that provides better services.
How to consolidate your names
Since the domain registration business has been opened to competition, it is now possible for domain owners to easily transfer their domains to a new registrar of their choice. Unlike switching web hosts, switching registrars requires no technical knowledge and typically involves no downtime.
You do not need to wait until your domain is about to expire to transfer it - when you transfer your domain name one year is added to your current expiration date.
You submit a domain transfer request with the registrar that you are switching to. Typically registrars highlight a special link on their homepage titled 'registrar transfers'.
Features to look for when selecting a registrar
- Automatic 'Registrar Lock' feature: Make sure that you can place a free 'registrar lock' on all of your domain names. This will lock your domain record at the registry level and prevent it from being transferred, modified or deleted by a third party. This feature is very helpful in protecting your name against unauthorized transfers and hijacking. Although some registrars can implement this on a manual basis if requested, look for a registrar that gives you full control over this feature via a control panel.
- Master account with name management console: Look for a registrar that provides you with a password protected master account containing all your domain names. This saves you from having to remember different passwords and userids for each domain.
Make sure they offer a console or manager feature which lets you see all of your domain names (and their expiration dates) at a glance. Some registrars also offer the ability to sort and download custom reports of your domain names.
- Automatic expiration date tracking and auto-renew option: This option will automatically track your domains' expiration dates and give you the option to have certain domains automatically renewed each year. This is a smart feature to use for your critical domains.
- Global editing: This will allow you to make changes to all of your domains at once. For example, if you own twenty domains and your e-mail address changes, you will only need to make one change and all of your names' contact information will be updated. This can also come in handy if your web host makes a configuration change which effects all of your names.
- Free web forwarding/redirection: Gives you the ability to forward/redirect or frame your domain names to any other URLs or web sites on the web. If you have registered several variations of your company's domain, you can use this feature to point them all to your main site. If you have free web space or a single hosting account, you can use redirection to create simple 'mini-sites' for each of your domains without incurring any additional hosting costs.
- Free e-mail forwarding: Allows you to start receiving e-mail using your domain names and is especially useful for companies that do not yet have a web site or for those trying to market a domain name for sale.
- Other important features for the future: Depending on your needs, you may also want to choose a registrar which offers other free services such as site building tools or advanced DNS capabilities. Since you are trying to find a registrar that will accommodate your future needs, be sure to think ahead.
Research the registrar itself
- Reliability: There are over one hundred different accredited registrars all offering domain registration services. Before entrusting your names to a registrar, make sure it is a legitimate company and one which is likely to be around for years to come. You may want to inquire about how long the company has been in business and how many names they have registered. You may also want to ask if the company is publicly traded or privately held.
- Price: In this competitive field it is no longer necessary to pay $35/year for a domain. Shop around, but be sure to take into account any domain related services you will need to use. Some deep discount companies attract customers by offering low prices, but then charge additional monthly fees for add-on services such as e-mail or web forwarding.
the difference between URL and a domain name
The following example illustrates the difference between a Uniform Resource Locator / URL and a domain name:
- URL: http://www.example.net/index.html
- Domain name: www.example.net
- Registered domain name: example.net
As a general rule, the IP address and the server name are interchangeable. For most Internet services, the server will not have any way to know which was used. However, the explosion of interest in the Web means that there are far more Web sites than servers. To accommodate this, the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) specifies that the client (computing) tells the server which name is being used. This way, one server with one IP address can provide different sites for different domain names. This feature goes under the name virtual hosting and is commonly used by Web hosting.
For example, as referenced in RFC 2606 (Reserved Top Level DNS Names), the server at IP address 192.0.34.166 handles all of the following sites:
- example.com
- www.example.com
- example.net
- www.example.net
- example.org
- www.example.org
When a request is made, the data corresponding to the hostname requested is served to the user.
verify the accuracy
starting this year, domain registrars are now required to verify the accuracy of domain contact information. If your information is out of date and your registrar is unable to contact you, they can delete your domain.
Domain User Account Properties
This page helps you in changing the password for domain level entry and set the control panel language and skin of your desired choice inthe Plesk Control Panel.
To change the password
- Enter and confirm it in the appropriate fields.
To change the language
- Select the interface language and skin from the drop-down lists provided.
To set multiple sessions
- Check or leave checked the Allow multiple sessions checkbox to allow several simultaneous sessions under the same login name.
To make Plesk block user interaction when a new interface page is loading
- Select the Prevent working with Plesk until page is completely loaded checkbox. This can protect from some errors happening due to partial interface loading.
You may also wish to fill in your personal information.
- By clicking the OK button it will submit changes and return you to the Domain administration page.( In case you do not want any changes in your Domain account)
- Click on the Up One Level icon or the appropriate shortcut to return to the previous page without submitting any changes. This keeps your Domain Account Properties unchanged.
How do I transfer my domain from my current registrar to eDesk Online?
In order to initiate a domain transfer to eDesk Online, you will have to send us a request for the same, mentioning your domain name via email to domains@edeskonline.com
The transfer process
Step 1: The Domain must be unlocked
- You can unlock your domain by either contacting your current domain registrar or if your domain registrar provides you a domain control panel, you can unlock the domain yourself by using the control panel.
Step 2: Active Admin email id
- The Admin email id mentioned in your contact details must be an active email id. Once the transfer order is placed, the administrative contact of each domain name for which you have placed a transfer request will receive an email, which asks for confirmation of such transfer.
Step 3: Acknowledge mails
- You would need to click on a link inside each of these emails for the transfer request to be sent to the registry. The losing registrar in almost all cases will send you emails asking for confirmation per domain name - you can typically choose to ignore these emails.
Once the confirmation is received and your current domain registrar does not object to the transfer, it will take 5 days for your domain to be transferred to us.
Step 4: Clear all dues / settle issues
- Your current domain registrar may object to the transfer incase you have any pending dues with him or the domain is not registered in your name.
Step 5: Send us an email to confirm transfer
- In order to initiate a domain transfer to eDesk Online, you will have to send us a request for the same, mentioning your domain name via email to domains@edeskonline.com
Important note: If you're planning to shift a newly bought/newly renewed domain
If your domain expired with your old Registrar, and you renewed it with them, then do not Transfer it within 45 days of the previous expiry date since it will not add 1 more year to your domain name, and you will lose out on the Renewal fees paid to the older Registrar. ICANN & Registry regulations prohibit the transfer of domain names that have been registered or previously transferred within the last 60 Days. Please wait for 60 days from the date of registration or previous transfer before applying for a transfer of such domain names.
meanings
The term domain name has multiple related meanings:
- A name that identifies a computer or computers on the internet. These names appear as a component of a Web site's URL, e.g. wikipedia.org. This type of domain name is also called a hostname.
- The product that domain name registrars provide to their customers. These names are often called registered domain names.
- Names used for other purposes in the Domain Name System (DNS), for example the special name which follows the @ sign in an email address, or the Top-level domains like .com, or the names used by the Session Initiation Protocol (VoIP), or DomainKeys.
- They are sometimes colloquially (and incorrectly) referred to by marketers as "web addresses".
The most common types of domain names are hostnames that provide more memorable names to stand in for IP address|numeric IP addresses. They allow for any service to move to a different location in the topology of the Internet (or an intranet), which would then have a different IP address.
By allowing the use of unique alphabetical addresses instead of numeric ones, domain names allow Internet users to more easily find and communicate with web sites and other server-based services. The flexibility of the domain name system allows multiple IP addresses to be assigned to a single domain name, or multiple domain names to be assigned to a single IP address. This means that one server may have multiple roles (such as hosting multiple independent Web sites), or that one role can be spread among many servers. One IP address can also be assigned to several servers, as used in anycast and hijacked IP space.
