I’ve muddled along for the past year, registring quite a few domain names (we now have over 140 .com/.net/.org/.co.uk/.org.uk/.uk.com) without really understanding how the system works. Recently I have tried to educate myself a little more on how DNS works and the hierarchy of registrars and resellers for top level domains and the country ones. I found the article on domain name registrars on Wikepedia quite helpful. However I think I am still a bit muddled and was wanting some help and clarification. I’ve also got a problem with registring a name server for a new private nameserver on a new server.
Question 1 Domain name registrars.
For .uk domain names it seems fairly easy (but expensive) to become a registrar. You register with Nominet and get your own tag. Most domain name companies seem to be registrars with Nomine including 123-reg and Heart Internet for example.
It seems different for top level domains like .com, and there are far fewer registrars. The big ones seem to be godaddy and Tucows. My old host used Joker. I don’t understand why the big companies like 123-reg and heart aren’t actually registrars themselves- both these companies use Tucows. Godaddy seems different as you can buy direct from them (i.e. reseller) but they are actually a registrar. Buy from 123-reg and it will say your registrar is tucows.
My main .com domain name is registered with my old host (as I said, they use Joker as their registrar). At some point I hope to move this over to a new domain name company (perhaps Heart, 123-reg, godaddy or my new host. If this is the case I assume the main registrar will then change from Joker to whoever they use. Is this the case? For .com domains there is usually a transfer fee which I assume covers moving from one registrar to another (eg Joker to Tucows). But do I still have to pay a fee if I am moving from 123-reg to Heart (since they both use Tucows as their registrar?) Perhaps I am getting confused here!
#2 Nameservers
I want to register private name servers. I have finally worked out this is different from changing the name servers on the domain (which I want to keep the same for the time being). I think I am going to have to contact my old host directly about this and they will then have to notify Joker (I assume this is something that I can’t do directly)- https://joker.com/faq/content/54/206...ameserver.html
If I do this, I assume this is for all time? What I mean is, if I move that domain to a new registrar then I assume the nameservers will be still be in place?
I’ve been trying out a different company as a potential company to manage my domains. I asked them how I could register nameservers and they replied that it would cost £50+VAT. Is it normal to have to pay for this? I thought it would be a free service? There doesn’t seem to be a way of directly registering name servers through the control panel. Do other providers offer this for free? At the end of the day I want to have my domains with a company who are cost effective but who have good customer support.
Reseller account is good option here, but I believe that asks startup payment as well so that might be a fee you cannot afford.
Of course having reseller account is good option here, but not the best in any case.
If you really want to become domain name registrar you need to get accreditation (just go to the ICANN official site) and have good annual budget.
If you are keen to provide domain name registration you’d better get reseller account for that
child host, child nameservers, nameservers, host nameservers are all pretty much synonymous and they refer to the same exact thing.
About glue records, that’s a different matter, here the definition from Wikipedia:
“Name servers in delegations appear listed by name, rather than by IP address. This means that a resolving name server must issue another DNS request to find out the IP address of the server to which it has been referred. Since this can introduce a circular dependency if the nameserver referred to is under the domain for which it is authoritative, it is occasionally necessary for the nameserver providing the delegation to also provide the IP address of the next nameserver. This record is called a glue record.”
Nominet is the .uk Registry and their accreditation is just a matter of filling forms and paying corresponding fees, as such you have a large number of Registrars accredited by Nominet, because it is simple and there is no real selection.
Icann is accrediting Registrars for gTLD (.com, .net, .info, etc…), the submission and approval process is relatively complex, costly and long, consequently there are less Registrars.
Transferring a .uk domain from a Registrar to another is an operation performed free of charge by the .uk Registry (Nominet) while transferring a .com domain is an operation generating a fee at the Registry level (Verisign). That’s why you can find .uk transfers absolutely for free while it is extremely rare to find cheap or free .com transfers, unless the cost is hidden behind another service you buy (example an hosting package with “free” domain registration…).
Note also that when you transfer a .com domain your domain is automatically renewed for an extra year, while for .uk domains there is no automatic renewal. Some Registrars are charging for such a renewal, other Registrars are including it on the transfer’s price.
If you are transferring a .com domain from one account to another of the same Registrar, you are not really generating a fee for the Registrar and your domain won’t be automatically renewed for an extra year. Whether your reseller is charging you to move the domain from one reseller to the other of the same Registrar, that’s more a commercial matter…
When you transfer a domain from one Registrar to another, your private nameservers also called hosts or child nameservers will follow your domain and you do not need to declare or pay for them again. Child nameservers setup is a free operation for the Registrar, however some Registrars could charge for it, that’s up to them and up to you to accept such a fee…
Thanks, Marco- that is really helpful and I think I just about understand the system now.
It’s also reasurring to know that the host nameservers will remain. You say that private nameservers are also called hosts or child nameservers. Is there a particular reason why they are called this? I’ve also heard that the records for these nameservers are called “glue” records, is this right?