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Take Control of Your Domain Names

Register, configure, and manage your domain names like a pro!

Having your own domain name - like takecontrolbooks.com - is fun for individuals and essential for organizations, but the details of managing a domain name can be perplexing. Networking expert Glenn Fleishman demystifies the jargon and tells you everything you need to know, beginning with how domain names work behind the scenes. He then explains the best ways to decide upon and find an available domain name, register it, configure it with a DNS host, and use it for your Web site and email address. Additional sections cover using dynamic DNS; special problems and troubleshooting; explain how to change your registrar, DNS host, Web host, or email host; and offer tips for buying or selling a registered domain name. More...

Read this book to find answers to questions such as:

• What can I do with a domain name?
• How do I learn what domain names are available?
• What features does a good registrar offer?
• What is DNS and what should I do about it?
• I hate my registrar. How can I switch to a new one?
• What should I look for in a Web- or email-hosting service?
• How can I run a Web server if my ISP gives me a dynamic IP address?
• How do I set up an email service at my domain for family members without running my own mail server?
• Help! My Web site is dead and I'm not getting email. What should I do?

Save money! A coupon at the end of the book gives new customers $10 off when registering (or transferring) a domain with easyDNS, the registrar and DNS hosting service that we recommend and use for the Take Control and TidBITS domain names.

"Take Control of Your Domain Names demystifies the arcane and Byzantine twists and turns of domain registries and the competitive registrar landscape. The mechanics of DNS, the dial tone of the Internet, is explained in easy-to-understand terms, using common real-world scenarios. The ebook should be required reading for IT managers, webmasters, consultants, and anybody else earning a living on the Internet."    —Mark Jeftovic, easyDNS founder

Introduction

Imagine going to a meeting in the business district of a city you've never been to before. The office buildings have numbers, but the streets have no names. Entering one of the numbered buildings, you find that there's no building directory and no tenant signs on doors. Just floors full of enumerated suites. Within the offices, there are no receptionists. Each cubicle or office has just a number affixed.

Sounds like a nightmare, no? But it's a way to visualize the way the Internet would work without domain names, which translate the numeric addresses that identify connected computers into something that people can grasp and remember.

A domain name is part of what all visitors type in or click on to visit a Web site you operate, and it's the latter part of what they type to send you email. Setting up a domain name can be frustrating because so many discrete parties and pieces have to be put together. Even minute configuration errors can kill Web sites and cause email to bounce. Experience shows that it's often more irritating to register, configure, and manage a domain name than to operate a Web site.

This book helps you avoid domain name aggravation. It teaches you how to register and manage a new domain, how to work with hosting companies that handle each part of a domain name's operation, and how to use features you might not have thought of before. You will learn about the domain name system (DNS), the set of technologies that allows Internet users to type in names and have them connected to Internet addresses by number.

I also show you how to migrate a domain's registration, hosting, and technical details from one or more firms to one or more others. Finally, I offer troubleshooting tips for common domain name problems.

What makes me such an expert? I registered my first domain name in 1994, and sold my first domain name in 1995 for a few hundred dollars. Over the last 12 years, I've dealt with every change in the commercialization of domain names. I've torn my hair out dealing with domain names so you don't have to.

Quick Start

If you're registering your first domain name, I recommend that you work through the book in order, paying attention in particular to the early sections that teach you how domain names work and how to register a domain name, modify the domain's settings, and launch a Web site under that name. After that, refer to other parts of the book as you need them.

Understand domain name basics:

• Get to know the parts of domains. See Putting Domain Names Together.
• Understand the roles for registering domains. See Learning Domain Roles.

Obtain a domain name:

• Decide on a domain name. See Search for Names.
• Register your domain name. See Register a Domain Name.

Set up hosting:

• Choose a DNS host and configure DNS settings for Web sites and email servers. See Set Up Your DNS Host.
• Choose a Web host and set up a Web server. See Host Your Web Site.
• Choose an email provider and set up accounts. See Receive Email.

Move your hosts around:

• Redirect access to Web sites via DNS, HTML, or JavaScript. See Redirect Your Domain's Web Sites.
• Have a subdomain follow a changing address. See Use Dynamic DNS.
• Change Your Registrar, Change Your DNS Host, Change Your Web Host, and Change Your Email Host.

Troubleshoot your domain problems:

• Solve common problems such as bouncing email, DNS server errors, and registration expiration. See Troubleshooting.

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