– How to use the domain control panel at the domain registrar.
Once you have completed the registration, you might want to carry out various administrative tasks on your domain control panel. Chief amongst them are the following.
Changing name servers.
Domain Name servers are machines on the Internet which translate domain names into IP addresses. Your domain name must use at least one name server in order to function properly. You can use the default name servers provided by the domain registrar or you can use the name servers provided by your web hosting company.
This information is of vital importance when you actually start hosting. We will explain to you why it is necessary and important step by step.
The process of name resolution:
bullet When you register a domain name, your name servers will be your registrars own name server.
bullet Once you start hosting, your site is going to be running at the web host who will run it on a different address from what the registrar had used.
bullet Hence you need to then change the entries at the registrar for your name server to point to web host’s name servers.
bullet Web host’s name server knows where (at which address on their hosting server) your site is located.
bullet This means anyone accessing your site will first come to registrar for name server address and since registrar is pointing to your host, they will then be directed to the host for the name resolution of your site. (Part of the resolution process prior to this, might involve your ISP’s name servers, root servers, your local network name servers etc. Also if the information is cached on a PC locally, a direct contact to the web server can be made.)
How to change name servers:
You need to come to your domain registrar control panel to change the name servers to the hosting company provided name servers.
Once there, do a careful modification of the name server settings since this is critical information in leading a visitor to your site. By mistake you point the user to a wrong address initially or in the future, you and your visitors will face failure in accessing the site.
Locking your domain:
Locking a domain name adds an additional level of security to your domain name.
Locking prevents you from changing records such as name servers and contact information, without first unlocking the domain. It also automatically rejects requests to transfer the domain away from your registrar at the registry level.
Locking a domain does not prevent someone from unlocking the domain and making changes from within the control panel. Your most important security measure should always be to not share your password with anyone and to change it periodically.
Recently there have been some cases where people made transfer of domains using bogus requests and then sometimes succeeded and got the name transferred to them. This can spell disaster. Hence locking is one feature that’s critical.
Next : Few prominent registrars
Quotable Quotes:
“You don’t know what you can do until you try.”