Domain Name Registration

Hierarchy

As the name suggests Name registration involves the registration of domains.
A domain represents a public identity on the internet, and it's used to identify the IP address of the computer system hosting web content.
To ensure that each domain is unique, Name registration has to be processed within a globally distributed framework designed to enforce a certain set of rules.
That framework is the domain name registration hierarchy.

• At the top of the hierarchy, Rules ICANN, a non-profit, internationally organized corporation that stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
• Its main role is to oversee the huge and complex, interconnected network of unique identifiers that allow computers on the internet to find one another.
• ICANN is responsible for managing generic TLDs or country-code TLDs, managing how root name server systems function, coordinating how IP addresses are supplied to avoid repetition or clashes, and maintaining a central repository of IP addresses.
• Below ICANN are five regional internet registries.
• And each registry is responsible for obtaining IP ranges from ICANN to allocate them to internet service providers across a specific geographic region.
• Subordinate to the registries are the registrars, which are ICANN accredited organizations responsible for processing the registration of domain names.
• Examples of registrars are GoDaddy, Namecheap and Bluehost.
• After registrars come resellers, resellers are third party companies that offer domain name registration services through registrars.
• An example of a well-known reseller is Route 53.
• The dedicated DNS and registration as a service provided by AWS.
• Route 53 is the reseller of two registrars.
• Amazon Registrar for Generic TLD and candy for all other top-level domains.
• And at the bottom of the hierarchy are the registrants, the people or organizations who register domains through a register or a reseller.

Process

The process of registering a domain name consists of the following steps:

• The registrant chooses a domain name and submits a request to registries with a reseller or a ICANN accredited registrar.
• Provided that the domain names available, the registrar registers the name and then creates who is record.
• The who is record contains the registrant’s name and contact information, the name and contact information of the registrar, the registration date, the name servers, the most recent update, and the expiration date.
• Who is records may also provide the administrative and technical contact information of the registrant.
• The registrar will then send your domain name request along with the contact and technical information of the domain name to the appropriate registry.
• And in turn, the registry will file all information provided, and it will add the names on file to the master servers, which will tell other servers on the internet where your website is located.

Considerations when choosing a TLDs

There are currently more than 1500 TLDs to choose from, which include,

• Generic TLDs
• Country-code TLDs
• Infrastructure TLDs
• Sponsor TLDs
• IDNTLDs
• Geographic TLDs

Not all TLDs will suit your requirement, so we have to take consideration, and asked below few questions to choose TLDs

• DNSSEC support? Security related feature to avoid DNS cache poisoning, and many more.
• IDNs support? IDNs mean International Domain Name
• Privacy protection? For protecting the privacy of website information     
• Target audience? Is the organization being regional specific, such as health care provider?
• Relevant field? What the field of business such as .cafe or .coffee
• Local presence requirements?

Choosing a Second-Level Domain

Name Consideration
Do:

• Use keywords that reflect your industry.
• Use localized keywords if applicable.
• Try to keep it short with less than 10 characters.
• Ensure it is easy to spell.
• Ensure it is easy to pronounce.
• Ensure it is easy to remember.

Don’t:

• Use hyphens, numbers, acronyms.

Choosing a Registrar

• First and foremost, pricing and by pricing, we mean the registrar's registration fee, the renewal fee and the other potential charges for things like the domain transfers, for example.
• Most registrars do not charge a fee, but some do.
• Any potential cost benefits, such as bulk pricing options or promotion deals like registering a domain name for several years at a cheap price.
• Add-On services such as Web hosting services, WordPress hosting services, website builders, email hosting services, brokerage services, privacy protection, SSL protection, customer service support.
• Some of the registrar offered 24-7 support. Some others do not.
• Supported TLDs that was a big one, is usually supported. Not all registrars have the license to sell all top-level domains.
• Policies such as the domain transfer.
• What is the registrar policy and the domain transfers? What is that policy on domain expiration?
• Domain names registered for a specific duration and when they expire, some registrars offer a grace period even after the expiration, to allow you to renew your expired domain name.
• Other registrars, on the other hand, can exercise predatory practices, such as buying your expired domain name as soon as it expires, so they can sell it back to you a much higher price.
• Always read customer reviews while carrying out your research on which registrar you should choose.
• Finally, remember there is a best practice.
• It is recommended that you register your domain name on the registrar but hosted on another provider simply because it is usually easier to switch hosting companies if required later on. Provided that a domain name is hosted on a platform different to the one it was registered on.

EPP Status Codes

Extensible provisioning protocol domain status codes, also known as domain name status codes, indicate the status of a domain name registration.
Every domain has at least one status code, if not more.
Each EPP code provides useful information about a domain that comes in handy for operations such as:

• Troubleshooting domain related issues
• Domain renewals
• Domain transfers between registrars.

There are two different types of EPP status:

• Client codes
• Server codes

Client status codes are set by registrars, and depending on the registrar, they are set upon registering the domain or when requesting it.
Server status codes, on the other hand, are set by registries, and they take precedence of a client code sense.
If you remember from a previous section, registries reside higher up in the domain name registration hierarchy than registrars.

Some examples of Client codes are:

• clientHold: It is a status code that tells your domains registry to not activate your domain in the DNS and therefore, it will not resolve. It is an uncommon status that is usually active during legal disputes, non-payment or when your domain subject deletion.
• clientTransferProhibited: It is a status code that tells your domains registry to reject requests to transfer the domain from your current registrar to another.
• clientUpdateProhibited: It is a status code that tells your domain registry to reject requests to update the domain.

Some examples of server codes are:

• OK: It Is the standard status for a domain, meaning that it has no pending operations or prohibitions
• autoRenewPeriod:It is a grace period provided after a domain name registration period expires and is extended or renewed automatically by the registry. If the registrar deletes the domain name during this period, the registry provides a credit to the registrar for the cost of the renewal.
• serverTransferProhibited: It is a status code that prevents your domain name from being transferred from your current registrar to another. It is an uncommon status that is usually active during legal or other disputes at your request or when a redemption period status is in place.

You can inspect the EPP codes of any domain you're interested in simply by performing a whois lookup against it.
All you need to do is to navigate to an online page: https://lookup.icann.org/