| Domain Name Registration
Transferring Domains
What is a domain name? A
Domain Name is a group of letters, numbers, and hyphens in the
form "yourownname.com" or "yourownname.net" where "yourownname" can
be almost anything.
A Domain Name should be relatively easy to remember. The domain
can be used as the address for your web site and/or can be used
as your e-mail address.
Why do I need a domain name? All Domain Names are unique. It is your identity on the World
Wide Web. For businesses and organizations, a domain name can
help brand your products and services. For individuals and clubs,
a domain can identify your affiliations, relationships, or can
just be your online personality.
What characters can you use in a domain
name and how long can it be?
The valid characters for domain names are the alphabet, numbers, and
hyphens. Domain names are not case sensitive, therefore YourOwnName.net
and yourownname.net are NOT different. A domain name cannot start or
end with a hyphen. Special characters such as exclamation marks (!),
question marks (?), and underscores (_) are not allowed and there can
be no spaces in a domain name.
A domain name can only be 26 characters long, which includes
the extension. Therefore, if you are using the .com/.net/.org
extensions, your desired name can be 22 characters long.
What is DNS and how does it work? DNS stands for Domain Name System and is the system that the
Internet uses to find the information on the web. Domain names
are registered with a central organization in each country and
each domain name is associated with two DNS servers, a primary
server and a backup server. In the United States the registry
is called InterNIC.
When someone types in a Domain Name into a web browser their
Internet Service Provider's (ISPs) DNS computer looks into its
cache for an IP (Internet Protocol) address associated with that
domain name. If the ISP does not have an entry cached it sends
a lookup query to InterNIC's root servers which returns the DNS
location associated with the domain name back to the ISP. Once
the ISP's computer finds the IP address it can access the web
site.
IP addresses are typically 12 digit numbers which identify a
computer on the Internet. IP addresses are like street addresses.
They refer to specific servers and their physical location on
the network. Domain names are like the names on the mailboxes,
they are associated with people and with content.
What is InterNIC and what is Network
Solutions Inc.? InterNIC stands for Internet Network Information Center and
is the organization in the United States that manages Internet
domain names and the DNS. Network Solutions Inc. is the company
that has been contracted by the US Government to administrate
InterNIC.
For more information on the future
of the InterNIC you may want to read the NTIA's white paper
on the " Improvement
of Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses " .
What is an IP address? The Internet Protocol address or IP Address is a numerical identifier
for a computer (server) attached to the Internet. An IP Address
is four numbers separated with periods and is typically a 12
digit number.
Do I need to have a server to register
a domain name? Yes. As part of the application process InterNIC requires two
domain name servers to link to your domain name. When you sign
up for service with ZWNET, we file an application on your behalf
using our server information. There is no additional charge for
providing the use of our domain servers.
What are Top Level Domains (TLD) And what
do they mean? The Top Level Domains (sometimes called Generic Top Level Domains)
are the last two or three letters in a domain name. Web sites
outside of the United States may have two letter country codes
(for example: .jp for Japan or .au for Australia).
Top level domain signifiers
- .com
- .org
- .net
- .edu - (educational institutions only)
- .gov - (government institutions only)
- .mil - (military use only)
- 2 letters - Denotes a country/region of
the world
The .com, .org and Net TLDs are available to the public.
How can I find out if a domain name
is already registered? Using our domain search (at the top of this page) you can look
up any domain name instantly and find out if it has been taken
in the .com, Net, and .org domains.
Do I have to pay for domain name registration? Yes: Traditionally Network Solutions requires the $70 InterNIC
fee to keep track of your domain name and associated information.
This fee covers the first two years of domain name ownership.
After that, you will be charged $35 a year.
However, as ZWNET is starting to provide domain name registration
as well, you do not have to pay InterNIC's $70 any more. All
you have to pay is the registry fee charged by ZWNET which is
much lower than Network Solutions. As well we provide full domain
name service including online business card, URL forwarding,
email forwarding etc. all with competitive price.
How do I pay the InterNIC fee? You do not have to pay for InterNIC if you register your domain
with us. We will charge you the domain name registry fee instead.
How do I get an international
domain? ZWNET can host international domain names with two letter country
extension codes.
The domain owner is responsible for registering their domain
with the country's registry. Each country runs their registry
differently, and therefore, ZWNET cannot expedite the registration
process. Each country will also charge different amounts. The
domain owner is reposible for making all payments to the registry.
You will most likely need information regarding
ZWNET's DNS servers. If you desire to host an
international domain name with ZWNET, we recommend
that you first find the registry of the country
and examine their application process.
Can I transfer
my domain to ZWNET? You can transfer your existing domain name to
ZWNET. We have tried to make that process easy
for you. If you sign
up you will be given the option to transfer
your domain name. Follow the instructions carefully
to determine if this transfer process will be
easy or may require additional effort.
To transfer a domain name, you must go to your
domain name registrar's website and update the
domain name server (DNS) with our name servers.
After you sign up with ZWNET, we will send you
the information you need to update DNS.
Domain name registrar will not transfer a domain
without authorization from the owner. ZWNET cannot
authorize the transfer - only the domain owner
can.
Why does my domain
name still point to the site at my previous
host?
When
the DNS name server information is
changed for a domain name, there will
be a period of time when someone trying
to access the domain name may be sent
to your old site or another site altogether.
This period can last as little as a
few days, or as long as a few weeks.
This initial confusing period is associated
with the time it takes for new nameserver
entries to propagate to the entire
Internet, and may vary depending on
the location the user is trying to
access your web site. This phenomena
is due to what is known as "DNS caching".
Every ISP (Internet Service Provider) and web
hosting company operates a Domain Name Service.
The DNS server translates the domain name into
a numerical value that the computers on the Internet
recognize. The DNS server saves, or caches, previous
translations, so that later requests can be handled
much more quickly (the name server reads the
stored information and does not have to perform
a translation/search each time the name is resolved).
The cache of every DNS server is deleted periodically.
The length of time between purges is different
for everyone, though most hosts/ISP's clear DNS
cache every seven to ten days (some more frequently,
some less frequently).
For example, let's
say your ISP clears their DNS cache every
Saturday. If you transfer your domain name
to ZWNET on Wednesday, any connection to
your site through your ISP will be using
the old DNS information for a few more days,
so connections to your new site may fail
during that time. On the other hand, people
visiting your site for the first time will
likely get right through. DNS caching is
an unfortunate fact of life on the Internet
and cannot be avoided. To insure maximum "up time" for
your site, you may consider keeping the account
at your previous host active for the first
month you're at ZWNET. That way, no one trying
to find you will be sent to a nonexistent
site.
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