Domain names explained: registration, DNS, transfers and ownership

A domain name is the address people type to reach your website or send you email, such as example.com. You do not buy it outright: you register it for a set term, usually one or more years, through a registrar, and you keep it only as long as you renew it. The domain points to your hosting and email through DNS, and the person or company listed as the registrant is its legal holder, so that record should carry your name.

#What a domain name is and how registration works

Every domain sits under a top-level domain (TLD), the part after the last dot: .com, .org, .eu, .bg and hundreds more. Each TLD is run by a registry that keeps the master list of names. You do not deal with the registry directly. You register through a registrar, a company accredited to sell names in that TLD, and the registrar passes your registration on to the registry.

When you register a name, you choose a term, give the registrant's contact details and pay for the first period. Some extensions are open to anyone, others ask for a local presence or documents. The renewal price can also differ from the first-year price, so check both before you commit.

#Renewal and expiry: how domains get lost

A domain expires at the end of its paid term unless you renew it. Most registrars offer auto-renewal, and it is the best protection you have. A common way to lose a domain is an ordinary one: the renewal notice goes to an address nobody reads, or the card on file has expired.

After expiry, the name does not disappear at once. For many extensions there is a grace period in which the owner can still renew, often followed by a redemption period in which recovery costs more, and then the name is released for anyone to register. The length of each stage depends on the extension. When the domain stops resolving, your website and your email stop together.

• Turn on auto-renewal and keep a valid payment method on the account.
• Use a contact email that is not on the domain itself, so renewal notices still arrive if the domain lapses.
• Put the expiry date in a shared calendar, with a reminder a month before.

#How DNS connects your domain to hosting and email

DNS (the Domain Name System) translates the name into the addresses computers use. The records for your domain live in a zone on a set of nameservers. At the registrar you say which nameservers are authoritative for the domain, and whoever runs those nameservers controls the records. That is often the hosting company, the registrar or a separate DNS provider.

A few record types do most of the work:

Record	What it does	Typical use
A	Points a name to an IPv4 address (AAAA does the same for IPv6)	example.com to the web server
CNAME	Makes one name an alias of another name	www.example.com to example.com, or a subdomain to an external service
MX	Names the mail servers that receive email for the domain, each with a priority	Mailboxes at your host or at an email provider
TXT	Holds text that other systems read	SPF, DKIM and DMARC for email, and ownership checks for outside services

Two details save a lot of confusion. Each record has a TTL (time to live) that tells other servers how long to cache it, so a change can take anywhere from minutes to hours to reach every visitor. Lower the TTL a day before a planned move. Also, the bare domain (example.com) usually cannot carry a CNAME, because it must hold other records such as MX. Some DNS providers offer a workaround, but the standard answer is an A record.

Email is where DNS mistakes hurt most. If you move a website and change the nameservers, recreate the MX and TXT records in the new zone before the switch. Otherwise mail stops arriving or starts landing in spam.

#Transferring a domain and what the auth code is for

A transfer moves the registration from one registrar to another. Your website and email stay where the DNS points. The steps are much the same everywhere:

1. Check that the domain is not about to expire and that the registrant email is an address you can read.
2. Unlock the domain at the current registrar. Many registrars set a transfer lock by default.
3. Request the auth code, also called the EPP code or transfer key. It works as a password for the transfer, so treat it like one.
4. Start the transfer at the new registrar and enter the code.
5. Approve the confirmation email if one arrives, then wait for the transfer to complete.

Many registries block a transfer for a period after a new registration or a previous transfer, and some extensions use their own procedure in place of an auth code. For many common extensions a transfer also adds a year to the registration. Copy the current DNS records before you start, in case the nameservers change during the move.

#Who legally holds your domain

The registrant named in the registration is the legal holder of the domain. The login at the registrar is a separate matter. An agency or developer can manage the account for you, but the registrant should be you or your company, with an email address you control.

When an agency or a freelancer registers a domain in their own name for convenience, the domain belongs to them on paper. If the relationship ends or the person becomes unreachable, you may need their cooperation to get the auth code. Check these today:

• who is listed as the registrant, and whether your company name is spelled correctly;
• who has the login to the registrar account, and whether you have access of your own;
• which email address receives renewal and transfer notices.

What WHOIS privacy changes

WHOIS, and its successor RDAP, is the public lookup that shows who holds a domain. Since data protection rules tightened, many registrars hide personal details by default, while for some extensions names, addresses or emails stay visible unless you add a privacy service. WHOIS privacy, also called ID protection, replaces your contact details in the public record with those of a proxy service, which cuts spam and scam letters aimed at domain owners. It does not change who legally holds the domain, and it is not available for every extension.

#Why manage domains separately from hosting

A domain and a hosting account are two products, even when one company sells both. Keeping them apart protects you when you change hosts.

• Moving hosting gets simpler. If the domain sits with a registrar you control, moving the site is a DNS change with no transfer involved.
• One failure does not take everything down. A suspended or cancelled hosting account leaves the domain registered and under your control.
• Access stays clear. You know which login controls the name, which controls DNS and which controls the server.

Buying both from one provider is still sensible for small sites, as long as the domain is in your name and you can reach the registrar account yourself. Once the domain points to your site, the next step is a trusted certificate so visitors reach it over HTTPS, covered in SSL certificates explained. If you are still deciding where the site will live, read what shared hosting is and what a plan includes.

#How PN Scripts can help

PN Scripts Hosting lets you search for an available name, register a domain, and transfer one you already own using the auth code from your current registrar. The domains page lists which extensions support renewal, transfer and WHOIS ID protection.