by The first step to purchasing domain names is to register the domain name. Common steps in this process include: Register a domain name, develop a site for the company and set up an online presence. Develop (or pay for) a logo. Get a telephone number for the company. Register the company as an LLC or some other kind of business entity.
One of the primary concerns that comes up when you are looking at purchasing domain names is whether or not you should go with a self hosting or hosted email system. A self hosting email system allows you to control your own server from day one. You can install and operate your own software on your server. Self hosting servers usually provide all of the necessary software and hardware for you to run your own applications. Hosted email systems on the other hand provide a third party company like Microsoft Office to provide your emailing needs.
Both self and hosted email systems have their advantages. Self hosting email systems can save you significant amounts of money. Most of the time the MSP hosting services will provide extra services such as security monitoring, reporting, and so forth. Many times the hosting service for a self hosted email system will also offer information security needs. You will want to make sure your information is being protected. If you are going to use a self hosted email system then you will likely want to use an information security management service to monitor the activities that occur on your server.
Managed Service Providers (MSP)
Hosted services often provide better customer support than do self hosted services. When you go with a hosted domain name system you typically get technical support seven days a week. Self hosted services only provide support during office hours.
Self managed domains can be expensive to set up. Self managed MSP services usually charge more than twenty dollars a month for a basic managed domain. Some managed hosts charge more than fifty dollars a month.
An advantage of an MSP is the speed at which the domain name is renewed. Some services providers get their IP address from the domain registrar. Some MSP companies buy their IP addresses directly from the domain name registrar. The MSP companies usually charge less than $20 per month for unlimited access to their IP address.
A drawback of a self administered MSP is the lack of control over the DNS resolution. You can’t instruct the DNS server where to send queries. You can’t instruct the DNS server to reply to a query from an IP address that belongs to another domain name. The server will respond to a DNS query with a query that corresponds to the IP address of the object described in the DNS request.
How to Protect Your Domain Name
When you renew your domain name, you should not enter it into the Namecheap application. You shouldn’t enter it into any online forms either. When you enter it into Namecheap, the application checks your entered details against a list of all available MSPs and applies the appropriate reciprocal look-up. Unfortunately, it does not check the server’s DNS zone file to see if it matches the IP address you entered so you might not be able to renew your name at the next time you need it.
Some managed services vendors offer managed services by combining the MSP and DNS features in one easy-to-use interface. In these systems, you only enter your domain name and click a button. If you already have a MSP registered with the system, the interface is configured so that your name is automatically linked to your MSP business. If you don’t have a registered MSP business (and are hoping to obtain one) you may still register your domain name with this managed services vendor.
The interface is a simple web-based tool that allows you to check on DNS servers and to specify the corresponding names for your DNS resolvers. Some of the features include user/passwords for access control, as well as the ability to specify or deny DNS zone transfers. Some managed services vendors provide the ability to import or create DNS zone files from external sources, such as the Windows DNS server. Zone transfer lets you move the name of one DNS server into another DNS server’s zone directory. In other words, the managed services vendor acts as a middleman, transferring the name of one domain name to another.
For those who need the ability to manage multiple domains and IP addresses, the MSP is an ideal choice. Not only can you register and use your own MSP, you can also use it to register several different DNS servers and also transfer domains and IP addresses between them. There are some characteristics of the MSP that set it apart from other DNS resolvers. Name resolution using the MSP is typically faster than with other DNS resolvers and most importantly, the MSP offers authoritative DNS servers.
