About Domains:
What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is your address and identity on the Internet. It is where people can find your website on the Internet or use to send you Emails.
- Businesses typically register domain names with their company name and sometimes also register their product names.
- Individuals often register family names or names that have a personal interest to them
Domain names have two parts: the name and the extension and it is separated by a 'dot'.
In Webhosts.uk.com, the Webhosts is the name and the .uk.com is a United Kingdom specific Top-Level Domain (TLD) extension. Once put together in your web browser, the whole address is referred to as the URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
For example: http://www.webosts.uk.com
There are several domain name extensions to choose from. Every country in the world will have its own specific extension. Each country will also have its own set of requirements prescribing who can apply for a domain name under their country extension and the procedure for such application. The authority who runs these country specific extensions is known as the Naming Authority or Internet Registry.
Some popular domain name extensions are .com, .net and .org. Profit making companies tend to register .com and .net, while .org is often used to denote a non-profit organization.
In the UK, you can register .co.uk, org.uk, plc.uk, net.uk, ltd.uk or me.uk. The most popular variant is the
.co.uk which presents some 90% of all .uk registrations. Others like .plc.uk, net.uk, ltd.uk and .sch.uk have prescribed requirements. You can check on all .uk requirements at
Nominet's website, the UK's domain registrar.
The Domain Name System (DNS) helps users to reach different sites on the Internet. Every computer on the Internet has an exclusive address that consists of series of complex numbers. It is called its "IP address". IP stands for "Internet Protocol". Remembering everyone's IP address is difficult.
The DNS helps users to remember the address with help of group of letters i.e. the "domain name" to be used instead. So instead of typing 192.0.34.65, you can type www.icann.org. This is like a memory aid that helps in remembering the addresses. Converting the name into the IP address is called "resolving the domain name." The aim of the DNS is for any Internet user worldwide to log on to a specific website by entering its domain name. Domain names are also used for reaching e-mail addresses and for other Internet applications.
In an Internet address - such as icann.org - the .org part is called the Top Level Domain, or TLD; the "TLD registry" organizations contain online databases with information about the domain names in that TLD. The .org registry database, for instance, contains the Internet whereabouts - or IP address - of icann.org. So in trying to find the Internet address of icann.org your computer has to first search the .org registry database.
The center of the DNS contains 13 special computers, called root servers. ICANN coordinates them and are distributed around the world. All 13 contain the same important information - this is to spread the workload and back each other up. The root servers have the IP addresses of all the TLD registries - the global registries such as .com, .org, etc. and the 244 country-specific registries such as .uk (Umoted kingdom) .fr (France), .cn (China), etc. This is critical information. If the information is not 100% correct or if it is unclear, it might not be possible to locate a key registry on the Internet. In DNS jargon, the information must be unique and authentic.
A domain transfer is, in effect, to transfer domain name from the management under one registrar to another registrar. As a registrar is only responsible for the management of your domain records, this transfer should in no way affect your website, relevant email or DNS.
In order to process the transfer of your domain, you need to have domain already under your ownership and a registrar that you want to transfer that domain to. While the process of a domain transfer is a fairly simple procedure, it is important to understand the workings such a domain registration transfer so that things don't get more complicated than you can handle.
In order to put your domain name transfer into effect, you need to apply for a transfer to the registrar that you intend to move your domain over to. Most registrars will have a form or an option on their website that you can select to 'transfer domain'. Once you select this option, the registrar (that you are transferring your domain to) will have to contact - usually via email - the administrator of your domain.
>>>> Transfer your domain name to us here.
The contact details of this administrator should have been supplied by you when you registered your domain name and updated accordingly, if that contact has since been changed. Upon receiving the email notification, the administrator of your domain has to agree to accept the transfer. This step generally helps to validate the authenticity of the request for a transfer of domain name. If the administrator does not accept the transfer within a given period of time (within 5 days) then the registrar will assume that the transfer has been rejected. For this reason, it is important to ensure that all the contact information in your domain records is updated and valid.
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