Forum Moderators: phranque
I have a domain registered with Host A that I would like to use on a Server hosted by Host B. Im about to simply use the interface that Host A provides and point the domain to the IP of the Server I host with Host B.
(Host might be the wrong word. Maybe Provider or Company would be better)
What Host A provides is something like this:
www.domain.com ¦ points to ¦ type A/CNAME ¦ IP
(i would go for TYPE A, right?)
On the server, I would use .htaccess to deal with requests for www.domain.com
Any backdraws? Should I rather transfer the domain from Host A to Host B?
I have a domain registered with Host AYou have a domain registered with ICANN. Your host may have registered it on your behalf. They may be an ICANN accredited registrar, more likely they used a registrar to register the domain.
Do a whois lookup and insure that you are listed as the registrant, administrative contact and technical contact. It is rumored that some unscrupulous hosting companies have attempted to force hosting clients to continue undesired service by controlling clients' domain records.
Once you have the ownership records sorted, you are free to move the domain to any host you choose, or to dispose of it in any way you see fit.
Move it to host B. No need for redirects or to involve host A at all.
queried a whois server:
[owner-c] : Me
[admin-c] : Me
[tech-c] : Host A
[zone-c] : Host A
Good thing? Bad thing?
How do I "move" the domain to Host B without involving Host A at all?
And what is the benefit of "moving" it to Host B instead of telling the nameserver to point to the IP of my server at Host B?
Good thing? Bad thing?It's too soon to say. Common thing, a service many hosts provide. If there are questions or problems with the domain registration, they will usually be directed to the tech or admin contact and handled for you.
Right now, your host probably has login information provided by the registrar that permits them to revise these domain records. You need to get that information, then revise the records. If your host is honest, they will provide it to you on request, a good thing. If not, you'll need to contact the registrar and probably "jump through a few hoops" to get the information, can be a bad thing, depending on the registrar.
After you have access to the domain (including zone) records, you can move your site to any host and simply point the zone records to the new host's name servers.
The advantages? You will have complete control of your assets, presently, you do not. Also, in order for your site to be found, a name server must point to it. Presently a registrar points to host A and you propose having host A point to host B, an extra level of complication. If host A OR B name servers fail, your site is down. If host A goes out of business, your site could be down AND you may never acquire control of your domain records.
After the domain records are secured, select a new host and duplicate your site on the new host. When it is ready to "go public," revise the domain records to point to your new host's name servers, your new host will provide the name server addresses. It may take a few days for the change to propagate to all name servers, world wide. Monitor your log files for each site. After traffic shifts to the new host, delete the site from the old host.
Right now, your host probably has login information provided by the registrar that permits them to revise these domain records. You need to get that information.
Hmm.. since they have everything automated (they are one of europes biggest hosters) this will probably piss them off a lot, if I want them to do someting not standardised.
If host A OR B name servers fail, your site is down.
If I point the nameserver of A to the IP of my Server at B, how are the nameservers of B involved?
Another thing about name-servers I dont understand: You say if the NS of A is down, my site is down. That means requests to a certain domain rely completely on one nameserver? I thought the info in one NS spreads throughout the world to all nameservers and then each user picks the IP from the NS he uses.
If host A goes out of business, your site could be down AND you may never acquire control of your domain records
Is that true? I can loose control over a domain I own? (If A goes out of business quite a few domains would be affected. They say they handle more then 750.000 domains.)
If I point the nameserver of A to the IP of my Server at B, how are the nameservers of B involved?You are right on all counts.Another thing about name-servers I dont understand: You say if the NS of A is down, my site is down. That means requests to a certain domain rely completely on one nameserver? I thought the info in one NS spreads throughout the world to all nameservers and then each user picks the IP from the NS he uses.
how are the nameservers of B involved?They're not. I failed to refer back to your first post.
I thought the info in one NS spreads throughout the world to all nameservers and then each user picks the IP from the NS he uses.AFAIK, these distributed records have a time-to-live (TTL) associated with them, it can vary from a few minutes to a few days. I think your old host is the "authoritative source" for these records. If that source becomes unavailable, the distributed records begin to expire according to the TTL values.
I can loose control over a domain I own?You don't own it, you lease it for a fixed term.
Consider these things:
If you terminate your old hosting and they delete your account you will no longer have access to the domain records via "the interface that Host A provides." Also, they MAY delete the domain records.
When the domain name registration comes due for renewal, who will the registrar notify? As it stands now, probably your old host. Since they no longer host the domain, will they renew it for you? Will they notify you? If no one renews it, the domain name will be made available to whoever wants to register it.
By the way, one misunderstanding might be that you think I will cancel my hosting-deal with A. Thats not the case. I still host servers at A. Its just this domain that I want to host on my server at B.
One question remains: If I would decide to move the domain from A to B - who would be the registrar after the move? Currently A has registered the domain through some registrar in the usa. Host B seems to be an ICANN member.
who would be the registrar after the move?It will not change until the administrative contact changes it or it expires.
...I will cancel my hosting-deal with A.If you cancel this account/hosting/domain, then you are likely to lose access to the domain records through "the interface that Host A provides," for this domain. Typically, you need to log in to this type of interface, and that login usually allows access only to that single domian's records.
