[oclug].ca registrars

[Vic Gedris]

On Fri, 25 Oct 2002, Tim Forbes wrote:

> What is needed to use the domain once it is registered?
> Is it possible for dynamic IPs to be used to host the domain?
> Would it be much better to use a static IP?

You need someone to host the DNS for your domain.  Yes, you can use
dynamic IPs for your domain (many people do), but you will want to have
a DNS server that lets you easily update your DNS entry every time you
IP address changes.  dyndns.org provides this type of DNS service, for a
one-time fee of $30US I believe (it's free for dyndns.org sub-domains).
Yes, static IPs are easier, if you want to pay for it.  Less worry about
DNS changes.

> What kind of support/setup must be provided by your ISP if your wish
> to host the domain on your own Linux box?

Your ISP doesn't have to even know about it.  Unless you want then to
match the forward and reverse DNS lookups (e.g. if someone looks up
1.2.3.4, you might prefer that it returns "mycooldomain.com" instead of
XYZ-DSL-345452.ottawa.big-isp.com)

> If you self-host, do you have to provide for all services i.e. www, ftp, email etc?

You can split up the services in different ways.  In most cases, yeah,
you will probably just want to host those services yourself.  But you
can set your MX records so that you email is handled by someone else.
Or set the ftp, www, etc..etc.. subdomains to be located on other
machines.

> What do you do in a year to renew the registration? Will you still own
> the domain name?

That depends on the registrar.

Cheers,
Vic

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Vic Gedris           vic-at-gedris.org           http://vic.dyndns.org/
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