[oclug].ca registrars

[Phil Tanguay]

On Fri, 25 Oct 2002, Tim Forbes wrote:
> To add a little more flavour to the thread,
> What is needed to use the domain once it is registered?

Someone has to add you to their DNS server.

> Is it possible for dynamic IPs to be used to host the domain?

I can speak on this.  You can use dyndns.org (there are others, but that's
the one I use) to provide dynamic DNS for your domain name.  They
charge a $30 "donation" fee to provide the service.  That's how I host
blammo.ca ...  I have a linux server hanging off my DSL, and there's a little
client that updates my dyndns record whenever my address changes.  It's been
rock solid for over 2 years now.

Note : they only charge $30 if you want to host a domain name (such as
blammo.ca).  If you use their host name (ie: blammo.dyndns.org), that's still
free.

> Would it be much better to use a static IP?

A little bit more reliable, but magma charges an extra $15 a month for a static IP.
Since my server is far from being mission-critical, I don't bother.

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

None, other than reliable bandwidth. ;>

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

Yes, if you want any/all of those services.  I don't bother with email, I
just use my magma account.  And I guess that's the subtlety - I consider
email a "mission-critical" service, so I don't want to deal with making it
reliable.  So I leave that to magma and my regular account.  If I were to run
my own mail server, I probably wouldn't use dynamic DNS.

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

They send you a reminder in email, and you pay up by a certain date and you
get to keep it...

I registered via cadns.ca, incidently.  Standard $25.00+GST a year...
Nothing bad to say about them.  They did their job in a timely manner...