Domain Name Questions

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• What is a domain name?

A domain name is a unique internet name that is registered to a company, organization, club or individual. For example GoHosting's domain name is "gohosting.com.au". A domain name has various uses, including allowing you to publish a website (eg. www.gohosting.com.au or just gohosting.com.au) and email (eg. info@gohosting.com.au).

To make use of a domain name you also need to host your website and email. This can be achieved with a web hosting package such as those listed on our web hosting section. So if all you would like to do is set up your company or organization with a website and email, please see our Getting started guide.

If you are more interested in the more in depth and technical details please read on below:

A domain name is initially registered with one of the registrars that controls and tracks all internet names. One such organization is auda.org.au. This does not mean, however that you can register your domain directly with auda.org.au! Beneath the main controlling bodies, there are many domain name registrars, and beneath them there are many domain name resellers that sell direct to the public. GoHosting is a domain name reseller, which means we can register domains for you under your own name. When you register a domain name with GoHosting, the domain name becomes your property for the period of registration.

So what happens to the domain once it is registered? Ok, this is where it gets technical, but here goes. The reseller you register with will request the registration from their upstream registrar, who will then go ahead and register the name with the governing body for that type of domain (eg. com.au, .com, .net are all different types of domains and have different regulations governing them). Once this has been done your domain will be set up on the "root" DNS (Domain Name System) servers on the internet. Basically the root servers keep records of where your domain is hosted, so that when someone wants to visit your website, their computer can find out where to go the download the website. Similarly when someone sends you an email, their computer needs to know where to send the email too.

But it doesn't end there, as the root servers only contain information about where the "real" DNS information for your domain is kept. This is usually where your web hosting provider (GoHosting if you are lucky) comes in. Your hosting provider will set up their DNS servers to keep the real records for your domain. These include what mail server your mail goes to (MX records) and where your website is hosted (A records). There are other types of records in DNS but those are the main two. An MX record or an A record both allow your computer to "resolve" or translate the domain name into what is known as an IP address. An IP address is a bunch of numbers that your computer understands telling it where to go to download the webpage or send the email. For example the A record for www.gohosting.com.au resolves to 203.220.45.66, which is the IP address of one of our web servers where your computer can go to download our website. When I say "download", that is essentially what your computer does before it can display the webpage on your computer screen.

• How long will it take to transfer my domain name to GoHosting and set up my account?

Your account at GoHosting will be set up within 24 hours of receiving your request, during these 24 hours you will receive an email providing all your login details and some information regarding GoHosting.

If you are registering a new domain name, the whole process should be completed within the first 24 hours of receiving your request, however if you are transferring your domain name from another registrar to GoHosting the process could take up to 5 day depending on the releasing registrar.

• How much does it cost the register a domain name?

Please domain registration section for our current domain name pricing.

• How long does a registration last? Can it be renewed?

For .au australian domain names, the registration period is 2 years. After the two years you have the option to renew the registration for another 2 years. For other domain names initial and renewal registrations are in one-year increments, with a total registration period limit of ten years. This means you can register other domain for between 1 and ten years.

• I've registered my domain name with another reseller. Can I transfer it to GoHosting?

Yes. We can transfer a domain registration to GoHosting without you having to cancel the domain with your other registrar. Simply visit our customer order page and select the option to "transfer my existing domain".

• How can I find out if the domain name I want is available?

The simplest way of doing this is to go to our customer order page and select the option to "register a domain name". Type in the domain name you would like and click "next". The next page will tell you if the domain you want is available or not.

• I have a domain name. What else do I need?

Details on what to do next can be found on our Getting started guide