[OT] Domain Name Registrars

[Troy Settle]

Duane Whitty wrote:
> Duane Whitty wrote:
>> Hello to everyone,
>>
>> Would anyone care to recommend a good domain name registrar,
>> able to offer service for both gTLDs and .ca ccTLDs.
>>
>> I've tried cheap and to be honest my headache just keeps growing.
>> After having setup FreeBSD, DNS, Sendmail, and Apache,  I thought
>> I had the hard stuff taken care of.  I guess I was wrong.
>>
>> All I want to do is have my registrar point the name server entries for
>> a .com domain I'm managing at the name servers I'm running.  Why is this
>> so difficult?  Or expensive?
>>
>> Is it my fault?  Am I doing something wrong?  -- I know, kinda hard to 
>> answer that.
>>
>> My registrar told me my name server needs to be registered with 
>> ICANN.  I've read
>> as much as I could find about ICANN's mandate and policies on their 
>> website
>> http://www.icann.org but I couldn't find anything which indicated I 
>> had to register
>> anything with them unless I intended on becoming an ICANN certified 
>> registrar.
>>
>> It seems odd in any event that I would need to register my name 
>> server, which is in the .ca
>> domain, with ICANN.  Obviously I had to register with CIRA but that 
>> seems irrelevant
>> to my current situation / vexation.
>>
>> If I do somehow need to register my name server with ICANN would 
>> someone be so kind
>> as to point me to the correct RTFM entry, URI, etc.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Duane Whitty
> Hello again, everyone
> 
> Thank you for your responses.
> 
> Yeah, my registrar is on crack as far as I'm concerned and I think a lot 
> of other registrars,
> if not most of them, are just as bad.
> 
> I wish there was a way to tell the root servers about my name server 
> without even needing
> to go through the registrars
> 
> For the record, the registrar is Netfirms.  Beware of Netfirms.  I just 
> don't
> understand what the issue is.  Maybe they thought I'd roll over and give 
> them all
> my DNS, email, and web hosting business once they made it impossible for me
> to run my own DNS.  If so, they thought wrong.  And ICANN will 
> definitely be
> hearing from me.
> 
> What I don't understand is why they bother with this policy.  Isn't it 
> just easier to sell
> a domain name and tell the customer to email you or fill out your web 
> form with their
> name server information.  I know that is exactly how it use to be done, 
> except you only
> only dealt with one organization.  Then charge a customer if they want 
> extra stuff.  Then
> if they want enough extra features start making packages with incentives.
> 
> And even when you know you may have this problem and ask about it 
> directly it's like
> pulling teeth trying to get a straight answer.  I've basically come to 
> the conclusion that
> anything other than an immediate "Yes, name servers are your 
> responsibilty.  Tell us
> the name of your name servers and the IP addresses.  If you want us to 
> run your DNS it
> costs this much $X extra".
> 
> Well, whiners are irritating and I'm starting to irritate myself. So 
> enough of my noise.
> Thanks a lot for the suggestions and clarifications.
> 
> 
> Most Respectfully,
> 
> Duane Whitty


Here's the thing for name servers (at least as far as I understand 
it)... the glue records must exist in the root servers for each 
registry.  If your name servers are under the .ca TLD, and you're 
registering a .com domain, then the .com registry must have the glue 
records for your .ca name servers.

While this policy makes sense, it does suck when it comes time to 
renumber your network, since you'll have to update the glue records in 
every registry out there.  Quite the PITA.

Ugh... speaking of which, I have like 8 days left to get my network 
renumbers... please do feel sorry for me.

As an OpenSRS reseller, I have the ability to publish my glue records 
myself.  This doesn't help my customers, but at least the frustration 
ends with me, and I don't have to fight my registrar to get it done.

IMO, if you're not working with a wholesale registrar like OpenSRS, you 
really should look into it.  You get a much greater level of control 
over your domains, which can make life much nicer.  Yes, you might pay a 
little more than you would with the bottom-feeding registrars and RSPs 
out there, but it's well worth it IMO.  Tucows is pretty responsive to 
questions (I think that someone already said "they're not assholes"), 
not that you'll have any once you get up and running and have all your 
domains transferred over.

Good luck,

--
   Troy Settle
   Pulaski Networks
   http://www.psknet.com
   866.477.5638