Certain technologies need control over domain name

Two technologies that businesses and government agencies are looking to take further advantage of are cloud computing and social media. Organizations contemplating any such changes must be sure to have complete control of their domain name(s), as lack thereof often leads to unforeseen delays. Ensuring such control can be tedious and time consuming.

First, we need to understand the components that are part of the domain mechanism. There are three basic parts.

First, records identify names and services, and tell the rest of the Internet where to find them. Examples are www.yourdomain.com, ftp.yourdomain.com, and mail.yourdomain.com. You, or your information technology person or provider, define these records. If you are moving your email to the cloud, for example, you need to tell the Internet that mail.yourdomain.com is really housed at Microsoft or Google or whatever cloud service you are using.

The second piece of the pie, name servers (sometimes called nameservers), are computers that hold these records. Name servers are usually hosted and maintained by service providers, such as ISPs, cable/phone companies, and co-location facilities. Organizations typically do not host and/or maintain their own name servers.

The registrar is the key to the whole shebang, and defines who actually owns and controls your domain and associated name servers and records. The registrar defines the location of your name servers, which may not be provided by the registrar. Unfortunately, it is sometimes the case where the folks listed as owning the domain don’t actually control it.

This is often due to a situation where a domain reseller packages other services with a domain name, such as a website or email or both. These packages are suitable for smaller organizations with little to no IT expertise looking for a simple solution, or larger entities just getting started in the cyber world. The reseller provides a one-stop solution which addresses basic needs.

Issues pop up, however, as soon as you want to do something outside of the service provider’s normal offerings. Some providers don’t support the records needed to move your email to a cloud provider, for example.

As such, prudent folks need to ensure they can freely move their domain and name server. A couple of things need to be done. First, run a "whois" search on your domain name, which can be done at whois.com. The results will show your registrar, as well as the folks who can make changes to the domain. Make sure the contact information is correct and up to date, especially the email addresses. A dependable email is critical when making any domain changes.

Once you know the registrar (or reseller), go to that organization’s website and make sure you can log in. If you can’t log in, you might need to call the registrar’s tech support line to figure out how to do that.

Once logged in, a good check is to see if you can move your name server somewhere else (don’t actually make changes). If you can do this, you should have the flexibility you will need. If your provider does not allow you to do this, you are stuck with this provider unless you change registrars. Again, you only need this flexibility if you are planning enhancements or modifications to your cyber presence.

John Agsalud is an IT expert with more than 25 years of information technology experience. Reach him at johnagsalud@yahoo.com.