How to Transfer Your Domain Name between Hosts

Domain Registration

A domain name is basically your business address on the internet. Organizations as well as individuals can register their business names online as part of the domain name which in turn helps in increasing productivity in business. In a DNS or the Domain Name System, the name of the domain is used for linking the text address to the server that handles this information for example the IP address or the Internet Protocol address.

The IP address is nothing but the mail server location that receives the sub domain or the domain messages besides elements of obscure nature like a signature of cryptographic type that helps in confirming who exactly the domain’s rightful owner is. The domain name can be hosted and registered both.

Registering Of a Domain

The middleman is the registrar who allows you to put in request for the name on the domain and accordingly interacts for a TLD or the top level domain or the TLD with a central registry. This also helps in ensuring that the registration is not done twice in the same name.  A fee has to be paid initially for domain registration.

While a part of the fee goes to the central authority of the TLD, a part of it also goes to the international body that manages names of domains called the ICANN. On registration of domain name it is then hosted at DNS name servers which may be one or two in number.

Reasons for the Transfer

There are certain people who may register with a particular firm, have the DNS hosted with another, have the mail located at another firm and have the website put an another place wherein, all are independently operational.

However handling of all this is done by one single firm. A domain transfer will be necessary since web hosting, domain registration and hosting, email hosting etc have to be dealt with and you will need to ensure where each of the functions is being handled.

New Service for Hosting

If a website or the email has to be moved along with domain hosting then a complete new service for hosting will be needed which is set up at a new location. This will help in eliminating or reducing any kind of interruption in visitor handling or receiving emails at the site. For moving email, at the new host all the accounts will need to be recreated again. If needed you could have a single account too. In the case of moving the website to another location, the process is quite easy.

If in case special configurations, other programs or scripts are needed then ensure that the new host is able to handle them. Besides this you will need to also set aside time to test this. As compared to changes in mail servers, the switchover of website is easier. Visitors are not lost in between since they get the new or the old site.

When to Make the Changes

If at all any changes are required then they need to be best made before moving the registration and hosting of domain names. This can be done since you are in proper control of the DNS records as well as the registration. On setting up of the new account, the listed DNS servers can be accordingly changed much before the registrars are swapped. The next thing is switching over for registration and hosting.

It is a bit of a hassle trying to switch the registrar for the domain name because of the checks conducted against transfers that are fraudulent. Remember that the transfer cannot be done within the first two months. The private registration is to be removed, the domain name unlocked, a request for authorization code is to be made for the domain transfer.