Registering a Domain Name Is Easy

The quickest and easiest way to register a domain name is to let your ISP doit, but that's not always possible. Don't despair. Doing it yourself is easierthan ever with Web-based forms for entering the necessary information andemail-based registration.

Identify the Registry
The domain name system is hierarchical, soyou create subdomains within one of several parent domains, or top-level domains(TLDs). To register your domain in a TLD, you must find the appropriateregistering agency, and many exist. For several common TLDs, such as com, org,edu, gov, and net, you register with InterNIC, an organization under contract tothe US National Science Foundation. To register under a national TLD (e.g.,mybritishcompany.co.uk) or within the geography-based US domain hierarchy (e.g.,my name.sf.ca.us), you must approach the registry appropriate for these parentdomains. For simplicity, I assume you'll follow the crowds to InterNIC.

Pick a Name
Most good domain names are already taken. Sothinking up something clever is only the beginning. Be sure to choose theappropriate TLD. If you are registering a name for a commercial entity, you wanta name like mycompany.com. If your organization is not-for-profit, trymycharity.org.

Suppose you run, say, an advocacy group for blandness. A good choice isvanilla.org. You must first check whether the name is available. You can executeone of the many variants of the program whois. The easiest whois programis the Web-based version that InterNIC operates atrs.internic.net/cgi-bin/itts/whois. The tutorial introduction link on that pageis recommended reading, as is all help published by InterNIC. The interface issimple. You just type your candidate domain name in the text field and pressEnter. Screen A shows the results of such a search. Vanilla.org is not in thewhois database. The name's available! (By contrast, if you type in vanilla.comand vanilla.net, you'll find that both are already registered.)

Arrange Your Domain DNS
Although registering a domain name issimple, setting up DNS for your domain is not. And, you have to set up DNS foryour domain before you attempt to register it. Ordinarily, your ISP willhandle DNS for you. However, you will need to get the name of the ISP's DNSserver.

Complete a Registration Form
Registration methods have come along way. In the past, you retrieved a template registration form via FTP or aWeb browser, filled in the form with a word processor, and mailed the completedform back to InterNIC. Today, you fill in a Web-based form(rs.internic.net/cgibin/itts/domain) that is checked and reformattedautomatically into the template form. InterNIC then mails your completed formto you for final checking and submission. Although this technique iscertainly not secure for authenticating submissions, it invites less troublethan just accepting the Web form. InterNIC recently initiated a new, much moresecure system, Guardian, to ensure authentic submissions of changes to domaindata.

The number of domains a given entity can have has been a touchy politicalissue. As far as I know, it is still not perfectly resolved.

As you fill out the Web-based form that you see in Screen B, click eachheading for online Help and read the instructions carefully. Small errors oromissions will delay the processing of your domain request. Click Submit at thebottom when you complete the form.

Next, scan your email for the completed form. When it arrives, check itagain carefully. Mail the form to [email protected]. Use the subject linefrom the mail you received for confirmation. In our example, the subject is NewDOMAIN VANILLA.ORG. This is important to facilitate InterNIC's automaticprocessing of your submission.

InterNIC will send an automated acknowledgment when it receives your domainname request. Keep it! The acknowledgment contains a tracking number that willspeed inquiries you make about the request. Processing time has historicallybeen variable. Sometimes InterNIC handles a request in a few days; sometimes itcan take weeks. Always use the tracking number when you ask InterNIC what's whatwith your request.

Activate Your Domain
When InterNIC processes your request, you will receive an email messagetelling you the date your domain name will be activated in the root name servers­thatis, when it will first be announced to the Internet. InterNIC lists threecontacts for each registered domain: admin, technical, and billing. The domainname service is a distributed database, and in a few hours to a few days afterthe activation date, every host system on the Internet will see your new domainname. Don't panic. Just wait a little longer.

And, of course don't forget that registering your domain will cost $100.You'll receive a bill.