On Wed 29 Aug 2018 at 11:26:31 (-0500), John Hasler wrote:
> David writes:
> > It's cheap to register your own domain and find a suitable hosting
> > provider. This makes moving and travelling much simpler.
>
> With Gandi at least, no hosting is required. They will forward mail to
> your domain to any address you specify. There needn't be any server of
> any kind associated with the domain.
I'm not sure what use a domain name is if no one is hosting the domain.
Anyway, see the last sentence of this posting.
"Domain registration information is maintained by the domain name
registries, which contract with domain registrars to provide
registration services to the public. An end user selects a
registrar to provide the registration service, and that registrar
becomes the designated registrar for the domain chosen by the
user.
Only the designated registrar may modify or delete information
about domain names in a central registry database. It is not
unusual for an end user to switch registrars, invoking a domain
transfer process between the registrars involved, that is governed
by specific domain name transfer policies." (Wikipedia)
So, for example, I switched registrar because I originally bought my
domain through my then ISP, but I later switched ISP and moved the
domain to an independent registrar because (a) the old ISP wouldn't
host it and (b) it was something not to have to think about again
when later switching ISP.
"Registration of a domain does not automatically imply the
provision of DNS services for the registered domain. Most
registrars do offer DNS hosting as an optional free service for
domains registered through them. If DNS services are not offered,
or the end-user opts out, the end-user is responsible for
procuring or self-hosting DNS services. Without DNS services for
the domain, the registration is essentially useless for Internet
services, although this situation is often encountered with domain
parking and cybersquatting." (ibid.)
"Registrars require the specification of usually at least two name
servers." (ibid.)
Cheers,
David.
