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| .. _domains: | ||
| .. _register-domain: | ||
|
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||
| About Registrars | ||
| ================ | ||
| Domain Setup | ||
| ============ | ||
|
|
||
| - Explanation of cost, and why/how we offer free subdomains. | ||
| - Where can 2nd-level domains be purchased? | ||
| - How to identify a registrar worth avoiding. | ||
| - How to transfer a domain to a new registrar. | ||
| - Tutorial: Register a domain with Epik (our preferred provider, due to quality of support) | ||
| In the :ref:`Website Primer <websites>` section, and for most of this handbook, | ||
| :ref:`DNS <dns>` is treated like one giant global directory listing of all | ||
| websites on the :ref:`Internet <internet>`. However, this is an extreme | ||
| simplification that focuses on how :ref:`end users <def-enduser>` interact with | ||
| this type of service. | ||
|
|
||
| **More About DNS** | ||
| As ":ref:`the website person <audience>`" for your 12-Step group, you will most | ||
| likely be responsible for maintaining your groups :ref:`domain <dns>` in this | ||
| global index. | ||
|
|
||
| - Naked records vs. sub-domains (2nd vs. 3rd) | ||
| - Common record types and the purpose they serve (matrix) | ||
| Note that NS records are special and changing them means changing where other records are managed | ||
| - Tutorial: "Hello World" TXT record (why? how to create/verify/delete) | ||
| .. _registrars: | ||
|
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| Registrars | ||
| ---------- | ||
|
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||
| A ``DNS registrar`` is a company that facilitates the registration and management | ||
| of :ref:`domain names <domain>` on behalf of individuals and organizations, | ||
| allowing them to manage :ref:`DNS information <dns>` on the :ref:`Internet | ||
| <internet>`. | ||
|
|
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| Registrars handle the administrative tasks of domain registration, ensuring that | ||
| each domain is unique and properly configured in the :ref:`DNS system <dns>`. | ||
|
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| .. admonition:: Further Reading | ||
|
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||
| Cloudflare provides a great explanation of how the `registrar/registry/tld | ||
| <https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/glossary/what-is-a-domain-name-registrar/>`__ | ||
| relationship works. | ||
|
|
||
| Reputable DNS registrars also provide a web interface that allows | ||
| :ref:`administrators <audience>` to manage :ref:`DNS Records <dns-records>` | ||
| within this global index. Most also provide the option to update Name Server | ||
| (NS) records, allowing a company other than the registrar to be responsible for | ||
| :ref:`DNS Records <dns-records>` that are presented to :ref:`end users | ||
| <def-enduser>`. | ||
|
|
||
| .. admonition:: Recap | ||
|
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||
| DNS is a distributed system, spread across thousands of organizations. | ||
| Registrars allow consumers to register and maintain domain names within this | ||
| global index. | ||
|
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||
| .. _bad-registrars: | ||
|
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| Predatory Registrars | ||
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | ||
|
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||
| Unfortunately, **most** registrars engage in predatory practices, attempting to | ||
| upsell unnecessary services or charging inflated prices for renewals. | ||
|
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||
| Common tactics to watch out for include: | ||
|
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||
| - **Privacy Protection Fees**: Charging for "enhanced" privacy protection, | ||
| despite `ICANN mandating privacy by default | ||
| <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-registration-data-specs-en/#temp-spec>`__, | ||
| - **Surprise Services**: Automatically enrolling customers in additional services | ||
| like web hosting or backups without clear consent, often through pre-checked | ||
| boxes during checkout. | ||
| - **Domain Fronting and Squatting**: Registering domains that users search for | ||
| or similar variants, then selling them at inflated prices. | ||
| - **Domain Sniping**: Monitoring for domains that will expire soon in hopes the | ||
| original owner will pay to get it back. | ||
| - **Renewal Price Hikes**: Increasing renewal fees significantly higher than | ||
| initial registration costs. | ||
| - **Complicated Transfers**: Creating obstacles for transferring domains away | ||
| from their service, making it seem "not woth the effort"--it is. | ||
|
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| These registrars have been reported to engage in various predatory practices: | ||
|
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| - **GoDaddy**: Aggressive and misleading marketing tactics for over-priced | ||
| services with frequent price changes; known for domain sniping and fronting. | ||
| - **1&1**: Known for confusing pricing structures and non-responsive support. | ||
| - **Network Solutions**: Infamous for domain fronting and high renewal prices. | ||
| - **BlueHost**: Known for surprise services/fees and complicated transfers. | ||
| - **Hostinger**: Uses domain fronting/squatting and renewal price hikes. | ||
| - **Squarespace**: Aggressive upselling and complicated transfers. | ||
| - **Register**: Known for surprise services and hidden transfer fees. | ||
|
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| As a general rule of thumb, any registrar that offers Wordpress websites as an | ||
| add-on service is likely worth avoiding. | ||
|
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| .. _okay-registrars: | ||
|
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| Reputable Services | ||
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | ||
|
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||
| Nearly all registrars participate in some level of predatory behavior, making it | ||
| difficult to find reputable services. Although a "safe list" cannot be provided, | ||
| the subjective lists below aim to provide some critical review to begin your own | ||
| research. | ||
|
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| **Registrars**: | ||
|
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| - **Dynadot**: Provides a clean interface with transparent pricing and clearly | ||
| labeled up-charges. | ||
| - **CloudFlare**: Offers DNS registration and renewal at registry cost, offering | ||
| their registrar service for free, in exchange for using only their name | ||
| servers. | ||
| - **Porkbun**: Offers transparent pricing with a simple and clean user | ||
| interface, although customer service is terrible and renewal rates can be | ||
| high. | ||
|
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||
| **Turn-Key Websites** (also registrars, but with very limited DNS support): | ||
|
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| - **inMotion Hosting**: Provides fully-managed Wordpress websites that include | ||
| many optimally-configured caching features. | ||
| - **Pantheon**: Provides optimized websites using Drupal, rather than Wordpress. | ||
|
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||
| .. admonition:: Recap | ||
|
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| It is important to research various forums for recent reviews to determine | ||
| which registrar to do business with. | ||
|
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| .. _fqdn: | ||
|
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| Fully Qualified Domain Name | ||
| --------------------------- | ||
|
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||
| A Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) consists of a series of labels separated by | ||
| dots. These are structured similar to a mailing address, with the Top-Level | ||
| Domain (TLD) on the far right, and then the Second-Level Domain (SLD) directly | ||
| to the left, followed by optional Subdomains. | ||
|
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||
| Web browsers use this FQDN in the :ref:`URL <url>` they use to request a web | ||
| resource. | ||
|
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| **FQDN Examples:** | ||
|
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||
| .. list-table:: | ||
| :header-rows: 1 | ||
| :widths: 40 20 30 10 | ||
|
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||
| * - FQDN | ||
| - Subdomain (Hostname) | ||
| - :ref:`Domain Name <dns>` | ||
| - TLD | ||
|
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||
| * - www.google.com | ||
| - www | ||
| - google.com | ||
| - com | ||
|
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||
| * - google.com | ||
| - @ | ||
| - google.com | ||
| - com | ||
|
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||
| * - drive.google.com | ||
| - drive | ||
| - google.com | ||
| - com | ||
|
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||
| * - handbook.recoverysource.net | ||
| - handbook | ||
| - recoverysource.net | ||
| - net | ||
|
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||
| * - site.dev.handbook.recoverysource.net | ||
| - site.dev.handbook | ||
| - recoverysource.net | ||
| - net | ||
|
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| * - aa0-1.sober.page | ||
| - aa0-1 | ||
| - sober.page | ||
| - page | ||
|
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||
| * - testbox1.devnet.example.com | ||
| - testbox1 | ||
| - example.com | ||
| - com | ||
|
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| .. rst-class:: center | ||
|
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| :sub:`'@' is a common DNS term (symbol) that indicates 'root (or naked) domain name'` | ||
|
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|
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| :ref:`Administrators <audience>` are generally free to manage their :ref:`DNS | ||
| records <dns-records>` as they see fit, creating whatever subdomains may be | ||
| needed. | ||
|
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||
| .. note:: This is what enables Sober Page to offer :ref:`free "3rd-level" | ||
| domains <domain>`, via sober.page (and sobersupport.group). | ||
|
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| .. _dns-records: | ||
|
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| Record Types | ||
| ------------ | ||
|
|
||
| Every :ref:`FQDN <fqdn>` placed into DNS is known as a "DNS Record." These | ||
| records have specific types that identify the exact type of information the | ||
| record contains. | ||
|
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||
| These are the most common types of DNS records: | ||
|
|
||
| .. list-table:: | ||
| :header-rows: 1 | ||
| :widths: 10 20 70 | ||
|
|
||
| * - Type | ||
| - Description | ||
| - Purpose | ||
|
|
||
| * - A | ||
| - Address | ||
| - Maps a domain name to an :ref:`IPv4 <ip>` address | ||
| * - | ||
| - | ||
| - e.g. ``www.example.com`` points to ``192.0.2.1`` and ``93.184.215.14`` | ||
|
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||
| * - AAAA | ||
| - Quad-A | ||
| - Maps a domain name to an :ref:`IPv6 <ip>` address | ||
| * - | ||
| - | ||
| - e.g. ``www.example.com`` points to ``2001:0db8:85a3::8a2e:0370:7334`` | ||
|
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||
| * - CNAME | ||
| - Canonical Name | ||
| - Maps an alias or alternative name for a domain to the actual domain | ||
| * - | ||
| - | ||
| - e.g. ``example.com`` points to ``www.example.com`` | ||
|
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||
| * - MX | ||
| - Mail Exchanger | ||
| - Specifies the mail server responsible for receiving email for a domain | ||
| * - | ||
| - | ||
| - e.g. mail for ``example.com`` is handled by ``mx1.example.net`` | ||
|
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||
| * - NS | ||
| - Name Server | ||
| - Specifies the computer name responsible for a domain | ||
| * - | ||
| - | ||
| - e.g. ``example.com`` in managed by ``a.iana-servers.net.`` | ||
|
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| * - TXT | ||
| - Text | ||
| - Stores text information about a domain, such as public keys | ||
| * - | ||
| - | ||
| - e.g. ``_dmarc.example.com`` returns a string of public key data | ||
|
|
||
| Each FQDN can be represented by multiple DNS records. Both DNS records will be | ||
| returned to the computer making the request, which enables (round-robin) redundancy. | ||
|
|
||
| For `example | ||
| <https://digwebinterface.com/?hostnames=lustfield.net&type=A&ns=resolver&useresolver=9.9.9.10>`__:: | ||
|
|
||
| $ dig lustfield.net A +short | ||
| 172.67.203.97 | ||
| 104.21.42.81 | ||
|
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||
| Chapter Recap | ||
| ------------- | ||
|
|
||
| :ref:`DNS registrars <registrars>` allow :ref:`website administrators | ||
| <audience>` to manage :ref:`DNS records <dns-records>` on the | ||
| :ref:`Internet <internet>`. These records form the :ref:`FQDN <fqdn>` portion of | ||
| the :ref:`URL <url>` that users type into their web browser in order to view | ||
| your :ref:`website <websites>`. |
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