Date First Published: 18th January 2022
Topic: Computer Networking
Subtopic: Network Services
Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions
Difficulty: MediumDifficulty Level: 5/10
A domain registrar is an organisation that allows users to register domain names. These are alphanumeric URLs that appear in the address bar of web browsers, eliminating the need for people to memorise IP addresses, and reflecting the brand of the website better. Registrants can also connect their domains to their web hosting provider by setting the nameservers, which help connect the domain name with the IP address of the website and store DNS records.
Domain registrars must be accredited by ICANN and the registries. The domains names that they register are actually owned by the registry and leased to users for 1-10 years.
Although the terms 'domain registry' and 'domain registrar' are sometimes used synonymously, they are not the same things. A domain registrar is an organisation that provides domain name registration services to users. A domain registry is an organisation that manages TLDs, such as '.com' or '.org', controls the policies of domain name allocation, is responsible for the registration of domain names, and maintains a database of all domain names and the associated registrant information, which is maintained by the IANA and ICANN.
VeriSign, the registry of .com domains charges domain registrars a fee for the domains that they register, which is included in the price that the registrant pays for the domain name. In addition, domain registrars have to pay a small fee to ICANN.
Domain registrars do not actually maintain domain names. They just provide a service that allows the registration of domain names and the domain name registry maintains the domain names. All domain names are actually owned by all of the registries. Domain names are just leased to users for a limited span of time, with an absolute maximum of 10 years before renewal. It is possible for registrants to keep domain names for as long as they want to, since domain registrars offer unlimited renewals.
The steps of a user registering a domain name are:
Examples of major domain registrars are:
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