Domain Names
Website < Host < IP Address < DNS < Agency < Domain < Registration < Your Wallet
The "Host" supplies your IP address and your website server. The "Registration Service" registers your domain name with the Internet Agency. The DNS (Domain Name System) translates your domain name to the IP address that you get from your host.
Domains are controlled by quasi official "agencies". The agency maintains a big database to make sure domain names do not get duplicated. You get your domain registered on the database by going through a registration service, who interfaces with the agency and pays the annual fee. Of course you pay the fee plus a markup.
The registration service usually provides an online utility where you enter the IP address that you get from your hosting company. That's the critical link between your domain name and the Web server provided by your host. This entry propagates (usually in a few hours) through the DNS so that browsers can find your site.
DNS (Domain Name System): A network of servers that look up the IP addresses for a domain names. The IP for cybercoyote.org is (now anyway) 207.210.72.194. If the host changes, the IP will change, and so the domain name must be pointed at the new IP. The utility to change the IP address is provided by your domain name registration service.
and everything else you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.
Advice:
Don't pay more than $10 for a domain name.
Don't get your domain name where you get your hosting.
If you don't like the registration service where you have your domain name,
you can get a new service to force the switch.
Registration Services:
