Registrar Transfers

[nesdon]

I've been trying to get my domain name here at TCH, and paid and ordered a transfer a couple of weeks ago. I guess I've discovered that this is all done by some sort of subcontractor. I always get a very helpful person on the phone at both the gaining and losing registrars phone services, but each inevitably points me back to the other.

 

I signed up for a one year hosting with another webhost in 2002, and let it lapse. As my domain name is a coined word, it seemed highly unlikely that it would be requested by anyone else. When I joined TCH, and went to repurchase my domain, and was surprised to find that I was still the owner at the old resistrar, two years after it's supposed expiration. So instead I attempted a name transfer. Which then somehow became a registrar transfer.

 

I was finally able to get a reply from core.nic in switzeland, who had come up on a whois search of my domain as the registrar, only to finally find my actual registrar: fastDNS, neither of whom I never heard of. I contacted them, got an auth #, entered it in the account management dialog that appears to be a TCH site, and still, after a call to each side, each day for the past 10 days, I'm listed as pending. Now a whois shows my registrar as Wild West in Arizona, who I've also never heard of.

 

Maybe a day or two more will finally settle it. But, my question is: what exactly is the function of a registrar as opposed to a host? Why do the registrars seem to be nested into bigger entities, eg, why isn't TCH it's own registrar? Also, clearly the losing registrar was initially putting me off in an effort to maintain their status. I presume that's why they did not let it expire, and why they kept sending me back to the the gaining reg.

 

But what else do they really have to gain, is that $10/year their only business model? How much of a a piece of that does TCH get? I guess I'm curious as to what the overall business model of the web has settled into. I see all these little inconspicous text ad links on peoples' pages, and all this reselling of services. Nothing like the garrish and overwhelming ads I get at mail.com. Has some sort of pay per click regime propagated? Do people pay commisions for users delivered via link to commercial sites? Is there some sort of primer that explains how all this is working? I'm soooo confused.

[TCH-Rob]

What is a registrar? From Google definitions;

 

A "Registrar" (or "Domain Name Registrar") is an organization like Network Solutions that has control over the granting of domains within certain TLDs (top level domains, like the generic .com/.org/.net or country-specific. ca/.us/.mx etc.). Domain Registry The 'Registry' is the system backend that is maintained by the operators of the TLD. Registrar's write new names to a central registry database, from which the authoritative root (essentially, a table of all domain names) is built.  These companies make sure each domain name is unique and are responsible for keeping track of who owns each one. Many registrars also provide hosting services, but these are two distinct services that do not HAVE to be done at the same place. You go to a registrar to register a name. You use their DNS (Domain Name Service) to tell the web how to find your site. If you want to change web hosting companies, you have to go to your registrar and set the name servers to point to your new host

 

As for Wild West Domains here in AZ, that is the registrar that TCH uses. We arent a registrar because it isnt just a simple thing to go out and become one, we offer the services through reselling as a convenience to our customers but TCH does not make much off each domain name sold or transfered. To see what is involved in becomming a registrar you can go to the ICANN website ad see what is involved.