Domain Names: Registration, DNS and Renewals

Registry, registrar, host: who does what

• The registry runs a top-level domain such as .com or .org and keeps the master list of names in it.
• The registrar is the company you register and renew the name through. For generic domains such as .com, registrars are accredited by ICANN and bound by its policies, which is why the rules below apply whichever registrar you use. Country domains such as .uk or .de follow their own registry's rules.
• The registrant is the person or organisation the domain is registered to: its holder.
• The DNS provider answers queries for your domain and says where the website and email are. It is often the registrar or the web host, but can be a separate service.
• The web host and email provider run the servers your DNS points to. Our guide to web hosting covers that side.

All of these can be one company or four. What matters is that you know which is which, and who holds the logins.

Make sure the business is the registrant

ICANN's page on registrants' benefits and responsibilities says the registrant assumes sole responsibility for the registration and use of the domain name. It also says registrants must give accurate contact information, respond to their registrar's enquiries within 15 days and keep payment details current if they use auto-renewal.

So the registrant should be your business, on a registrar account the business controls, with a contact email that someone at the business reads. A designer or agency can manage DNS for you through a user role on the account or a separate DNS service, without the domain being in their name. If a past supplier registered it for you, ask for it to be moved into your name now, while relations are good.

DNS records at a glance

The Domain Name System, defined in RFC 1034 and RFC 1035, turns names into the addresses and settings computers use. The records a business site usually needs:

• NS records name the authoritative name servers for the domain: whoever answers for it. Changing them at the registrar moves all your DNS to a new provider.
• A records point a name to an IPv4 address, and AAAA records (RFC 3596) to an IPv6 address. This is how yourbusiness.com reaches your web server.
• CNAME records make one name an alias of another, for example www pointing to a hosting platform's address. RFC 1034 (section 3.6.2) says that if a CNAME is present at a name, no other data should be, so a CNAME cannot sit alongside, say, MX records on the same name.
• MX records name the servers that receive email for the domain.
• TXT records hold text, used for domain verification and for email authentication. Our guide to SPF, DKIM and DMARC explains those records.

Each record has a TTL, which RFC 1034 describes as a time limit on how long a record can be kept in a cache. That is why DNS changes do not reach everyone at once. Lowering the TTL a day or so before a planned move makes the switch quicker. Our guide to moving a website to a new host shows where this fits in a hosting move.

Renewals, expiry and redemption

A domain is registered for a fixed period and must be renewed. For generic domains, ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy (in effect since 31 August 2013) sets a minimum safety net:

• the registrar must send renewal reminders approximately one month and one week before expiry, and at least one more notice within five days after;
• after expiry, the registrant must have at least eight days to renew, during which the registrar interrupts the domain's existing DNS, so the website and email stop working;
• if the domain is then deleted, most generic registries offer a 30-day Redemption Grace Period in which the registrar must let the previous registrant redeem it;
• registrars must clearly show their renewal, late renewal and redemption fees on their website.

The reminders go to the contact email on the account. If that address belongs to a former employee or an old supplier, nobody sees them. Turn on auto-renew, keep the payment card current and renew important domains for more than one year at a time.

Transfers and transfer locks

ICANN's Transfer Policy says registrants must be able to move their domain between registrars. The version on ICANN's site, updated on 21 February 2024 with implementation required by 21 August 2025, works like this:

• you request the transfer at the new registrar, using an authorisation code (AuthInfo) that the current registrar must give you within five days of your request;
• a registrar may deny a transfer within 60 days of the domain's creation or of a previous transfer;
• after a change of registrant, the registrar must apply a 60-day transfer lock, though it may let you opt out before the change.

Also unlock the domain at your registrar before you start. ICANN's GNSO Council approved a review of the policy in 2025 that recommends shortening the 60-day periods to 30 days, dropping the lock after a change of registrant and renaming the code the Transfer Authorization Code (TAC). These changes are not yet shown on ICANN's policy page, so check the current version before you plan a move.

WHOIS and RDAP: checking a domain

Public registration data for generic domains used to come from WHOIS. ICANN announced that from 28 January 2025 the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP), specified in RFC 9083 and related standards, is the definitive source, with WHOIS sunset. You can look up any generic domain at lookup.icann.org to see its registrar, status codes, creation date and expiry date. Personal contact details are usually redacted for privacy.

A yearly domain check

1. Look the domain up and confirm the registrar and expiry date.
2. Log in to the registrar account and check that the registrant is your business and the contact email is one that is read.
3. Confirm auto-renew is on and the payment card has not expired.
4. Check that two people at the business can log in, with multifactor authentication on.
5. Export or screenshot your DNS records, so they can be rebuilt if anything goes wrong.
6. When launching a new site or changing host, run through our website launch checklist before you touch DNS.

Frequently asked questions

Should my web designer register the domain for me?

They can help, but the domain should be registered to your business, on an account your business controls. ICANN treats the registrant as solely responsible for the name, so the registrant should be you.

What happens if my domain expires?

For generic domains such as .com, the registrar sends reminders before and after expiry. After expiry your website and email stop working, but you have at least eight days to renew, and many registries then offer a 30-day redemption period. Late renewal and redemption fees can apply.

Why can't I transfer my domain to another registrar yet?

Under ICANN's current Transfer Policy, a registrar may refuse a transfer within 60 days of registration or of a previous transfer, and a 60-day lock can follow a change of registrant. The domain may also simply be locked at the registrar.

Do my registrar and my web host have to be the same company?

No. The registrar holds the registration and the host runs the website. You point the domain at the host with DNS records.

How long do DNS changes take?

It depends on each record's TTL, which sets how long other servers may cache the old answer. Changes can show up for some visitors before others while caches expire.

Need help sorting out who holds your domain, DNS and hosting? We can set these up in your business's name as part of our website development and website maintenance work. See all our services, or email info@creahive.com.