Hi,

I just signed up for Ultima Hosting and wanted to make sure I did the domain name registration properly.  I have two domain names (vestrywine and vestrywines) that I need to register, so I registered them through register.com.  I then changed the name servers to ns1.ultimahosts.com ... ns3.ultimahosts.com through register.com's options.  Then I added the domains through the Domains option under my plan.  Finally, I will be defining the same website to both domain names in order to have them be forwarded to the same website.

I'm assuming that domain name registration with register.com was necessary.  Am I correct in this assumption?  If that wasn't required and could have been done through Ultima Host, then I think I might have wasted some money (for 5 year registrations).  Also, are the steps I outlined correct?

 
Thanks for your reply in advance.

- Jin
 

Quote:

I'm assuming that domain name registration with register.com was necessary.

Technically, registering through register.com is not necessary....they are expensive ($35/year last I checked).  Depending on what type of "features" you need your Registrar to provide, you could save yourself lots of money by using someone else like 1and1 ($5.99/yr), GoDaddy ($8.99/yr), etc.  Keep that in mind when it comes time to renew your domains and you can transfer them to another (less expensive) Registrar.

As far as your questions:

1.  I believe the Name Servers should be ns1.ultima1.net, ns2.ultima1.net.  That's what I use on all of my Ultima hosted domains.

2.  If you want both of your domain names to point to the exact same web site, then you should only set the Name Servers for one of the domains (the one that you want people to actually see in their browser address bar), and then in your Register.com Control Panel, set the other domain to "forward" to the other domain.  I do the same thing.  If you visit www.itechcs.net, you will end up at www.itechcs.com.  I have my .net domain forwarded to my .com domain, and then my .com domain has the Name Server settings.

I wish I had asked this question before registering through register.com.  Also, I got the 5-year plan for $88, so it's not a total loss.  However, I do have a follow-up question on the forwarding of the domain names (from register.com).  They offer a forwarding service, but charge something like $50/year for no-banner forwarding (forwarding with their banner being shown is free, but I do not want that).  Since the domain name server is changed to ns1.ultima1.net, etc., I really don't need to forward my domain names from register.com, do I?  This topic is really confusing to me with all the options being offered by so many different parties.

 Thanks again.

- Jin 

Don't worry, I've learned many lessons the hard way.  I used Register.com for years myself.  :-p

What hosting plan do you have?  There may be an easier solution depending on your plan.

Also, even though you just registered your domain names, you can still transfer them to a different Registrar.  Your 5 years of registration won't be lost, but you might have to pay for another year with the new Registrar.  I know for a fact that 1and1 allows free domain forwarding (I have 3 domains pointed to itechcs.com).

I have the Reseller Branded.net plan with 6 static IP addresses.  The reason behind it was to forward my second domain name to the main one as well as having the luxury to add more sites for my future businesses.  Can't I simply redirect the second domain's website (just a simple default.htm) to the main one?

Thanks.

- Jin 

Yes, you could just use a simple default.htm redirect.  Unfortunately that will require you to use up one of your "free" domains in DNP, which is what I was trying to avoid by suggesting Domain Forwarding.  Domain Forwarding (via the Registrar) would avoid you having to use up one of your free domains in DNP.

Unfortunately, domain forwarding through register.com will cost me $40 / month if I want to avoid the register.com's banners (free version).  I have 6 static IPs, so I suppose I can afford to lose one for this purpose.  If I could do it all over again, I suppose I could have taken different steps, but whatever works for now will be fine.  Thanks a million for all your help.

- Jin 

A less expensive option would be to transfer your domains to a different Registrar as I mentioned in my earlier post.

1and1 only charges $5.99/yr for each domain.  So for under $12 you can transfer both domains to them and still keep the 5 years you've already paid for, and you can use 1and1's free domain forwarding, thereby keeping one of your dedicated IP's.

Ditch Register.com....they are a ripoff.

I'll consider that option as well.  For now, I'll have to focus on getting the website up and running.  I did think that register.com was a bit suspect when forcing their banners on free forwarding and charging $40 (per year, not month as I had thought) for the banner-free forwarding.  They also makes you think that personal information like my phone# and email address will be stolen by others if you don't sign up for a service that prevents it (for extra fee, of course).  They disclosed all this only after I signed up and not before.  Shouldn't that be illegal?

 - Jin 

We will probably have an unlimited domain pointer option in the next version of DNP also which is something else to consider.

Is this "service" your talking about to keep your personal info safe refered to as "private registration"?  If so, that's rediculous.  Many Registrars offer that for free, and for some it is the default registration method.  Look at my WHOIS...you won't see my info anywhere on it:  http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=itechcs.com

I'm sure they covered their @$$ and had a link to that info somewhere before you signed up....my Merchant did something similar, they buried a 3 year commitment deep in the terms that I could barely read.

Nevertheless, whatever you do, don't pay for anymore Register.com services.  There is almost always a much less expensive (free) way to do it.