What is a domain name?

A domain name is essentially a signpost on the Internet. Every website you've ever been to, and every e-mail you've ever composed, has used a domain name in its address. People register domain names in order to 'stake a claim' to a particular name – whether for business or personal reasons.

Once a domain name is registered to a person or company, it is that persons to use exclusively as long as they continue to pay the annual renewal fee. Our domain name is altonet.co.za

Who does a registered name actually belong to – the end user or the registration service provider?

Domain names are not truly owned – they're leased out on a first-come, first-served basis, and remain with the initial lessee until either
(a) the lessee does not renew the name, or
(b) a business with a trademark of the same name demonstrates a greater claim to the name than the lessee can demonstrate. The question is better phrased as 'who can control the domain name'. With ALTONet, the answer is the domain's administrative contact.

What's the difference between .com, .net, .org domain names?

Originally, the three letter extensions after the dot (or Top Level Domain/TLD) were meant to denote whether the domain name was being used for business (.com) charity/non-profit (.org) or for a technology based company (.net).

However, with the explosion of the Internet (and specifically, the World Wide Web) as a new business medium, the lines were blurred and companies and individuals alike started cross-registering domains (i.e. me.com, me.net, me.org) just to protect their interests.

Now, .com, .net, and .org names (the generic Top Level Domains) can be used for any purpose.

What's the difference between a ccTLD and a gTLD?

gTLDs are generic Top Level Domains that are NOT affiliated with any country and can be registered by anyone for a fee. Currently, these are .com, .net, .org, .biz and .info. ccTLDs are country code Top Level Domains. These are the two character top level domain names affiliated with various countries around the world. Many ccTLDs are closed or restricted, requiring proof of residency in the country in question. Others are not restricted and can be purchased much like gTLDs.

Once I register a domain name, how long does it take before it is visible on the Internet?

.co.za and .org.za domain names registered before 5pm are visible by 9pm the same day. The zone files for .com, .org, .net, .info and .biz domain names are updated daily, 7 days a week. Requests received and completed by 5pm are included in that day's zone file update, and should be visible on the Internet the following morning. However, your new or modified record may not be visible in the WHOIS database for 24-48 hours from the time of the zone file update.

I already have a domain name registered through another company. Can I transfer and host that domain name with ALTONet?

Yes you can. In order to host a domain name registered through another domain name registrar, a DNS update will have to be done on the domain name. For more information on this, please click here.

I would like to do the updates to my domain DNS records myself. What DNS servers must I use when hosting with ALTONet?

(a) Primary DNS Server
ns1.idws.com
216.236.177.1
(b) Secondary DNS Server
ns2.idws.com
216.236.177.2