The company managing the domain name registrations is called Domain Name Registrar. A domain name registrar handles the reservation of domain names and assigns IP addresses to registered domains. A domain name registrar is an ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) or a national country code TLD (top-level domain) accredited company to register domain names.
There is a common misconception that domains are sold by registrars. But, the fact is, these domain names are owned by registries and users can take them on lease.
How do domain names work?
Domain names are nothing but alphanumeric aliases used to access websites. For example:
Consider a website ‘avinashkabra.com‘ which is hosted on a server whose IP address is ‘198.54.126.162‘. Now to access this website you need to type in the IP address. But, usually, it’s hard to remember the IP address. Therefore, we take a domain name which points to this IP.
So, domain names help in accessing the websites without having to remember IP addresses. It is to note that the domain name registrars do not manage/maintain these domain names; it is handled by the domain name registry.
What is the difference between a registry, registrar and registrant?
Three different entities play a role in a domain name registration process. These three entities are the registry, registrar, and registrant. Let’s understand each one of them.
Registry: A domain name registry is an organization that manages TLDs (top-level domains) such as ‘.com’ and ‘.net’. Managed by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), a department of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), these registries create domain name extensions, set rules for the domains and work with registrars to sell them to the public.
Registries delegate registrars for the commercial sales of domain names. For example, VeriSign is the registry for ‘.com’ domains. Whenever a ‘.com’ is sold to a domain name registrant, the registrar must inform VeriSign so that the domain name can be reserved properly.
Registrar: A registrar is an ICANN accredited organization, like Crazy Domains and Namecheap. These registrars sell domain names to the public. A registrar is like a dealership for domain names, and the registry is like the manufacturer. Some domain name registrars have the ability to sell TLDs like .com, .net and .org while other can sell country-code top-level domain names (ccTLDs) such as .us, .ca, and .eu.
Registrant: A person or a company who registers a domain name is called as the registrant. A registrant can manage his domain name settings through the registrar. Whenever any changes are made to the domain name, the registrar has to inform the registry so that it can be saved in the registry’s database.
The company managing the domain name registrations is called Domain Name Registrar. A domain name registrar handles the reservation of domain names and assigns IP addresses to registered domains. A domain name registrar is an ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) or a national country code TLD (top-level domain) accredited company to register domain names.
There is a common misconception that domains are sold by registrars. But, the fact is, these domain names are owned by registries and users can take them on lease.
How do domain names work?
Domain names are nothing but alphanumeric aliases used to access websites. For example:
Consider a website ‘avinashkabra.com‘ which is hosted on a server whose IP address is ‘198.54.126.162‘. Now to access this website you need to type in the IP address. But, usually, it’s hard to remember the IP address. Therefore, we take a domain name which points to this IP.
So, domain names help in accessing the websites without having to remember IP addresses. It is to note that the domain name registrars do not manage/maintain these domain names; it is handled by the domain name registry.
What is the difference between a registry, registrar and registrant?
Three different entities play a role in a domain name registration process. These three entities are the registry, registrar, and registrant. Let’s understand each one of them.
Registry: A domain name registry is an organization that manages TLDs (top-level domains) such as ‘.com’ and ‘.net’. Managed by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), a department of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), these registries create domain name extensions, set rules for the domains and work with registrars to sell them to the public.
Registries delegate registrars for the commercial sales of domain names. For example, VeriSign is the registry for ‘.com’ domains. Whenever a ‘.com’ is sold to a domain name registrant, the registrar must inform VeriSign so that the domain name can be reserved properly.
Registrar: A registrar is an ICANN accredited organization, like Crazy Domains and Namecheap. These registrars sell domain names to the public. A registrar is like a dealership for domain names, and the registry is like the manufacturer. Some domain name registrars have the ability to sell TLDs like .com, .net and .org while other can sell country-code top-level domain names (ccTLDs) such as .us, .ca, and .eu.
Registrant: A person or a company who registers a domain name is called as the registrant. A registrant can manage his domain name settings through the registrar. Whenever any changes are made to the domain name, the registrar has to inform the registry so that it can be saved in the registry’s database.
