Title: Registration
Course: CIS 208: Linux/UNIX III: Intermediate System Administration, Networking, and Security ~ For IGNITE Review > Section: Learning Modules

Registration

While it is not necessary to register a domain for use on an internal network, it is required if the domain is to be accessed on the Internet.  The process of registering a domain includes:

- Selecting a registrar
- Paying a fee
- Configuring the domain name
- Selecting several contacts
- And including the names and addresses of at least two nameservers

The nameserver records are then added to the parent domain.  For example, the wccnet.edu nameserver records reside on the .edu nameservers.  This allows the finding of an IP address from a top-down fashion.  The root servers are queried about .edu, the .edu servers are queried about wccnet.edu, and the wccnet.edu servers are queried for www.wccnet.edu.

To ensure that a domain is properly registered, it is possible to do a "whois" search to get the details of a domain.  A convenient form is provided at http://www.networksolutions.com/whois for whois information.  Here are the results for wccnet.edu.

Domain Name: WCCNET.EDU

Registrant:

Washtenaw Community College

4800 E Huron River Dr.

Ann Arbor, MI 48105-4800

UNITED STATES

Administrative Contact:

Francisco L Roque

Lead System Engineer

Washtenaw Community College

4800 E Huron River Dr

Ann Arbor, MI 48105-4800

UNITED STATES

(734) 973-3478

frisco@wccnet.edu

Technical Contact:

Domain Administrator

Domain Administrator

Washtenaw Community College

4800 E Huron River Dr

Ann Arbor, MI 48105-4800

UNITED STATES

(734) 973-3478

dns-admin@wccnet.edu

Name Servers:

DNS.WCCNET.EDU       198.111.176.4

DNS2.WCCNET.EDU      198.111.176.61

Domain record activated:    01-Mar-2002

Domain record last updated: 21-May-2013

Domain expires:             31-Jul-2015

If a domain is properly registered, there is an excellent resource to assess the "health" of the domain's DNS servers.  Connect to http://www.intodns.com/ and search for the domain.  It will run a variety of tests and generate a report.  Look for any red status icons containing a exclamation point, as these indicate critical problems.