Dumb Question about Domain Extensions

[B4its2L8]

Hello,

I was thinking of signing up for an email address with everyone.net, so I perused the EMD archives and found some -- actually a lot of -- discussion about the service and its various domains. Though not listed at the everyone.net site, one service mentioned here was k.st. I went to Network Solutions (to find out if a domain I was going to use with everyone.net was already registered) and decided to try to find out what the ".st" extension 'referred to,' but it wasn't listed anywhere. Only .com, .net, .biz, .name, .cc. etc. and all the country specific extensions.

Two-part question, if I may: Does anyone know what the .st refers to, and, secondly, does anyone know if it is possible to use that (or other odd -- or made up (?) -- extensions) for registering a domain/email name?

I realize I can contact everyone.net with the second part of my question, but I thought, as long as there are such email-experienced people here addressing my first question anyway....

Oh, and a very minor question re: everyone.net: would it be considered at all 'safer' to sign up with everyone.net registering a domain for one's personal email than signing up with another 'everyone.net powered' email service (like k.st, et.al.) ?

Thanks for any comments.


sd



P.S. Can one register a domain with an extension like .tv or something even if one is not going to use the registered domain for the 'usual' purpose associated with that extension ?

[theog]

Originally Posted by B4its2L8

Hello,

I was thinking of signing up for an email address with everyone.net, so I perused the EMD archives and found some -- actually a lot of -- discussion about the service and its various domains. Though not listed at the everyone.net site, one service mentioned here was k.st. I went to Network Solutions (to find out if a domain I was going to use with everyone.net was already registered) and decided to try to find out what the ".st" extension 'referred to,' but it wasn't listed anywhere. Only .com, .net, .biz, .name, .cc. etc. and all the country specific extensions.

Two-part question, if I may: Does anyone know what the .st refers to, and, secondly, does anyone know if it is possible to use that (or other odd -- or made up (?) -- extensions) for registering a domain/email name?

I realize I can contact everyone.net with the second part of my question, but I thought, as long as there are such email-experienced people here addressing my first question anyway....

Oh, and a very minor question re: everyone.net: would it be considered at all 'safer' to sign up with everyone.net registering a domain for one's personal email than signing up with another 'everyone.net powered' email service (like k.st, et.al.) ?

Thanks for any comments.


sd



P.S. Can one register a domain with an extension like .tv or something even if one is not going to use the registered domain for the 'usual' purpose associated with that extension ?

http://www.nic.st/ is the site to register... although neither godaddy or oneandone.com carry the domain, I would not know if everyone.net supports it as an email. For the most part I stay away from such domains, but that is me...

IMO, the best way to use everyone.net's service is to register your own domain at godaddy or oneandone, then host your email with everyone.net. The last thing you want is to be hosting on an .st domain that you like then the owners decide to host email someplace else or the domain is not registered when it is time (note: there is a way to get your email if this happens, but it is a pain... you will be looking for another email address/provider.)

Also, if everyone.net gets the domain for you and you have hosting there, that is not a good idea either. While I don't guess they will go out of business, it could be risky to host your email there and host your email there... I like to keep all these things separate.

I tend to like .com addresses the most, although I do use other extensions for various business purposes. For email, I'd stick to either .com or .net simply because people know those two extensions. I had an email with a .biz and would provide people with myemail.biz and they would ask, "Is it myemail.biz.com?" Becomes a pain after a while...

Yes, anyone can register a .tv and use it for any purpose. The only domain that I know (that I can remember right now) with restrictions are the .mobi addresses. In that case you have to provide a "mobile" website for that domain... Other extensions may have strange policies, but none that are enforced, at least to my knowledge. Well, even .mobi is not enforced, but you never know....

Welcome to the forums...

[B4its2L8]

Hi, theog !

Thanks for the welcome, and for the very informative response !

You said: "although neither godaddy or oneandone.com carry the [.st] domain, I would not know if everyone.net supports it as an email. For the most part I stay away from such domains, but that is me..."

Several posts here noted that k.st was an everyone.net domain, so I was assuming that it might host others of the same kind. I'll have to check with them. But, I take your warning noted elsewhere in your reply regarding trying to stick with more popular domain extensions.

Re: registering with another service (like godaddy), if I were to do such a thing, am I allowed to simply own the domain and have some other service (Lavabit, Fastmail, etc.) host the email for it, or am I in any way obligated to have a full-fledged website associated with the domain ? (For some reason I was under the impression that registering a domain meant some obligation to have and maintain a website as well.)


Thanks !

sd

[markwolk]

The .st tld is for Sao Tome.

[filtered]

Originally Posted by B4its2L8

and decided to try to find out what the ".st" extension 'referred to,' but it wasn't listed anywhere.

http://www.iana.org/root-whois/index.html

[theog]

Originally Posted by B4its2L8

Hi, theog !

Thanks for the welcome, and for the very informative response !

You said: "although neither godaddy or oneandone.com carry the [.st] domain, I would not know if everyone.net supports it as an email. For the most part I stay away from such domains, but that is me..."

Several posts here noted that k.st was an everyone.net domain, so I was assuming that it might host others of the same kind. I'll have to check with them. But, I take your warning noted elsewhere in your reply regarding trying to stick with more popular domain extensions.

Re: registering with another service (like godaddy), if I were to do such a thing, am I allowed to simply own the domain and have some other service (Lavabit, Fastmail, etc.) host the email for it, or am I in any way obligated to have a full-fledged website associated with the domain ? (For some reason I was under the impression that registering a domain meant some obligation to have and maintain a website as well.)


Thanks !

sd

No, you do not have to host the domain with godaddy or oneandone.com. Matter of fact, I would highly recommend you not do web hosting with either company. lol.... they are GREAT for domains and offer a nice domain dns service (which is fairly easy to understand, all things considered). But I host with them since they are both fairly large and provide no issues on domain hosting.

I keep most things separated... I host my domains with godaddy, oneandone, fabulos, enom, etc, etc... My web hosting is with another company (http://www.fluidhosting.com) and my business email is with everyone.net. My "main" personal account is with everyone.net as well, with other "personal" accounts hosted at fluidhosting, hotmail, aol, yahoo, etc, etc... My backup account is on aol....

Anyway, no domain hosting, web hosting, and email hosting are all different things. Some people to keep everything with one company, some people (like me) like things fragmented. Pros and cons to each way of doing things....

The .st might do you well... I dunno... I don't like them... but then I don't like .fm either and look at last.fm. I also have different reasons for sticking with the .com extensions... but that is a different story.

You are welcome!!! We like new people here! Fairly good forum... hard to find "good" forums anymore... this is one of them... lots of good people here... we argue over (of all things) email, but everyone is fairly nice and we always leave arguments with a big hug (for the most part). Nice place to hang around and learn about what is going on with email.....

[Merovingian]

Another Welcome, B4its2L8 !

I figured I would chime in with my 2 bits.....Awhile back, I also was looking to host my own personal domains, but only for email use. (I asked theog a zillion questions about domains, too! ) I was wanting a custom, individualized address for friend and family use. I ended up getting my last name domain at a couple of the tld's of the type you are referring to (.cx and .sc). Not for everyone, but for folks that I know and trust, I use firstname(at)lastname.cx. (for other use, I use less identifiable domains). I have never had an incident of someone forgetting my address, or confusing it with adding a ".com" at the end. In my experience, I send out mail, possibly to inform people of your new address, and then people put you in their address book. I don't really tell people verbally and expect they will remember it.
The way I have arranged it, I purchased my domains and have them hosted at Moniker.com, Namecheap.com, and Name.com. These are all fairly widely recognized, reputable businesses. I then have them hosted at Fastmail with my Enhanced account, and have not had any issues at all.
I agree with theog that to have your domains hosted at one place, and your mail hosted at another is preferable.
Just thought another's perspective would help decide on what you want. I'm sure everyone here at EMD has their own opinion as to what works best for them, but generally all the folks here are knowledgeable and genuinely want to help others.
Glad to have ya!

[theog]

Originally Posted by Merovingian

The way I have arranged it, I purchased my domains and have them hosted at Moniker.com, Namecheap.com, and Name.com. These are all fairly widely recognized, reputable businesses. I then have them hosted at Fastmail with my Enhanced account, and have not had any issues at all.

I need to get a domain and put at namecheap just for gp.... a lot of people use namecheap and like them... they just received icann accreditation as well (they were a reseller).

Yea, the ".whatever" extension really does not matter a whole lot if for your own personal use... actually, used for your own personal use (not business use) heck, it might not matter at all what extension you use.

Then again, even with sites like last.fm, you can build a good brand off an extension not a .com.... all depends......

[Merovingian]

Originally Posted by theog

I need to get a domain and put at namecheap just for gp.... a lot of people use namecheap and like them... they just received icann accreditation as well (they were a reseller).

I would recommend them. I have several domains with them, and I've never had issue. I really like their control panel/interface.

Originally Posted by theog

Yea, the ".whatever" extension really does not matter a whole lot if for your own personal use... actually, used for your own personal use (not business use) heck, it might not matter at all what extension you use.

Yeah, it doesn't seem to make a difference in my case. I'm very surprised that most of my family and friends (who are not computer savvy or "geeky"), never even make a comment or seem to notice my lastname.cx or lastname.sc addresses. I figured I would get some sort of questions or comments from it. Sort of disappointing

[B4its2L8]

Wow ! More excellent and helpful replies !

Thanks to markwolk for the extension reference and to filtered for the tld code link !

And thanks to theog and Merovingian for your comments !

Re: domain registration providers: I appreciate the other ones mentioned (namecheap, etc.). I had mentioned Network Solutions in my post only because everyone.net linked to it somewhere in their site. I figured it was the company they most trust or prefer to deal with in such matters. But I guess it really doesn't matter, as you both noted.

Re: domain-only registration: If I were to register a domain (strictly for purposes of having some email provider host it for me -- with no intention of having a website with it), does the sending/receiving of email go through the domain provider ? That is, if I simply sign up with, say, Lavabit, my email exchange goes 'directly' through them, right ? But if I have them hosting a domain registered elsewhere, is that domain hosting service at all included in the email exchange process ? Would any email information be sent by Lavabit to/through godaddy (or whomever) ? Or is it strictly a 'legal' relationship between the email provider and the domain provider ?

Sorry to be so ignorant of such things and have so many questions about it, but, as I say, I'd rather ask you knowledgeable email users and get your objective, experienced responses than pose all my questions to the company in question (whenever they would decide to get back to me).


sd

Edit: sorry. I remember another question: once a domain is registered, is there anything to actually do at the domain hosting site (if one is just using it for email hosted elsewhere) ? Or is it just a matter of paying the bill every year to keep the domain ?

[hadaso]

Originally Posted by B4its2L8

Edit: sorry. I remember another question: once a domain is registered, is there anything to actually do at the domain hosting site (if one is just using it for email hosted elsewhere) ? Or is it just a matter of paying the bill every year to keep the domain ?

The minimum service you must get from a domain registrar is a domain name, pointing the domain name to where information about how you use it (name server) is available, and paying the bill each time you have to renew the registration.

That's the bare minimum. Say you are MicroSoft and have registered microsoft.com. Then probably that's all you take from the domain registrar since you are capable of managing your domain and want the control. But then if you are a person that registered a domain for personal use you might choose to do the same. I do it. I have my personal domain registered with namecheap. I have them pointing to the name servers of my email provider (FastMail.FM) and that's it. There is no business relation between the domain registrar and the email/hosting provider.

So when you register a domain the only service you need from them (other than taking very little of your money ) is to point the domain at a name server (NS records). They always offer the use of their own name servers. You can use them or any other and there is no need for business relation between the registrar and the operator of the name server.

Now what do you need name servers for: the name servers hold the information about where to get various services for your domain: where a website for the domain is hosted. The addresses of email servers that receive email for the domain, and various other more exotic things that normally are not used. So normally you would have there the address at your webhost (A record) and addresses of your mail host servers (MX records). You don't have to have any of them set. You can only use email, or only use web, or none. The only thing you need to keep your domain is to pay the registration fees. And also there is no need for business relations between any of your service providers. any provider that tells you there's a limitation of this sort is just telling you about their business practices (not allowing customers to use the full functionality that having a registered domain allows. Of course sometimes they would place such limitations so that their support personnel would not have to work too hard, which might be necessary if they don't charge much for their service).

So once you register a domain you would have to choose which name servers to use: the registrar's, the webhost's, the email provider's or an independent name service. All choices are good as long as they are reputable services. You would probably not need an independent name service provider if you just want to use simple web+email service (or just one of them). If you want just email for your domain either using the registrar's name servers or using the mail provider's servers are equally good. If you intend to have a website that is not hosted by your email provider then using the registrar's name servers might be simpler (pointing mail to your mailhost and web to your webhost). If you don't want a website then either would be good, though if your mail provider offers some kind of basic web service you might want them to handle the NS (so you can occasionally use their service without having to do configurations - it's very convenient to sometimes be able to put a file online). If your mail service does not have any kind of web hosting then probably using the registrar's name service would be a better choice since then if you want to play with basic web hosting offered elsewhere you would not need to touch your mail settings.

Anyway, the point is that you have lots of choice: it's your domain. You can host different services for the domain with different unrelated providers. The business relations are only between you and the service providers. Technically there is nothing requiring business relations between the providers of different services.

[B4its2L8]

I appreciate all that information, hadaso ! Very helpful, indeed !

Since I'm really only interested in registering a domain for use with a personal email address, I would probably use the email provider's servers, as you suggest.

Many thanks !

sd