What is Domain Name:
Domain name is a human understandable name. It is the address to access your website by Internet users. A domain name is a unique name for your website which can be a combination of letters and numbers. It can be used in combination of various extensions like .com, . in and much more. A domain name must be registered before using it and no two websites can have the same domain name. The DNS system will translate the friendly domain name into an IP address. Here you will see, Life-cycle of Domain Name.
Most people misunderstand that, once a domain is purchased, they actually own the domain name. This is not actually true, because the domain names are not purchased, instead, domain names are leased from the registry. Thousands of domains are purchased every year and registered for mostly 1-10 years of time which follows a predefined life cycle.
The life-cycle of Domain Name:
An idea on the life-cycle of a domain name can be helpful to retain the domain name from any chance of deletion or accidental expiry. Let us see what happens between the registration and deactivation of a domain name. The life-cycle of a Domain Name has the following stages
- Available
- Active
- Expired
- Redemption Grace period
- Pending Deletion
- Deleted and Made Available
Availability of Domain Names:
The very first stage of a Domain Name Life Cycle is its availability. Here, the domain name is available for purchase and not registered by any entity. Search for the availability of domain name from any registrar and register for a period of 1 to 10 years.
Active Period:
Once the domain name is registered, it will be active for the purchased period of time. Now, you can update the proper DNS record and make your website live. If need to transfer a domain from current registrar to another registrar after registration, a minimum period of 60 days should be kept in the current registrar. Or you can renew the domain after expiry to retain the domain name for a longer period. Most of the registrars will notify the expiry of a domain in advance to renew it.
Expired Period:
The domain name will be deleted if it is failed to renew after the expiry date. All the services related to the domain name will be stopped. At this time, the domain name has a grace period of 30 to 45 days depending upon the extension and registrar to renew it. The expired domains cannot be transferred without renewal to another registrar or registry. In this period, the domain can be renewed without penalty or it may enter the Redemption Grace Period.
Redemption Grace Period:
In this phase, the domain name will be deleted by most of the registrars and charged with a huge amount to reclaim the same domain. The expired domains will be available in this phase for a redemption period of 30 days.
Pending Deletion:
If the domain is still not renewed after the redemption period also, it goes to the Pending Deletion Phase. In this period, the domain will be available for five days. After that, the domain will be deleted and will be available for registration.
Deleted and Available:
The domain is now deleted and available for anyone to register it. It is better to renew your domain after the expiry to avoid deletion. If the domain is valuable or has a lot of traffic, then it will be registered in a few seconds after its availability.
Thus, it is always better to renew your domain before its expiry to prevent it from deletion. We hope this tutorial will be helpful to know about the Life-Cycle of Domain Name. For more information, follow us on Twitter and Facebook and For video tutorials, subscribe to our YouTube channel ServerCake India.