Purchasing a domain
Last updated
Last updated
To purchase a domain and make sure we are the owners, we must go to a domain registrar. There are many, for example:
Namecheap;
GoDaddy;
1&1;
123reg.
Let's go with Namecheap since they have a good reputation and I've used them before.
This will let you store your domains in an account for easy access in the future. We'll need that for configuration after we register a domain.
Next step after you have registered and signed in is to search for a domain. For the course we'll search for rest-api-course-trial.com.
Select the domain
Namecheap will present us with many different options. Select the one that is most reasonable for you in terms of price and domain name relevancy.
We will select rest-api-course-trial.com.
We can add it to the basked and proceed to "View Cart". This gives us more options before payment.
There are two things we must pay for, and a few more that are optional.
We must pay for:
The Domain Registration. This is the cost for Namecheap to register the domain to us, and for them to make a profit.
The ICANN fee. ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and they "are dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable, and interoperable". Exactly what that means, nobody knows.
We can pay for:
WhoisGuard. Upon registering a domain, your details (email address, phone number) are available to the public unless you purchase the WhoisGuard. I'd recommend paying for this.
PremiumDNS. This allows you to use Verisign's DNS servers and gives you more configurability options. I wouldn't recommend paying for this because we will be using another service for this, which is free.
Before paying, it's worth checking the Namecheap coupons site, for sometimes they have discounts.
Once we've paid, the domain name will appear in our account!
Note: Namecheap may require you to verify your contact info at this point. It should be as easy as clicking a link in an e-mail they send you!
