Domain Names

There are many domain name registrars in the market place that we can use to register domain names on behalf of our customers. They differ widely, especially in their pricing model, approach to service and method of integration with our systems. Therefore, we are selective in our choice of registrars choosing only those who we thing will benefit our customers. We therefore have a number of principles which form our ‘Registrar Policy’:

Firstly, we register domain names for the minimum period possible. For UK Domains, this is 2 years. For com/net/org/eu domains this is 1 year.

We do this because many things change in even a year, including the financial status of a registrar and their approach to service, and so in the worst case our customers will only ever lose one year's registration fees.

Secondly, for Nominet domains (co.uk, org.uk, ltd.uk, plc.uk) there is only one registry - Nominet UK. We register domains for Nominet domains for two years. Our IPS-TAG is GRADWELL. We prefer customers to move domains we host on to our IPS-TAG, but it's not essential.

Thirdly, for com/net/org/eu domains, we only support registration through OpenSRS. (http://www.opensrs.org/). This means that to host a com/net/org domain name with us you must either transfer the domain name to OpenSRS or be responsible for its registration and renewal yourself, with your chosen registrar. When you add a domain name to our services we will encourage you to transfer the domain name to OpenSRS. This will also increase your domain name's registration period for one year. We have a special discounted rate of £7 plus VAT for this transfer, which is levied at the time of transfer.

Please note that we are unable to transfer domain names which are ‘on hold’ or ‘overdue’ for non-payment (which includes last minute renewal payments). .gov.uk and .ac.uk domains. We can register these for you if your organisation is eligible. Please check the eligibility requirements here: for .gov.uk domains: http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/Resources/WebGuidelinesArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4002794&chk=M66aCp For .ac.uk domains: http://www.ja.net/documents/naming/ac.uk-naming-rules.html

You can make domain registrations through your control panel, by clicking on Domains and DNS followed by ‘Register Domain’.

The wizard will walk you through the stages of registering or transferring in a domain name.

You can register Nominet domains, or OpenSRS domains (co.uk, org.uk, com, net, org). If you want to use another type of domain name then you will need to use the ‘other’ option and manage the registration yourself.

Before you begin, you should enter in all the contact details for all the associated contacts for a domain name in the “Contact Info” section.

How long do I have to wait?

For com/net/org/eu domains, the registration goes through in real time (but we batch the requests and submit them every 15 mins), but Versign GRS (the registry) rebuild every 12 hours (off set from 5am PST, we think), so the domain won't be ‘live’ until then.

For co.uk/org.uk/ltd.uk domain names, the registration goes through by email (every 15 mins) and so it is usually confirmed within half an hour. Nominet UK, the .UK registry, rebuilds once a day in the early hours of the morning, so the domain is normally “live” next day.

The settings for a domain hosted with us should be: Name servers:

• ns0.gradwell.com
• ns1.gradwell.net
• ns2.gradwell.net

(If you can only use two, use the top two!)

If it is a uk domain, you should place it on the GRADWELL tag.

If it is a com/net/org domain you should be the admin and billing contact. We should be the technical contact. Our NSI technical contact handle is GD645-ORG, and our details are as follows, should you need to enter them in any form:

Please do not enter any other employee's personal details. All correspondance should be addressed to “Mr Hostmaster”.

 Gradwell dot com Hostmaster		hostmaster@GRADWELL.COM
 gradwell dot com Ltd
 3-3a Gloucester St
 Bath
 BA1 2SE
 UK

 Tel: +44 (0) 207 039 00 00
 Fax: +44 (0) 207 039 00 20

If the domain is a com/net/org/eu domain name registered with an other registrar, you will need to move it to our registrar (OpenSRS) before we can be responsible for its billing and administration.