Details and Tips Around the Digital World

Anatomy of a Web Address - https://www.thedomainname.com
Name Detail Purpose
HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol for Secure Server Encrypted content on pages
WWW Worldwide web Collection of websites
Domain Name Principal part of website address Personal and unique identity
Extension Levels of domains Choice of suitable extension

How a Domain Name Keeps You Visible Online

A domain name acts as your personal identity on the World Wide Web. What’s more? You’re the legal owner.

Some work is required, though, to create your web presence — a site with your personally chosen domain name.

Choose Short and Easy To Remember Words

  1. Pick descriptive words to illustrate your brand. Visitors speed through searches quickly and can easily miss your site. These web addresses, www.fishstory.com and www.myfishstory.com, don’t stand out on a search page. They’re too similar.
  2. Use your social media username alone or as part of the name. Your personal identity becomes known.

Steps To Register Your Domain Name

When you register your domain name, you become the official owner, backed by a legal contract. The domain name becomes part of the Domain Name System (DNS). Overseeing the DNS operation is a non-profit organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

ICANN has major responsibilities. One is the assignment of both IP addresses and domain names. Another is the coordination of protocols and naming conventions. You‘ll find information on the ICANN site.

With this legalese behind you, it’s time to start the registration process. Check to see if someone else owns the name. Complete the process yourself. Or, get in touch with a web host. The steps include:

  1. Head to the WHOIS site for details. A service, WHOIS, falls within the responsibility of ICANN. This service holds details on every registered domain name. Not an acronym,WHOIS stands for who is the registered owner. Enter your chosen name at WHOIS. One of two messages appears: the name is “already registered” or “yourdomainname is available”. If you see an “already registered” message, enter another name.
  2. Your next try may bring up the message “your domainname is available” and you’re on your way to ownership. In fact, you become a domain registrant. Keep in mind that every domain name is unique because that’s the protocol.
  3. Pick an extension, called the Top Level Domain (TLD). A common TLD is dot com, but you’ve choices.
  4. Pay the fee for a specific term (usually a year) to keep your ownership in good standing. When your website is up and running, log in to WHOIS to check the accuracy of the information—the domain name,registrar’s name and the name servers that belong to the web host.

Your Relationships With a Registrar and a Web Host

The registrar and the web host have separate functions. However, a web host can also serve as a registrar. A registrar keeps the details of your domain name, including the name servers. A web host keeps your website active on the internet. If the web host is the registrar of your domain name, there's one less step to complete. Otherwise, you obtain the name servers from the host and send them to the registrar.

Registrars are bound by the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) with ICANN and by their agreements with the registries. The RAA sets out responsibilities to ensure a registrant’s details are correct. Major responsibilities include the maintenance of WHOIS data, the submission of data to registries and the processing of public WHOIS queries.

Go to this site to see the legal agreements registrars have with ICANN.

Now do a check on the WHOIS site to verify all the details are correct. As a domain name owner, it's your responsibility to keep all the information up-to-date on WHOIS.

A Former Home on the Cloud

With no need for a server, I created a static website to live on Microsoft's cloud, Azure. Creating a site requires a Microsoft account with a subscription. The subscription contains all the services and billing information for the website you create. After some time on Azure, I have re-located my website.

Microsoft provides documentation to create a website, but finding your way through the instructions requires careful reading. Be warned there are many details. Follow step-by-step instructions here.

My editor is Visual Studio Code and using the Azure extension keeps the deployment simple and fast.

To comply with Microsoft's security policy on the cloud, I have added Azure front Door, the Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN), to my website. The Azure CDN is an optional service recommended by Microsoft so a website sends files quickly and safely to users.

Adding the Azure CDN to a website prevents anyone (illegal operators are targetted) from using the domain fronting technique. Have a look at the Microsoft Security Blog for an explanation of domain fronting.

Don't confuse the CDN with Multi-factor authentication (MFA) that's part of a website login procedure.

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