If we look upon this topic the first thing that pops into our mind is ‘what is Domain?’So basically, Domain is nothing but an Internet address with a suffix representing one’s organization or individual. For example: www.website.com, qualispace.com, facebook.com, google.com, etc. which are called Domain Names. Each domain name is unique and is used by the people to reach the respective organizations or an individual. Depending upon how big the website is, it may also contain multiple subdomains. It is represented in the form of subdomain.website.com e.g. blog.qualispace.com. A Domain name is incomplete without TLDs i.e. Top-Level Domains which are the words after Dot. So, .com, .in, .info, etc. are TLDs. These are mainly classified as General TLDs (gTLDs) and Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs).

Now, there exists Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which is a non-profitable organization which regulates and keeps an eye on all Domain related things. Every Domain is approved by ICANN before going live on internet and is available for the customers. There also exists authorized Registrars again approved by ICANN who provides Domain Names and Services to the clients. If you require any details of registered domains from any part of the world, one can always check into WHOIS database.

Let us assume you want to buy a domain. So, first thing you need is to register your desired Domain with the help of a Registrar. You can register your domain for minimum 1 year and a maximum of 10 year. Important factor to remember while registering your domain is once you buy a domain with any typo error it cannot be modified or cancelled till the time its registered.

All domains follow a Domain Cycle after it gets registered. These domains Expires after respective number of years (1-10) it is registered for. So, if you wish to continue you have to renew it.

But what if you forget to renew? Or If you didn’t have sufficient fund at that moment? In such cases your domain facilities are suspended, and you are given 45 days to renew it known as Grace period. Still if you didn’t renew, it falls under Redemption period and you are again given 30 more days, but pricing would be 10-15 times the original cost. Then it goes under Pending/Deleting stage which takes 1-5 days and the domain again becomes available. And the process repeats.

You can even transfer the domains from current registrar to another. The whole process takes up to 7 days. This can only be done if the domain is not less than 60 days old (approx. 2 months). Now to get initiated you must get the Authorization code from current registrar and transfer it to the gaining registrar. As the transfer is initiated a confirmation email is sent to the registrants Admin contact and it must be approved within 5 days. Once approved, the details are passed on from Current registrar to Gaining registrar.