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The domain registration charge gets your domain name setup on our name server and includes your first year of domain name registration. Subsequent years of registration will be billed to you at $20 per year (or the going rate for the type of domain -- see the domain price list for the full breakdown).
You can transfer your domain name to Southwest Cyberport for the same cost as to regiser a new domain. Upon completion of the transfer, we will extend the current registration term for the domain by one year and set it up on our name server.
Note:
Having DNS registration does not automatically mean that you have a website URL of http://www.yourdomain.com/. Please see the web publishing information if you are interested in using a domain name in your URL.For example, Southwest Cyberport's domain name is swcp.com. Individual machines on SWCP's network have names within that domain, such as news.swcp.com and www.swcp.com.
Domain names are registered to an individual or an organization on a lease-like basis. You must pay a domain registry every year to keep the right to use your domain name. Domain name servers resolve domain names into actual Internet addresses. These DNS servers are distributed all across the Internet, and are used to find where the services associated with a domain name are actually located on the Internet. Southwest Cyberport operates DNS servers that serve up the addresses associated with our customers’ domain names.
Originally only Network Solutions Inc. could register domain names, but now many companies, including Southwest Cyberport can register your domain name. Each of these companies charges a different fee and has different terms in their registration agreement.
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US Top-Level Domains |
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Domain |
Use |
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.com |
Commercial organizations |
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.edu |
Educational institutions |
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.org |
Non-profit organizations |
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.gov |
Government agencies |
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.mil |
Military installations |
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.net |
Large networks |
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.us |
United States geographical domain |
The first six domains indicate organizational boundaries. On the other hand, the .us domain is used to indicate geographical boundaries. For example, the geographical domain for Albuquerque, NM is abq.nm.us.
Outside the US, domains are indicated with the two-letter international abbreviation for the country in which the system resides (for example, uk for England and jp for Japan). The discrepancy between the US and international naming conventions is a side effect of the way the Internet developed over the years. It was born in the US, and had a US-centric attitude for many years (considering that it grew out of Defense Department projects, that is hardly surprising).
All computers on the Internet are accessed by their unique numerical IP address. When you access a machine by name (by sending email or browsing a WWW site for example) you’re using DNS to translate from that name to the unique number. The DNS lookup functions are built in to all the programs you use so that you never have to consciously think about the work that DNS does.
The question now is whether you need a domain name registration of your own. Individuals rarely need their own DNS registration. On the other hand, it is very common for a company or organization (even a one-person shop) to get its own domain name. The primary benefit of having your own domain name is that it gives you your own network identity. When you give your email address to customers, suppliers, or business associates you are giving them a name that they can relate directly to you. It's like telling them to send correspondence to your own building (e.g. The Acme Building) as opposed to a suite number in someone else's building (e.g. Acme Co., First Bank Building, Suite 9102).
Having your own domain name can also help in the creation of your company's virtual presence on the World Wide Web. Having your own domain name is the difference between having a Home Page URL of http://www.yourbiz.com/yourbiz/home.html instead of http://www.swcp.com/yourbiz/home.html. Again, it reinforces the impression that your business is On The Net.
An additional advantage of having your own domain name is portability. This gives you the option to change ISPs without having your email address or website change names. You simply transfer the hosting of your domain name to a different ISP and your email and website follow along. The machine that handles your email or web site may change, but your website or email address won’t have to change. It is also possible to have your email go to your local ISP and have your web site hosted somewhere else.
One thing you do need to be aware of is the relationship between trademarks and domain names. Nolo Press has a good summary of Domain Names and Trademark Law at http://www.nolo.com/encyclopedia/articles/ilaw/domain.html.
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5021 Indian School NE Suite 600, Albuquerque NM 87110 USA helpdesk / info request: help@swcp.com | webmaster: webmaster@swcp.com phone: USA: (505) 232-7992 | fax: USA: (505) 232-7975 |