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system:registrars [2023-12-14T04:35:00+0000] michael_paoli + GoDaddy details |
system:registrars [2024-03-09T00:59:23+0000] (current) michael_paoli Added bit about GoDaddy's shady auto-renewals that happen slightly after expiration |
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- | Will likely well fill out and organize remainder later, | + | Did at least mostly well fill out and organize fair bit of detail, |
- | but in the meantime, some background "discussions"(posts): | + | for the curious/interested, some earlier background "discussions"(posts): |
[[http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2023-February/012261.html|Various pro/con recommendations, including fair bit of supporting reasons]] \\ | [[http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2023-February/012261.html|Various pro/con recommendations, including fair bit of supporting reasons]] \\ | ||
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- | Will likely well fill out and organize remainder later. | ||
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===== Pros and cons and recommendations and not of various example registrars ===== | ===== Pros and cons and recommendations and not of various example registrars ===== | ||
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==== Gandi SAS (Gandi.net) ==== | ==== Gandi SAS (Gandi.net) ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | So, first note that Gandi SAS ([[https://www.gandi.net/|Gandi.net]]) has been acquired by Total Webhosting Solutions B.V. (TWS) ([[https://your.online/]]). | ||
+ | However Gandi has been exceedingly excellent, and thus far it continues to appear that won't be getting screwed up and thus far to Gandi customers | ||
+ | things appear to continue operating as before - oozing competence, excellent service and reliability, "No Bullshit", web and API interfaces, domain, etc. | ||
+ | continue as before, and hardly any change to be noticed at all - mostly have to hunt around web pages and such to even know any change at all has | ||
+ | occurred. So, hopefully Webhosting Solutions is and remains smart enough to not mess with that, as that's primary driver that attracts and retains | ||
+ | Gandi's customers, and if new ownership were to screw that up, Gandi's customers would scatter to the wind, and Webhosting Solutions would lose most | ||
+ | all the value of their Gandi acquisition. Matter of fact, | ||
+ | [[https://news.gandi.net/en/2019/02/futureofgandi-the-adventure-continues/|private equity firm Montefiore Investment had earlier acquired Gandi in 2019]] | ||
+ | and I don't think anyone noticed the slightest glitch or any drop at all in service or the like | ||
+ | (I certainly didn't ever earlier notice - only catching that historic detail now about five years later). | ||
+ | |||
+ | So, Gandi has been and thus far continues to be excellent. They're very much "No Bullshit", and stand behind that. They ooze technical and operational | ||
+ | competence, and essentially just work and damn solidly well. I've had zero negative experiences with Gandi. Heck, I've not even heard of anyone | ||
+ | having any negative experiences with Gandi. And sure, they're not the cheapest registrar out there, but I find the value highly well worth it. | ||
+ | It basically just works exceedingly well, in all regards, and continues to consistently do so. Well worth it in the savings of headaches and problems | ||
+ | and incompetencies etc. with many other registrars - just one such glitch with some other registrar, in the value of one's time, could quickly eat | ||
+ | up years or more of the value of any such monetary savings with many such registrars - even the moderate annoyances and crud of many other registrars, | ||
+ | well worth the slight extra price on Gandi to avoid the bullshit of over registrars and be able to operate much more cleanly, efficiently, free of | ||
+ | hassles, glitches, problems, frustrations, etc. And Gandi is very reasonably priced for the value one gets. Can even get significantly discounted | ||
+ | prices if one is a larger volume customer. Gandi also supports [[https://www.debian.org/|Debian]], giving all Debian developers Gandi's deepest | ||
+ | discount tier pricing that's otherwise only available to their absolute largest volume customers (historically they let Debian developers have domains | ||
+ | entirely for free). I also attended a Linux install fest in San Francisco that Gandi hosted at their facilities, so Gandi does give back to and | ||
+ | support Open Source. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | In approximate chronological order, I'll lay out at least many of the | ||
+ | ways I've been impressed by [[https://www.gandi.net/|Gandi.net]]. And haven't had any negative | ||
+ | experiences at all with them (or even heard of such!) - so that itself | ||
+ | probably also says something about them too. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Supports [[https://www.debian.org/|Debian]] - I think when I first ran across the info (and they may | ||
+ | even run based on Debian? - but I don't know regarding that), they | ||
+ | allowed all Debian Developers to have domains for free! Last I checked | ||
+ | they no longer do that, however they make available to all Debian | ||
+ | Developers their highest discount tier pricing, regardless of the number of | ||
+ | domains any Debian Developer has with them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Not sure if they still have offices in San Francisco, but they at least | ||
+ | did (and probably have at least some presence in the US? Though they're | ||
+ | headquartered in France - I think they may be located where and such | ||
+ | that they're mostly not under the claws of US law (at least regarding | ||
+ | controlling domains), but do fall under EU and GDPR). They hosted an | ||
+ | Open Source event at their offices there in San Francisco - Yes, | ||
+ | [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150223033158/http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/ubuntu-california/2984-ubuntu-california-san-francisco-qa-jam/|Ubuntu California San Francisco QA Jam 2015-02-08]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | Really everything I've heard/read about Gandi has been positive - or | ||
+ | at least certainly not negative. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Even before I had any domains or services on/from Gandi, when I was | ||
+ | just setting up an account on there (required before, e.g. having | ||
+ | domains there - and can have an account there and no services/domains - | ||
+ | no cost to simply create account there) - I ran across a slight bug in | ||
+ | their interface - notably setting up account in US, and dealing with | ||
+ | states. I reported the issue to them. They fixed it in quite quick order and | ||
+ | were great on communication and follow-through to check and ensure that | ||
+ | all was well and I was no longer seeing the earlier issue I'd reported - | ||
+ | pretty impressive response for a non-paying (or at least not-yet-paying) | ||
+ | customer. I looked up that much earlier issue for the details and went | ||
+ | (summarized) about like this: \\ | ||
+ | 2015-01-23T04:55:34Z I opened issue and got automated response (RT support-en #5534422) \\ | ||
+ | 2015-01-23T10:21:23Z I received notification they'd transferred it to relevant support area \\ | ||
+ | 2015-01-23T16:12:40Z I received notification indicating it was resolved \\ | ||
+ | 2015-01-23T19:06:27Z I checked, not (quite) resolved and notified them \\ | ||
+ | 2015-01-24T15:06:33Z I received notification they'd forwarded to specialist \\ | ||
+ | 2015-01-26T16:19:28Z I received notification they'd applied work-around on my account (effectively fixing it for me) \\ | ||
+ | 2015-01-26T18:31:36Z I checked confirmed all good (not only work-around but bug fixed) \\ | ||
+ | 2015-01-27T16:16:55Z I received notification confirming that they'd solved and fixed the issue \\ | ||
+ | This is vastly better than many registrars, when one often has to do battle with them and go | ||
+ | trough 2 to 3 rounds just to get them to even understand or acknowledge that there's even an issue, | ||
+ | after which other registrars may still fail to fix the issue and/or often provide incorrect information. | ||
+ | And I got that great level of service from Gandi when I wasn't even a customer yet and for a relatively | ||
+ | low priority pretty minor bug. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Their No Bullshit slogan/motto really does very much apply. No | ||
+ | gimmicks, tricks, clean interfaces, they don't shove bunches of | ||
+ | advertisements and stuff like that in your face - generally only the | ||
+ | slightest mention of some offers - when they really are special/bargains | ||
+ | - and generally only see that on their web site, and pretty dang | ||
+ | unobtrusive - generally have to click or follow a link for more details | ||
+ | on stuff like that - so it's generally only a small notice on screen - | ||
+ | and easily dismissed - and won't come back and be nagging one. And no | ||
+ | promotional/sales/marketing/etc. emails - unless one opts into that | ||
+ | stuff. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Renewal and other official emails - you don't get other goop (unless you | ||
+ | explicitly opt in). The emails have exactly what's needed and very well | ||
+ | laid out. E.g. got a domain that's heading towards expiration? Yes, | ||
+ | you get the email - you also get in the Subject: what domain, how long | ||
+ | until it expires, and body of the email tells you when it expires | ||
+ | including timezone, and it also spells out exactly what happens and when | ||
+ | if the domain isn't renewed - no guess work, and quite useful Subject - | ||
+ | especially among the many other emails one might typically be looking | ||
+ | over. Essentially their communications, including email, also of quite | ||
+ | high quality. Amazing how many other registrars can't even manage to | ||
+ | reasonably do that even with their renewal emails - bloody hell, many | ||
+ | such from other registrars they can't be bothered to even put the | ||
+ | domain name in the Subject nor there indicate how long until it expires | ||
+ | or when it expires. | ||
+ | |||
+ | As I'd similarly quite say of Debian, "It just works" - pretty much rock | ||
+ | solid clean, well thought out, and about bug free. Generally anything | ||
+ | one needs to do with domains on Gadi, it's quick, easy, efficient - | ||
+ | at least to the extent feasible (notwithstanding some mandatory periods | ||
+ | for some operations and such - but it goes as fast as feasible - unlike | ||
+ | some registrars that'll drag it out as long as they can get away with - | ||
+ | e.g. like when transferring a domain away). | ||
+ | |||
+ | They do continue to improve their interface - it was never bad in my | ||
+ | experience, but they do add/improve features which are actually useful | ||
+ | (well, at least to some/many) - e.g. pretty easily allowing one to split | ||
+ | up and delegate various parts of registrant/domain administration (e.g. | ||
+ | billing, whois, DNS, etc.). They also typically don't instantly force | ||
+ | interface changes on users - can generally use both the latest and | ||
+ | greatest ... and also prior generation interface for quite some time | ||
+ | after the latest and greatest becomes available. So, no jarring forced | ||
+ | fast hard changes ([[https://www.atlassian.com/|Atlassian]], et. al., are you listening? ... no), | ||
+ | likewise they don't break stuff (again, unlike Atlassian). | ||
+ | |||
+ | GDPR - I think they handled that about as best feasible. Yes, the | ||
+ | default changed (and they may have had to do that for practical and/or | ||
+ | legal reasons), but if you want that data public - easy peasy - no | ||
+ | support tickets, or emails, or trying to pass clue to clueless ... the | ||
+ | stuff basically just works - unlike some other registrars where that's | ||
+ | quite the battle to achieve - or they don't even allow for the possibility! | ||
+ | |||
+ | glue records - likewise easy peasy - copy, paste, click, done. And yes, | ||
+ | IPv6 too, no problem at all (wish I could say that for all registrars, | ||
+ | multiple registrars are poor to grossly incompetent at that). | ||
+ | |||
+ | DNSSEC - likewise easy peasy. Again, wish I could say that for all | ||
+ | registrars. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Quite same applies for any data one needs to change, e.g. whois, DNS | ||
+ | delegation, etc. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Oh, and another data point for Gandi's rock solid reliability and | ||
+ | dependability and quality API, etc. When [[https://aws.amazon.com/|AWS]] entered into | ||
+ | offering domain registration via their [[https://aws.amazon.com/route53/|Amazon Route 53]] service offering, | ||
+ | AWS didn't themselves (at least initially) become a registrar, | ||
+ | but resold Gadni's registrar services through AWS's Route 53 service. | ||
+ | |||
+ | I might be forgetting some details and further examples, but pretty much | ||
+ | solidly rocks, excellent service, and quite reasonable price for the | ||
+ | quality. | ||
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[[https://www.godaddy.com/|Godaddy.com]] ... uhm, probably just don't. How 'bout start with their | [[https://www.godaddy.com/|Godaddy.com]] ... uhm, probably just don't. How 'bout start with their | ||
- | sexist sleazy advertising ... maybe they're better now on that? I | + | sexist/racist/... sleazy crud advertising ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTvYVxO_9N8|YouTube: Washington Post: GoDaddy's most controversial Super Bowl ads]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDqQhaUaVq0&t=84s|The Onion can't help but to take a well deserved parody shot at them]]) ... maybe they're better now on that? I |
haven't particularly tracked. They're also based in Canada, so if you | haven't particularly tracked. They're also based in Canada, so if you | ||
have some serious issue/dispute with them, and want to take legal action | have some serious issue/dispute with them, and want to take legal action | ||
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interfaces were rather lacking. Some of their behavior may be or have | interfaces were rather lacking. Some of their behavior may be or have | ||
been shady - at least I've heard such - but didn't run into that | been shady - at least I've heard such - but didn't run into that | ||
- | personally. | + | personally. Oh, but one thing I have repeatedly seen, that's quite shady, and as far as I'm aware they're still doing it. |
+ | So automatic renewals ... no biggie, right, should be quite straight forward. Yeah, ... the way they do those ... they actually do the renewals | ||
+ | //slightly after the domains expire//. Yeah shady as fsck - basically completely and totally exposes one to the mercy of GoDaddy | ||
+ | every single time they do that. They don't even renew day, or //hours// before expiration, but only slightly after expiration. | ||
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==== AWS.Amazon.com ==== | ==== AWS.Amazon.com ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[https://aws.amazon.com/|AWS.Amazon.com]] offers registrar service via their [[https://aws.amazon.com/route53/|Amazon Route 53]] service offering. | ||
+ | As far as I've been able to tell, they've always been competent at that. | ||
+ | And, for better and/or worse, that's just a very small part of what Amazon and AWS does. So, yeah, most registrars | ||
+ | (or their owning companies) don't also ship about 1.6 million packages per day. So domain registrar certainly isn't Amazon's, nor AWS's core business. | ||
+ | But if one wants, e.g. tight convenient integration with AWS, well, they certainly have that. | ||
+ | Of course if one wants to put all one's eggs in one basket, best be sure it's a damn good safe secure basket. | ||
+ | Of course since AWS has quite ample APIs, it would be very feasible to use AWS as registrar, and do so quite independently, | ||
+ | and well integrate that in with other things in interoperability. But then many registrars offer good/excellent APIs, so that's hardly | ||
+ | something that's unique to AWS. | ||
+ | Also of note. when AWS first offered registrar services, they resold through Gandi - which also speaks to Gandi's great | ||
+ | reliability and dependability and quality APIs. Not sure if AWS still also does that, but at least since those earlier beginnings between | ||
+ | AWS and Gandi, AWS has also become registrar in their own right, so AWS may or may not still also be using (reselling) Gandi's registrar services. | ||
---- | ---- | ||
- | ==== cloud.Google.com ==== | + | ==== domains.google ==== |
+ | |||
+ | So, [[https://domains.google/|Google Domains]] has been a competent reliable registrar. | ||
+ | However, on 2023-06-15 [[https://www.squarespace.com/|Squarespace]] concluded an agreement to purchase the Google Domains business. | ||
+ | So, what has been Google Domains is being migrated over to Squarespace. And, though I'd expect that for the basic registrar services that | ||
+ | would continue to be functional (but may be a bit different), it's certainly not being an entirely smooth transition for many customers. | ||
+ | But that may mostly be due to differing interfaces, and that Google Domains offered services beyond that of registrar which Squarespace | ||
+ | doesn't offer at all. E.g. Google Domains, in its DNS offering, has supported hosting of Dynamic DNS (DDNS). Squarespace has no such | ||
+ | offering, so there are many customers not so thrilled with such changes, and many have been scrambling to find suitable replacement services. | ||
+ | Note historically and generally, Google often launches things, and later drops them, as/when they find/decide they're not (sufficiently) profitable | ||
+ | and/or don't well (enough) fit to their core business model, etc. So, although Google was quite competent as registrar, I find it no great | ||
+ | surprise that they're exiting the registrar business. Do I see that as an issue with failed or reduced integration with | ||
+ | [[https://cloud.google.com/|Google Cloud / Google Cloud Platform (GCP)]]? | ||
+ | Not particularly, as that can probably be integrated with the API of most any registrar that | ||
+ | competently makes such available, without too much difficulty. | ||
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