It is important to understand that domain names are not "owned" in the traditional sense; more accurately, domain names are leased to a person for a specific period of time. If the domain's owner (registrant) decides to allow it to expire, the domain name is deleted and becomes available for re-registration as a completely new domain name.

Because domain names have no "memory" of who owned them previously, registrants run the risk of losing their domain names if they are allowed to expire. The registrant loses all rights to the domain once it expires; if someone else comes along and registers the domain, it rightfully belongs to the new owner, and the old owner has no claim over it. (While it is possible to open a trademark dispute with ICANN, it is a costly, lengthy process that has no guarantee of returning the domain to the initial owner.)

A domain name is essentially online real estate. The registration of this domain name provides temporary ownership over that real estate. Domain registrations allow the registrant to "build" on this property by offering services such as web sites, e-mail, and FTP for personal, commercial, or public use. DynDNS.com offers a Domain Registration service for users who would like to purchase a domain name.

After deletion, the domain name is available for purchase as a brand new domain from any registrar by any party. If you wish to purchase the domain again, you may do so; however, you should be aware that others may be gunning for the domain as well. Since domains have no "memory" of previous owners, and anyone can take the domain name for their own, it is highly discouraged to allow your domain to expire if you have any intention of using it.

The Domain Name System, or DNS, is used to resolve human-readable hostnames, such as www.dyndns.com, into machine-readable IP addresses, such as 63.208.196.66. DNS also provides other information about domain names, such as mail services.

DNS is like a phone book for the Internet. If you know a person's name, but don't know their telephone number, you can simply look it up in a phone book. DNS provides this same service to the Internet: When you visit http://www.dyndns.com in a browser, your computer uses DNS to retrieve the website's IP address, 63.208.196.66. Without DNS, you would only be able to visit our website (or any website) by visiting its IP address directly, such as http://63.208.196.66.

Dynamic DNS or DDNS is a mechanism to update a DNS hostname with your current IP address so that when you type in myname.dyndns.org, it will always resolve to your IP address regardless of whether it changes.

The process is described as follows:

1. The customer installs the Updater software in his or her network

2. The Internet Service Provider changes the customer's IP address

3. The Updater detects that the network's IP address has changed

4. The Updater sends the new IP address to DynDNS.com

5. The update server receives the information, and assigns the new IP address to the customer's Dynamic DNS hostname

Domain transfers do not change the name server delegation for a domain, so the domain's resolution should not be affected during the transfer. However, the delegation for the domain cannot be changed while the transfer is in progress. If you are changing DNS providers as well as registrars, it is highly recommended to change the name server delegation before you start the transfer. Some providers terminate DNS services the moment a transfer begins, so it is important to delegate the domain prior to beginning the transfer process.

Secondary DNS provides global redundancy to a primary name server which you own and operate. By using Secondary DNS, you ensure that your services will always be accessible even if your primary name server fails.

Custom DNS, like our DDNS service, assigns your easy-to-remember domain name to your home network for quick remote access. This allows you to reach services at home, such as a personal website, security camera, VPN, game server, and more, using a simple web address like yourdomain.com instead of a meaningless, ever-changing IP address like 123.45.67.89.

And unlike Dynamic DNS, which offers a single host record and MX record using one of our pre-existing domain names, Custom DNS works with your own registered domain, supports a wide variety of record types, allows you to create up to 75 records, and a number of other benefits. Both services feature dynamic IP updates using update clients.

All TCP and UDP traffic on the Internet uses ports to identify the procotol being used, such as port 80 for HTTP (web) and port 25 for SMTP (email). To solve the firewall problem and let visitors into the network, the user instructs the router to allow traffic to pass through on a given port. This is known as port forwarding, as the router forwards (directs) all Internet requests on a specific port to the local machine. With port forwarding, external visitors are able to connect to the server while other internal devices remain protected.

One important thing to remember about domain names is that service periods are strictly regulated by ICANN. Domains can only be renewed in yearly increments; as a result, any action that increases the registration period — renewals and transfers — always extends the existing expiration date by one year. As a result, it isn't possible to "lose" time on a domain by acting early.

1. Renewals

The best way to protect your domain name is to renew it well ahead of its expiration date. Domain registrations do not "lose" unused time if they are renewed early, so there is no reason to wait until the last minute to renew. For example, if you purchase a domain on January 15, 2009, it will expire on January 15, 2010. You could renew the domain on January 14, or in the middle of August, and it would still be extended to exactly January 15, 2011. If you receive an expiration notice about your domain, you should act on it immediately, as you lose nothing by acting early (and run the risk of losing the domain entirely if you wait).

2. Transfers

Similarly, transferring a domain to a new registrar does not "lose" the time remaining on the service. When transferring domains between ICANN-accredited registrars, the domain name is renewed for one year from its existing expiration date. For example, a domain that expires on January 15, 2010 will be renewed to January 15, 2011 after transfer. Again, it's always best to act early; since transfers can take up to ten days to complete (assuming all goes well on the first try), waiting until the last day to transfer can result in expiration.

A newer threat to domain owners is known as "snap" registration. Some registrars exist solely to monitor expiring domains and automatically register them the moment they become available. The registrars then place generic, ad-heavy websites on the new domains, collecting revenue from misclicks and old visitors while hoping the previous owner will pay their ransom to recover the expired domain. (If you have ever visited an old bookmark only to find the site had been replaced with a strange banner-laden page, it was likely taken by a "snap" registrar.)

If you are the victim of a "snap" registrar, there are a couple things you can try that may allow you to recover the domain:

1. Don't visit the website! Most "snap" registrars take advantage of a loophole in ICANN policy that allows them to delete a domain within five days of registration for a full refund. This activity, known as domain tasting, allows them to register hundreds of domains every month and never pay a cent in registration fees. If they "snap up" your domain, but their ad page receives no hits, they may delete the domain as undesirable within five days — at which point you can try to recreate it. However, even a handful of hits can mark a domain as "active", so it's important that you not visit the website until it's back under your control.

2. Backorder the domain. You can use some "snap" registrars to your advantage, such as Pool.com's backordering service. These services monitor a domain for expiration, then immediately attempt to purchase it for you once it becomes available. If your domain is about to completely expire or has already been picked up by a "snap" registrar, you can try backordering the domain in hopes it will be "snapped" up in your favor.

Unfortunately, if the above options don't work, the only other real option is to pay the asking price of the registration to the "snap" registrar to regain ownership.