The Short Story:

If you have a username and password where you registered your domain, and you would like us to take care of the nameserver repoint, please let us know the username and password so that we can update your nameserver information. Once that information is updated, it will take 24 to 72 hours before people around the internet can find your domain hosted at GlobalHost. You can chat online with a representative, or email us the information.

If you don't have a username and password, and your domain was registered at Network Solutions or Verisign (both the same company now at netsol.com) we'll need to do an email/fax authorization to update nameserver information. This process can take 5 to 7 business days. Once that information is updated, it will take 24 to 72 hours before people around the internet can find your domain hosted at GlobalHost.

If, on the other hand, you choose to take care of the nameserver update yourself, our nameserver information is as follows:

primary: ns.rackspace.com
secondary: ns2.rackspace.com

The Long Story:

How the NameServer System is Set Up:

Your domain is registered at a company called a "registrar". They keep the authoritative information about your domain in their database. One piece of information they keep is where your "nameservers" are. A nameserver is a server on the internet that stores information about which particular server a domain is hosted on.

So the chain looks something like this:

1. An authoritatve registrar server, pointing to:
2. A local nameserver, which points to:
3. A server at GlobalHost

What Needs to Be Changed:

When you transfer your domain to GlobalHost, then, each link in that chain has to be updated. In reverse order, 3. the domain needs to be set up on a server at GlobalHost (we start on this as soon as you order), 2. the domain also needs to be entered into our nameservers (we handle this right away as well), and 1. the authoritative registrar information needs to be updated (this is what this page is all about).

How a Domain is Found:

So, if someone types "globalhost.com" in their internet browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape), that browser connects to a nameserver to ask it where globalhost.com is hosted. That nameserver is often physically located at their ISP. If that nameserver knows where globalhost.com is hosted (or at least thinks it does), it tells the browser which server to go to. If it doesn't know, it starts asking around. Nameservers are in a kind of a hierarchy, so that the nameserver will ask a nameserver "above" it where globalhost.com is. If that server doesn't know, it will ask the nameserver above it, and so on, until the authoritative registrar server is reached.

So while we take care of 2 and 3 above by configuring servers that we control, step 1 above - changing the registrar server information - has to be done by contacting the registrar.

How Nameserver Information is Changed:

There are a few different ways that registrars handle a request to change nameserver information for a domain:

1. By requiring an email or fax authorization,
2. By having you login with a username and password and make the changes yourself, or
3. By having a middleman, such as a hosting company, make the changes.

Because you want to transfer an existing domain to GlobalHost, we'll need to change the nameserver information at the place where the domain was registered. We will NOT change the place where the domain is registered. You'll continue to be the owner, and you'll need to continue to pay the place where you registered as long as you want to continue to maintain the domain. What we need to do depends on where your domain is registered. If your domain is registered at:

I. Network Solutions (netsol.com), then we'll need to either:

1. Email/fax in authorization for the nameserver change (we can do this, and it takes 5 to 7 business days for the process to complete), or
2. Log in with a username and password and change the nameserver info (either you can do this, or you can give us the user/pass and we can do it for you, and it takes about 5 minutes).

II. Most other registrars, then we'll need to:

Log in with a username and password and change the nameserver info (either you can do this, or you can give us the user/pass and we can do it for you, and it takes about 5 minutes).

III. A hosting company, then we'll need to either:

1. Log in with a username and password and change the nameserver info (either you can do this, or you can give us the user/pass and we can do it for you, and it takes about 5 minutes), or
2. Contact the hosting company and request that the nameserver info be changed (either you can do this, or we can do it for you, and how long it takes depends on the responsivenes of your former hosting company).

Why it takes 24 to 72 hours:

Once this data is updated, it will take 24 to 72 hours before people around the internet can find your domain hosted at GlobalHost. Nameservers store information about domain locations, usually for 24 hours. So that while your "global" nameserver change has been made (at, for example, Network Solutions), nameservers around the web remember the old information. They don't even attempt to look up new information for another 24 hours.

So in short, if you have a username and password for the place where you registered your domain, and you'd like for us to take care of the nameserver update, then send the username and password to us, and we'll be happy to take care of it. Otherwise, we'll start the nameserver information update process right away and inform you when it is done. If we need more information to facilitate the update, we'll let you know.