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Ask HN: How to reliably register domains in Europe?
Where do you HN people register important domains?
I have a domain that my life kind of depends on. I built my business on top of it for many years now. If I lose it, I would go from a comfortable lifestyle to zero income immediately.
Currently it is registered with a small German ISP, which recently got bought by a US company.
That makes me uncomfortable. God knows how professionally they run their business. If they make a mistake or maliciously take or sell my domain, God knows whom I would have to sue.
I think I should move the domain elsewhere.
What options do I have? How do you guys handle this?
- gjvc 7y agohttps://domains.google.com/ https://domains.google.com/ ?
- Ultramanoid 7y agoNot sure Google, whose favourite past time is shutting down every couple of years services millions use would be the best option particularly when absolute reliability is a requirement. Ars Technica has a 'graveyard' mini site somewhere devoted to listing everything Google shuts down. Edit : https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/04/googles-constant-product-shutdowns-are-damaging-its-brand/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/04/googles-constant-pro...
- johncoltrane 7y agoI've used gandi.net for years without any issue.
- Ultramanoid 7y agoGandi.net is France-based and apparently one of the best in the business. ( I had a rough move at first with them, coming from using another service for a decade, but they've been solid so far. )
- Artemix 7y agoI second gandi. A very good UI/UX on their web service, a clear API that's usually well supported for domain TLS auth (certbot), a very complete documentation, and a good support.
- FreeHugs 7y agoWhat makes them "one of the best in the business" when evaluating their trustworthyness? I wonder if it really would be a good choice to use a registrar from another country. Since I am not based in France, I could probably not afford to sue them in case they mess up. So if they mess up, my leverage to get them to act is probably non existant.
- Ultramanoid 7y agoI mentioned France because EU regulations are better than elsewhere for customers, you also asked specifically about Europe. It's hard to find a bad review or a disgruntled customer anywhere, they consistently rank high in all articles or reports you might find about registrars / hosts, and they do not advertise themselves. Also, they're not a newcomer, but a relatively big player ( despite the lack of advertising ) and independent, not part of one of those American umbrella companies with dozens of fake subcompanies who couldn't care less about individual cases. I am based in Asia and even here they have an excellent reputation. I happened to find them at a time they were short on hands and releasing new products, their replies to my issues were slow and I was not happy about it -- full disclosure. Yet here I am recommending. I was contacted directly by the area manager and offered compensation in the form of free services after I complained. In my experience they are serious, and I haven't found any better as yet.
- bradknowles 7y agoYou want GANDI. They have been well known and respected in the RIPE (https://www.ripe.net/about-us https://www.ripe.net/about-us) and Free/Open Source communities for something like two decades now. My personal vanity domain goes back to 1995, and I registered it through Heller Information Systems, back when they were one of the biggest BBSes in the world. But every domain I’ve registered since then has been exclusively through gandi.net.