February 6, 2008

I retract any recommendation of domain registrar NameCheap

In the past, I have recommended domain registrar NameCheap.com. But after last weekend’s server move, I retract any such recommendation.

I have 20-some odd domains registered, all with NameCheap. When moving servers, it was necessary to change the DNS listings for all of them. There are three ways to do this in the NameCheap interface. For some domains, an option comes up to type or paste DNS entries directly. For some, there’s a different sidebar, but that sidebar gives a “Make Like Another Domain” option. (I have no idea why NameCheap’s UI is inconsistent in that regard.) And there’s also a mass update capability, for a page of results (about 9) on the Manage Domains listing.

I started by changing a single domain (DBMS2.com). Then I noticed the mass change option, and tried it. However, I was told it might take the changes up to an hour go through. (9 freaking transactional updates? An hour?? What are you thinking, NameCheap?) I also found that when I tried the DNS management option, on the sidebars that showed it, I frequently got busy server error messages. (C’mon, NameCheap — just how busy can your core servers be on the weekend? Or do you have such terrible backup practices that they are fatally slowed when being backed up?) Read more

Categories: Online and mobile services, Usability and UI 14 Comments 
February 3, 2008

We’re having a bit of a rocky server transition

I’m moving servers this morning. The result, I am told by my web host Dimension Servers, should be better response times and more stability. But my domain registrar NameCheap got weird when I retargeted the DNS, which may have contributed to difficulties. Anyhow, various of our sites have been briefly down in whole or part.

dbms2.com email — which is what most of you use — is down at the moment. monash.com email, which is hosted by Google, seems just fine.

I’ll get this all sorted out soon. And then I’ll catch up on some monashadvantage.com access I owe.

Categories: About this blog, Online and mobile services Leave a Comment 

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