

Ask HN: Which domain registrars have superb security and service? - jdlshore

Hearing about the recent BitInstant attack[0] has made me wonder about my own choice of DNS host. I've been happy with them for years, but I wonder who people recommend.<p>I have a dozen or so domains. I'm looking for a host with excellent security <i>and</i> great customer service. I also need:<p>* Basic value-added web services (specifically, redirecting all HTTP requests from one domain to another)<p>* User-friendly domain configuration (I'm not a network admin)<p>* SMTP hosting with a small buffer (50MB is enough; I move my email into local storage frequently)<p>* Basic value-added email services (automatic forwarding, out-of-office responses)<p>* Reasonable pricing<p>Any recommendations?<p>[0] http://blog.bitinstant.com/blog/2013/3/4/events-of-friday-bitinstant-back-online.html
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subsection1h
I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on domains (for businesses, not
hording), and I use Name.com because they support two-factor authentication:

<https://www.name.com/services/namesafe>

I can't comment on their customer service because I've never needed it.

I don't use Name.com for email. I've never used a domain registrar for email.
I use a family account at FastMail:

<https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/family.html>

~~~
nonamegiven
Haven't spend tens of thousands, but I have a similar experience.

I use pairnic.com for registration and dns. I don't know if their customer
service is good or bad because I've never needed it, but I suspect it's
excellent.

I use fastmail.fm for both SMTP and IMAP. I've never needed their customer
service, it just works.

I don't use my gmail account, but I keep it in part for a backup SMTP,
although I've seen gmail SMTP go down and I've never seen fastmail go down. I
suppose they must have and I just wasn't doing anything active at the time.

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dangrossman
The best providers for all those services are different. Your domain registrar
is not going to be an expert at managing relationships with e-mail providers
on a daily basis, which is what guarantees high deliverability at the good
e-mail hosts (does it matter how little space you need if some of your mails
end up in spam folders instead of inboxes?). The best e-mail hosts are not
domain registrars. The best registrars are not the best DNS hosts; it's a
value-add to increase average ticket price during checkout, not their core
competency. If you really want it all in one, then you have to be satisfied
with mediocrity I think.

If you want excellent security and great service for each of those services,
then go to a company where that service is their core competency. Host your
DNS with your web host or a company like DNSMadeEasy. Host your mail with
Rackspace Mail (formerly MailTrust), where you get a 100% uptime SLA, daily
backups and 24/7/365 phone/chat/email support. What registrar you use doesn't
matter as much since the service they provide is so fundamentally basic --
updating tiny text records in a database -- there's not much that can go
wrong. I use Namecheap because of their history of doing right by customers in
the face of legal threats where other registrars turn over information and
even domain ownership without a court order.

~~~
jdlshore
Actually, I misspoke. I'm looking for IMAP hosting, not SMTP. (Although I
obviously will need to send email as well.) Basically, just simple email for
single-person use.

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devonbarrett
Rackspace is where you should look then, cheap and reliable.

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philtar
I'm gonna chime in and say Marcaria is the worst.

1) The interface is complicated

2) They store the password in cleartext (I've told them how big of a deal that
is 5 times now and I've been ignored every time).

3) My friend registered a domain there and didn't get a confirmation email. He
was like why is it not working? I said I don't know let me try to register the
domain. Next day, I get a confirmation email and he gets an email that the
domain he requested is not available (even though he registered it a few hours
before me).

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mschuster91
Hi,

if you're going for just DNS+excellent service, go for EPAG (epag.net).
They're dead cheap and have a fine customer support. Payment via PayPal and
credit card, as well as european bank transfer.

