SaudiNIC Domain Name Registration · gov.sa Government organizations com.sa Commercial entities net.sa ISPs org.sa Non-profit organizations ... days, please contact [email protected]

©A. Al-Zoman

Abdulaziz H. Al-ZomanDirector of Saudi Network Information Center (SaudiNIC)

Internet Services Unit

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

SaudiNICSaudiNICDomain Name RegistrationDomain Name Registration

©A. Al-ZomanObjective of this presentationObjective of this presentationObjective of this presentation

� Enhancing the communication

between US and YOU

� Sharing the knowledge

� Understanding SaudiNIC

procedures and regulations

� Speeding up the registration process

� Knowing one’s responsibilities

©A. Al-ZomanAgendaAgendaAgenda

� Introduction and background

� Domain Name System (DNS)

� Example of setting up a zone

� Who does the registration on the Internet?

� SaudiNIC

� Statistics

� Regulations

� Registration Procedures

� Registration System

� Summary

� Q & A

©A. Al-Zoman

Introduction and BackgroundIntroduction and Background

©A. Al-ZomanBasic Communication RequirementBasic Communication Basic Communication RequirementRequirement

Internet

198.77.88.4

212.26.18.4

I want to access SaudiNIC web site:

www.www.saudinicsaudinic.net..net.sasa

www.www.saudinicsaudinic.net..net.sasa

©A. Al-ZomanWhat is naming and why?What is naming and why?

� Naming is the mechanism to

bind names to IP addresses

and vice versa.

� People don’t like to remember

numbers

proxy.isu.net.sa is easier to

remember than 212.26.18.10

� Domain names are easier for

most people to relate to than a

numeric IP address

� System administrators

sometimes need to change IP

numbers

198.7

7.88.2

198.7

7.88.2

201.23.67.8201.23.67.8

202.3

1.10.5

202.3

1.10.5

112.98.56.3

112.98.56.3

36.98.66.9

36.98.66.9

89.119.20.36

89.119.20.36

110.78.33.2

110.78.33.2

65.23

.12.91

65.23

.12.91www.saudinic.net.sa

©A. Al-ZomanWhat is a domain name?What is a domain name?

� It uniquely identifies a host on the Internet

� It simplifies the interaction with hosts on the Internet

� A domain name is mapped to its corresponding IP

address before interactions

� Domain names are organized on hierarchical

structure. e.g.,

computer .department.organization .type .country

pc7.scrs.kacst.edu.sa

©A. Al-Zoman

SLDSLD

TLDTLD

eduedu comcom govgovyahooyahoo mitmit

Hierarchical name treeHierarchical name tree

kacstkacst ksuksu

alpha sun2000

coxcox coycoy

foo

alpha.kacst.edu.sa foo.cox.com.sa

ftp

ftp.mit.edu

.

sasaegegukukedueducomcom . . .. . .

©A. Al-ZomanTop-Level DomainsTopTop--Level DomainsLevel Domains

� Open generic Top-Level

Domains (gTLD):

� .com

� .org

� .net

� Restricted generic Top-

Level Domains (gTLD):

� .mil

� .edu

� .gov

� .int

� Country ccTLD (2 letters):

� There are ~ 243 ccTLD:

� .ae United Arab Emirates

� .au Australia

� .bh Bahrain

� .kw Kuwait

� .de Germany

� .eg Egypt

� .in India

� .pk Pakistan

� .sa Saudi Arabia

� .uk United Kingdom

� .za South Africa

� …

©A. Al-Zoman

Domain Name SystemDomain Name System

©A. Al-ZomanWhat is a domain name system?What is a domain name system?What is a domain name system?

� DNS developed to keep track of hostnames and IP

addresses throughout the Internet

� It consists of distributed, independent, and

cooperative systems, called domain name serversdomain name servers

� These servers are arranged corresponding to the

naming hierarchy (i.e., based on domain name tree)

� Each DNS server maintains the data for a small part

of the tree

� Therefore, the DNS is distributed databases on many

domain name servers

©A. Al-ZomanDNS: Distributed and HierarchicalDNS: DNS: Distributed and HierarchicalDistributed and Hierarchical

� There is NO single file for all domain names but

rather distributed databases on DNS servers

� Domain name registration is not centralized but

rather distributed to many organizations

� This hierarchical manner allows for

� decentralized administration of name-to-address mapping

� delegation of responsibility and autonomy of each area

� Example:

� Administrator of sharikah.com.sa can change their zone

(e.g., adding a jeddah-branch.sharikah.com.sa zone)

without bothering com.sa administrator (SaudiNIC)

©A. Al-ZomanType of DNS ServersType of DNS Servers

� Primary server.

� Gets its data from “zone files”

� Zone files are updated on the primary server

� Secondary server.

� Copies zone-data from primary name-server

� Provides backup and load sharing

� Refreshes frequently

©A. Al-Zoman

ExampleExampleSetting up A Zone File Setting up A Zone File On A Primary DNS ServerOn A Primary DNS Server

sharikahsharikah.com..com.sasa

©A. Al-ZomanExample: sharikah.com.saExample: Example: sharikahsharikah.com..com.sasa

� A company would like to register a domain name

� Check SaudiNIC whois database:

– http://www.saudinic.net.sa/domain/whois.htm

� Contact a local ISP (isp.net.sa) to do, for example:

– Domain name hosting (zone file configuration)

– Mail services (mail relay configuration)

� The ISP is using the following DNS servers:

– Primary DNS: ns.isp.net.sa

– Secondary DNS: ns2.isp.net.sa

– Secondary DNS: ns1.usa-isp.com

� and the following Mail servers

– Mail server: mail.isp.net.sa

– Backup mail server: netserv.isp.net.sa

©A. Al-ZomanTerminologyTerminologyTerminology

� Zone: is the area (domain) of the DNS for which a server

is responsible

� Zone file: is a text file consist of records (lines) with a specific

format containing the zone information (e.g., DNS

servers, table of IP addresses-host names, …)

� SOA (Start Of Authority) record: contains the information that

other name servers will learn about this domain

(e.g., who is the primary DNS, how frequent a

secondary should refresh its files, how long the

data should be cached, ...)

� NS record: denotes the name servers that are authoritative for

this zone

� MX record: specifies where to send email destined for the

corresponding machine or domain

©A. Al-ZomanPrimary DNS Configuration FilePrimary DNS Configuration File

…

primary sharikah.com.sa db.sharikah

…

//etc/named.bootetc/named.boot

First Step: First Step: Instruct the DNS server to be a primary server for Instruct the DNS server to be a primary server for

sharikahsharikah.com..com.sasa

…

zone “sharikah.com.sa” {

type master;

file ”db.sharikah";

};

…

//etc/named.etc/named.confconf

©A. Al-ZomanThe complete zone for: The complete zone for: dbdb..sharikahsharikah

; Nameservers

IN NS ns.isp.net.sa.

IN NS ns2.isp.net.sa.

IN NS ns1.isp-usa.com.

; host-address table

www IN A 192.168.10.1

info IN A 192.168.10.2

; Mail

IN MX 10 mail.isp.net.sa.

IN MX 20 netserv.isp.net.sa.

@ IN SOA ns.isp.net.sa hostmaster.isp.net.sa

( 99060201; Serial Number

28800 ; Refresh 8 hours

7200 ; Retry 2 hours

604800 ; Expire 7 days

86400 ; TTL 1 days )

©A. Al-ZomanSetting up a zone file for: Setting up a zone file for: dbdb..sharikahsharikah

@ IN SOA ns.isp.net.sa hostmaster.isp.net.sa

( 99060201; Serial Number

28800 ; Refresh 8 hours

7200 ; Retry 2 hours

604800 ; Expire 7 days

86400 ; TTL 1 days )

� Start Of Authority (SOA) sets `zone parameters':

� Caches refresh parameters

� Secondary DNS servers refresh parameters

� Zone serial number

� email: [email protected]

� primary: ns.isp.net.sa


;Primary and secondary nameservers:

IN NS ns.isp.net.sa.

IN NS ns2.isp.net.sa.

IN NS ns1.isp-usa.com.

� NS records list DNS servers for the zone

� the primary server as well as secondary servers


; Mail

IN MX 10 mail.isp.net.sa.

IN MX 20 netserv.isp.net.sa.

� MX-record lists where mail is delivered

� The mail will be delivered first to the one with the lowest

precedence number

� Others are backup in case of delivery problems


; host-address table

www IN A 192.168.10.1

info IN A 192.168.10.2

� “A” records map names to IP addresses

©A. Al-Zoman

Domain Name Registration Domain Name Registration On The InternetOn The Internet

©A. Al-ZomanWho does the registration on the Internet?Who does the registration on the Who does the registration on the Internet?Internet?

� Top-Level Domains are the responsibility of IANA– Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

– Network Solutions Inc - InterNIC

� generic: gTLD (e.g., .com, .net, .org)

� country code: ccTLD (e.g., .sa, …)

– Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

� For each ccTLD there is an entity that administers

the domain name registration: – Define the sub-domains (STD)

– Setup registration policy

– Control the registration under STD.

– Make sure that names do not conflict and are appropriate

©A. Al-ZomanWho does the registration under Who does the registration under sasa--TLD?TLD?

� KACST- Saudi Network Information Center

(SaudiNIC)- since 1995.

� Managing Saudi domain name registration:

� edu.sa Academic institutes (e.g. Universities)

� gov.sa Government organizations

� com.sa Commercial entities

� net.sa ISPs

� org.sa Non-profit organizations

� med.sa Medical institutes (e.g., hospitals, clinics)

� sch.sa Schools (e.g., high schools, kindergarten)

� pub.sa For public - anything does not fit the above

©A. Al-Zoman

SaudiNIC SaudiNIC Domain Name Registration Domain Name Registration

StatisticsStatistics

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC StatisticsSaudiNIC StatisticsSaudiNIC Statistics

Registered domains per year

1 827

213

615

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Total: 864


Registered domains in 1999

35

81

124

10096

129

50

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1999


Registered domains per category

730

46 34 299 7 9

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

com org net gov edu med sch

©A. Al-Zoman

SaudiNICSaudiNICDomain Name Registration Domain Name Registration

RegulationRegulation

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC - RegulationGeneral:SaudiNIC SaudiNIC -- RegulationRegulationGeneral:General:

� Registration will continue as is until 14 Shawal 1420

� First come first served

� Based on legal documents (Commercial registration, trade

mark, …)

� Obvious derivation of the official name, trademark, or

activity

– English translation, transliteration, or abbreviation

� Starting 15 Shawal 1420 H, SaudiNIC will follow

� strictly first come first served.

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC - RegulationGeneral:SaudiNIC SaudiNIC -- RegulationRegulationGeneralGeneral::

� Generic names (e.g., www, internet) and famous

people will not be registered under any domain

� Domain names are NOT for sale!

� Registering a domain name does not confer any

legal rights to that name

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC - RegulationApplicant:SaudiNIC SaudiNIC -- RegulationRegulationApplicant:Applicant:

� The Applicant must be:– physically in KSA,

– belong to an entity registered in KSA, or

– belong to an entity that provides goods or services in KSA.

� Domain contacts:– Administrative contact must be located in KSA and from the entity requesting the domain name

– Technical contact should be the one who are looking after the primary DNS server

� The Applicant agrees that:– information submitted is true

– domain name does not violate the right of a third-party

– it will not be used for any activity not permitted in KSA

– will inform SaudiNIC for any changes in the information

– will not register domain names for the purpose of selling them

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC - RegulationRequirements:SaudiNIC SaudiNIC -- RegulationRegulationRequirements:Requirements:

� A domain name application form

� A letter requesting the domain name registration– It must be on an official letterhead from the owner

� Legal documents (CR, TM, License, …)

� At least two operational DNS servers hosting the

domain name in question

� Applications are kept in a pending state– for three weeks until required documents are received

– then a warning message is sent

– if nothing is received within a week, SaudiNIC will reject the

request

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC - RegulationDomain name format:SaudiNIC SaudiNIC -- RegulationRegulationDomain name format:Domain name format:

� A domain name is not case sensitive

� A domain name should be

� at least 3 and no more than 24 alphanumeric characters

� using the following characters: "A" - "Z", "0" - "9", and "-"

� The first character should be a letter (A-Z)

©A. Al-Zoman

SaudiNICSaudiNICDomain Name Registration Domain Name Registration

ProcedureProcedure

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureCustomer (Five Steps)SaudiNIC Registration ProcedureSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureCustomer (Five Steps)Customer (Five Steps)

1. Check the availability of the domain name– SaudiNIC whois database:

http://www.saudinic.net.sa/domain/whois.htm

2. Configure at least two DNS servers – One is a primary DNS; others are secondaries

– should be active and responsive to DNS queries BEFORE this

application is submitted.

– It is strongly recommended that the secondary name server(s) be

on a completely separate physical network

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureCustomerSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureCustomerCustomer

� 3. Fill the form and send it to SaudiNIC– Online: http://www.saudinic.net.sa/domain/app-online.htm

– Text: http://www.isu.saudinic.sa/domain/app-text.htm

– Fax: + 966 1 481 3254

– Email: [email protected]

� 4. Mail or fax the following documents (customer):– a letter (on an official letterhead) requesting the domain name

– Legal documents (e.g., Commercial registration, Trade mark,

Membership of Chamber of Commerce, License, etc.)

� 5. Follow up the registration– check your email

– check SaudiNIC whois: http://www.saudinic.net.sa/domain/whois.htm

– if you have not received anything from SaudiNIC within 2 working

days, please contact [email protected]

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureInternalSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureInternalInternal

Check

documentsrequest

Rejection

Time (3-4 w)

problem

Pending

List

Inform The

Customer

correction

OKCheck

DNS

Servers

Pending

List

Inform The

Customer

problem

DNSs

are ready

Done!

Inform The

Customer

OK

Rejection

Time (3-4 w)

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureInternal - Step OneSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureInternal Internal -- Step OneStep One

� Receiving and Checking the Request

� User support + Helpdesk

� Receiving requests: email, fax, postal/hand, Web

� Inserting the new request into the SaudiNIC database

� Check the request:

– domain name availability

– completeness of required documents

– validity of the request

� Contact ISP/customer for any missing information or

problems

– a warning message will be sent after 3 weeks if no response is

received

– The request will be rejected if nothing is received within a week

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureInternal - Step TwoSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureInternal Internal -- Step TwoStep Two

� Checking DNS servers

� At lease two DNS servers (Primary + Secondary)

� Accessible through the Internet

� Hosting the new domain name

� Contacting ISP/Customer for any problems

� Updating database

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureInternal - Step ThreeSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureSaudiNIC Registration ProcedureInternal Internal -- Step ThreeStep Three

� Registration

� Adding the domain name to our zone file

� Updating the database

� Informing the ISP/Customer

©A. Al-ZomanSaudiNIC Registration SystemWhat has been done?SaudiNIC Registration SystemSaudiNIC Registration SystemWhat has been done?What has been done?

� Database

� Online information

� web site: www.saudinic.net.sa

� online forms (text, web)

� domain lookup (whois)

� Tracking system

� documents (FAQs, how-to, RFCs, Regulation)

� Automation

� Internal procedure

� Registration

� DNS server checking

©A. Al-ZomanSummarySummarySummary

� SaudiNIC will

� manage domain name

registration under .sa TLD

� Insure proper operation of

DNS

� delegate responsibilities to

ISPs to manage customer

domains

� support ISPs

� SaudiNIC can not

� delegate domain names not

under .sa

� An ISP should

� be familiar with SaudiNIC

procedures and requirements

� cooperate with SaudiNIC to

help the customers

� represent customers for

registering domain names

� manage zone files of

delegated zones

� provide help and support to

customers

� An ISP should not

� be the owner of domains

� add more delay to the process

©A. Al-ZomanThat’s not all, I’d like to thankThatThat’’s not all, Is not all, I’’d like to thankd like to thank

� Dr. Ibrahim Al-Furaih

� Raed Al-Fayez

� Sami Al-Moghrabi

� Wael Al-Ghamdi

©A. Al-Zoman

Thanks for attending Thanks for attending andand

good lock in your businessesgood lock in your businesses

Abdulaziz H. Al-Zoman

Please do not forget to fill the survey and give it back to usPlease do not forget to fill the survey and give it back to us

Documents

SaudiNIC Domain Name Registration · gov.sa Government organizations com.sa Commercial entities net.sa ISPs org.sa Non-profit organizations ... days, please contact [email protected]