Skip to main content

​
Aren’t my domain name registration and hosting subscription linked? Why doesn’t cancelling one automatically cancel the other?

Your “Domain name registration” and “Hosting subscriptions” are two distinct services provided by Melbourne IT. To clarify, we have outlined what each of these services are and why we keep them separate:

​
Domain names

Domain name registration is the acquisition of a Country Code (CC) or Generic Top Level (gTLD) Domain Name (better known as a URL) for use on the world wide web (www). Melbourne IT registers domains in accordance with the rules established by the appropriate domain registration authorities (ICANN, auDA, etc). A domain name may include the following features:
  • The domain name the name of an internet domain that may be used to establish an identity or web presence for the domain owner.
  • The name server delegates the domain to a hosting provider.
  • The zone records A, CName, MX, TXT or SPF records used to delegate domain requests to a hosting server IP address.
The delegation of domain names to any or multiple hosting services is at the discretion of the domain name owner. Note: When transferring a domain name to another registrar, the Name Server or Zone records are not automatically changed, and hosting is not automatically cancelled.

​
Hosting

Web hosting or email hosting services are tangible products independent from the domain name, because you can host your website and your domain name separately. So what does your web hosting entail?
  • Web hosting - is the provision of digital storage space on a Melbourne IT owned and managed server. The provision of this space and features is dependent on the subscription type (e.g. a cPanel Hosting product).
  • Email hosting - is the provision and management of emails specifically destined for a previously established email account on the domain name (e.g. a Cloud Webmail product)
All files, websites or emails stored on the hosting server are accessed via a domain name using Name Servers or Zone records. Melbourne IT cannot make assumptions about any customers web hosting requirements, and web hosting is not automatically cancelled or suspended when re-delegating a domain name to another registrar. As a result, you will need to cancel the two separately – keeping in mind that you must back up all files, websites and emails. You might also need to re-delegate your name servers to point your domain to the right hosting. This is because if you had hosting through Melbourne IT in the past but have moved it, you likely have your domain still pointed at our name servers.

​
Ok, so I want to cancel my hosting services too, how do I do that?

If you wish to cancel any subscription services, including hosting, which currently exist for your domain name under Melbourne IT, please cancel it within your account. All cancellation of services are subject to the Terms and Conditions of the subscription. Note: Before cancellation, customers should ensure they have backed up all hosted files.