Domain names

What is a domain name?

A domain name is the unique, human-readable address of your online presence: mydomain.ovh, for example. It replaces the technical IP address of your servers with a name that is easy to remember and share, both for a website and for your email addresses.

A domain name is made up of two parts, read from right to left:

• the extension (or TLD, Top-Level Domain), the suffix that follows the last dot: .ovh, .com, .fr…;
• the domain (the label), the name you choose and reserve: mydomain.

You can then add sub-domains in front of your domain (www.mydomain.ovh, blog.mydomain.ovh) to distinguish your different services.

URLDomain namehttps://blog.mydomain.ovh/produits/domaines/ProtocolSub-domainLabelExtensionPath

Local network

mydomain.ovh

You type the address into your browser

mydomain.ovh ?

DNS servers

outside your local network

mydomain.ovhinterpreted as203.0.113.10

203.0.113.10

Hosting

203.0.113.10

Your website is displayed

The domain name is therefore the gateway to your online presence: without it, your visitors would have to remember the technical IP address of your server to access your website.

The lifecycle of a domain name

From registration to renewal, a domain name goes through three main stages. At any time, you can also transfer it. Select a stage to access the corresponding starting guide.

Register

A domain name is obtained from a registrar such as OVHcloud, for a renewable period. You can reserve a new domain or transfer to OVHcloud a domain already registered elsewhere. The domain name & DNS FAQ answers the most common questions.

Configure

Once the domain is registered, you decide what it points to: a website, an email address, or a redirection. All of this relies on its DNS configuration. You can also create sub-domains (such as blog.mydomain.ovh) to organise your different services.

Renew

A domain name is reserved for a defined period: without renewal, it expires and becomes available again to other people. Enable automatic renewal to never lose your address through a simple oversight.

Transfer

You remain free to choose at any time: transfer your domain to OVHcloud from another registrar, or conversely transfer it to another registrar.

Manage your domain names