Acro.net – Technology Rants & Raves by Acroplex®

Over the course of the past 18 months I’ve moved the majority of my domain portfolio over to Fabulous.com and I couldn’t have been happier.

I’ve written before why I think Fabulous is *the* best domain registrar catering to domainers.

This time around, I will discuss an important layer of security, available to Fabulous.com customers via an one-time fee: A security token or “fob”.

When I met Mike “Fabulous” Robertson at TRAFFIC Las Vegas in January, I could not but mention how great Fabulous.com is for domainers like me. For being an Aussie, Mike was particularly sober but regardless, he promised to send a spanking new Fabulous fob to my mailbox. I just could not wait!

A few days ago, as promised, the fob arrived in a small envelope. For almost an hour I simply examined it, planning what to do with it. Eventually, I simply ripped the envelope open and the fun began!

The envelope’s particulars showed a total weight of 11 grams or less than 1/2 an ounce. That thing was light as a feather, yet it managed to make it all the way from ‘down under’ intact. After I opened the envelope, I saw that it was packed in some bubble wrap for protection. And no, that’s not the layer of Fabulous security I was referring to!

Inside the bubble wrap was a small square plastic folder, complete with a label. My excitement peaked, as I saw the Fabulous.com logo with the blue gradient and the stars of Australia! The words “Security Key” made it clear that this was the real deal.

I opened the plastic folder, barely wider than a business card. Inside was a printed piece of paper that consisted of the front cover with the logo, the back bearing instructions and finally, the Fabulous fob in all its glory!

Here is a scan of the instructions portion. Since this was my first time to ever face a ‘security fob’ I had no idea how it’s used. The instructions miss one important detail: you have to plug the Fabulous fob into a USB port before you proceed with the steps above!

You can see how tiny the Fabulous fob is, the hole on the left allows you to put it in a keychain – although I would not recommend it – and the right side is what you plug into an available USB port in your computer. So what is the center part that looks like a ring? Hold on!

This is the magic glow of the Fabulous fob, after it was plugged into the USB port! It is now ready to be used and provide an extra, solid layer of security to your domain portfolio with Fabulous.com

After your Fabulous fob is installed, log into your Fabulous.com account as usual and go to the Admin section, then click on “Security”. A menu will be available. Select “Fabulous Security Key” and you’re ready for the registration part.

At this point, you need to ensure that you have easy access to the USB port; first click inside the form field as displayed above. Then press your finger firmly on the round, green ring of the Fabulous key.

As if by magic, the form will fill with a long set of encrypted characters in just a few seconds. That’s the time when you should lift your finger from the Fabulous fob and press the “Register Fabulous Security Key”.

The next step will confirm that everything went as planned with the registration of the security key token. Head over to this discussion if you want to know how the security fob works. Who said I’m not assisting you with your technology education!

At the bottom of the same confirmation page as above, you will see this nifty menu of options which will allow you to set up the extent of security that you’d like to implement. For example, you can enable authentication via the use of the Fabulous fob only when you want to make finance changes, or before you push a domain to a different account. Since you have this Fabulous device in your hands, you might as well check them all!

Finally, this is what you’re looking at when authentication is needed. To proceed with authorizing any action specified in the checkboxes above, the Fabulous fob must obviously be plugged in. Then, click inside the form field, tap and hold the glowing green ring of the fob until the form field fills – then hit Continue and you’re in!

I hope you found this review and tutorial about the security key, a.k.a “Fabulous fob” rather helpful. Fabulous.com is indeed a quiet giant, in the dark blue sea group of companies and it’s the domain registry of choice for anyone serious in the domain business.

Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/acroplex

A little over a year ago I started consolidating my domain names at a single registrar. At that time, I decided to use Fabulous.com for a number of obvious reasons: low pricing, extensive backend to manage the domains, great tech support.

As time passed by, I still have domains in a handful of other registrars, but the big exodus from eNom is in its final stages. Despite the equally great backend manager, eNom lacks in a couple of fields that I’ve found Fabulous.com to win hands down.

Mass-acquisition of EPP codes is not available via eNom’s interface, thus making the mass transfer of domains a pain in the butt. Fabulous offers that and in general such mass-handling features are where you expect them to be, including renewals via the Expiry Control section.

Secondly, when it comes down to billing notifications, Fabulous.com is second to none. You get emails for every activity, including very well-thought invoices with detailed break down of the charges involved. The mere fact that PDF files are attached, makes my life so much easier around this time of the year.

Tax time is around the corner and if you can’t manage the volume of your transactions anymore, consider hiring a CPA for the job. Stay away from the H&R Block guys.

Fabulous.com retains detailed records of all your charges and expenses – and revenue, if you park domains with them. It’s just a matter of printing out the monthly PDF files for the entire year. Meanwhile, at eNom you have to run a report, which is generated in the background. Although eNom has improved in the past year and can now generate reports older than 6 months, there are errors that frustrate the heck out of me, e.g. no renewal dates are included in the CVS files.

For the remaining domains of my eNom portfolio, I have to do a lot of manual labor in order to produce the documents I need for tax purposes. Not so with Fabulous.com which I thoroughly recommend as a registrar for domainers.

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In the early days, Network Solutions was the only place to register domain names, each time having to shell out an outrageous $100 for two years of registration. Once the monopoly was lifted, the introduction of alternate registrars brought ample competition to the field of domain registration and prices dropped dramatically.

Today, there are hundreds of ICANN accredited registrars that cater to different TLDs, geographical regions and offering a variety of both standard features and additional perks. Although there are several large and well-known registrars that manage the majority of the domains worldwide, not all of them are necessarily suitable for domainers that differ from end-users in the sheer bulk number of registrations, renewals and transfers.

Primarily, cost appears to be a deciding factor when choosing a registrar for the basic three TLDs, com/net/org. These registrars that offer pricing very close to the fee that the Registries keep, make a small profit but attract hundreds of thousands of domain registrations, some even millions. Beware of registrars that make promotional offers below the cost of the Registry fee; by operating at a loss, they attempt to attract a large customer base, at the cost of features and quality of support.

When choosing a registrar, another important factor is their control panel or user interface and its ease of use. It should offer the ability to modify domains easily, lock/unlock them and obtain transfer (“auth”) codes without many hoops and ideally, make all these features available to bulk modifications. A good registrar should also have a streamlined method of transferring domains away from it, without hiding the process or preventing it via a maze of options.

Interface design does not seem to be the best element for the majority of registrars, that seem to cram options together and often fail to provide a comprehensive navigation throughout their menus. The best registrars, however, offer a lightweight, well-thought user interface that is easy on the eyes, contains the necessary graphics to visually separate options in sections, loads fast and maintains the same experience each time an option is accessed.

Some registrars offer specialized perks – features that set them aside from the rest of the competition. For example, some provide the user with the option to firmly lock a domain down via the use of a secret code or process, thus preventing domain theft via the standard transfer method. Others offer free WHOIS protection, email and URL forwarding or even basic web hosting. One has to weigh their needs carefully before going for these registrars that appear to offer a lot of features but lack in one specific sector: support.

And that’s the final and equally important element. When something goes wrong and you cannot access your account or a domain transfer does not seem to go through, a registrar must have in place a number of communication means, from a phone number to a support ticket system and to ensure there is a fast response to emergencies.  For registrars that are located in non-English speaking countries, such support can be crucial when dealing with a frustrated customer that needs a prompt resolution to their problems.

To summarize: Using a registrar must be a pleasant, seamless experience that offers speed, a variety of useful features for managing the entire domain portfolio easily, competitive pricing and solid support.

Currently, I recommend Fabulous.com based on my personal domain management needs.