Streamlined Solutions For Large Scale Domain Management

Those who’ve managed several domains at the same time will definitely tell you that it’s anything but simple. Of course, at first glance (before you embark on this journey), you think it’s easy, but that’s certainly not the case.

In the beginning, things may go relatively fine, but as time goes by, they become a lot more complicated. So, what normally occurs? Expiration dates arise, various security dangers pile up, DNS records turn into a maze, etc.

In order to properly manage a large-scale domain, you need to resort to various solutions and strategies that are designed precisely for these purposes. If you could use some suggestions as far as this is concerned, then cast your eyes on these below.

Why Domain Management Suddenly Becomes Challenging?

Managing one or two domains is really not that hard, and something that most people can do; however, managing a lot more is a totally different story. Keep in mind that at scale, these domains aren’t just some ordinary URLs. They are, in fact, tied to:

• Websites and their landing pages
• Brand protection & trademarks
• Emails and their systems
• APIs and internal tools

Every single domain consists of its own DNS records, renewal timelines, SSL certificates, ownership info, and registrars. When all of these elements are scattered across different teams, systems, and vendors, everything becomes chaotic pretty fast. The most common pain points that appear in these types of situations include the following:

• Missed renewals, which can result in domain loss or downtime
• Manual processes that no longer scale
• Security gaps, such as forgotten domains that are susceptible to hijacking

Automation Can Be Of Huge Help!

If there’s one weapon that can simplify anything that’s related to domain management, it’s precisely this one. Manual processes simply do not scale, and if you try to renew domains manually, track SSL certificates manually, or anything else, you’ll experience a major downfall.

But on a more positive note, when you make use of automation, it’s going to radically lower human errors, and, simultaneously, give you a lot more time to focus on other essential tasks. Plus, when you combine bulk domain search with automation, it becomes even more omnipotent. How come, you probably wonder?

Well, that’s because search results can feed straight into registration workflows, renewal policies, and DNS templates. To put it simply, this means that domains can easily become “live assets, which is a very good thing.

Speaking of automation, there are several areas where it shines, and below, a few of them will be mentioned:

1. Automatic Renewals – Although this may look like a no-brainer, you wouldn’t believe how many outages occurred just because someone didn’t renew a domain. Therefore, when you resort to automatic renewals, you are drastically reducing the likelihood of repeating the same mistake.
2. SSL Certificate Management – Dealing with hundreds and hundreds of certificates manually is really very challenging and overwhelming; however, with automated SSL provisioning, you’ll make sure everything remains safe and sound without the constant supervision
3. API-driven management – A lot of platforms today provide you with APIs that allow you to manage domains programmatically. This is great news for DevOps teams, enabling domain changes to be integrated straight into deployment pipelines.

Don’t Forget Centralization 

One of the most crucial steps when it comes to this whole process is precisely this one. When domains are registered across several registrars and managed by different people and teams, then it can be pretty challenging to be and stay organized.

Now, centralizing domain management doesn’t instantly mean that one registrar will handle everything (even though that wouldn’t be such a bad idea), but it simply means creating one central source of truth. This normally involves:

• The total inventory of every single domain
• Associated services (DNS, hosting, etc.)
• Details related to the ownership and access

What’s great about the modern domain management platforms is the fact that they provide users with dashboards where everything that’s necessary is out there. This means that you won’t need to go through your old files and emails, because you can immediately see what domains you own, what their purpose is, and what requires attention.

Do Not Underestimate The Importance Of Visibility And Report

One of the biggest obstacles when it comes to large-scale domain management is simply not knowing what you do not know/ When you do not have the right visibility, your domains can easily become useless because they haven’t been used for a very long time, or they can even become major security risks.

And that’s the moment when reporting and insights come into play. With the right visibility tools, you can:

1. Detect domains that haven’t been utilized in a while
2. See DNS alterations and audit logs
3. Track upcoming renewals across every domain
4. Supervise the health of your domain

This type of assistance helps your team a lot in terms of decision-making. Who knows, maybe at some point you realize that you’ve been wasting your money on domains that do not have any purpose anymore.

Or you may even uncover inconsistent DNS records that could potentially be very problematic. Whatever the situation may be, things are far simpler when everything is visible.

Prioritizing Security

Those who are familiar with domains will tell you that they are extremely valuable, and that’s not something that only they know, but hackers (and other virtual attackers), too! So what does that mean?

It means that if they decide to “target” you or your business, you’ll be a lot more susceptible to various risks and dangers. This is particularly the situation when you do not manage your domains the right way.

But on a more positive note, if you put your trust in the hands of streamlined domain management solutions, they will prioritize a number of different features, such as:

1. Multi-factor authentication
2. Domain locking
3. Change monitoring and alerts
4. Role-based access control
5. DNSSEC

Although all of these pieces of information may seem intimidating to some of you, things aren’t as challenging as they may appear to be. Just focus on the solutions that were suggested today, and you’ll be capable of managing domains at scale without any problems.

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