Third-party hosting for AC.ZA domains
Historically, AC.ZA domains have been hosted by the universities and other institutions on their own infrastructure. However, this is not always practical for smaller Registrants or those looking to reduce their on-premises footprint. We’re increasingly being asked asked about third-party hosting options.
While it is not possible to transfer an AC.ZA domain to another provider, AC.ZA operates in a standards compliant way. It should be compatible with most dedicated commercial DNS hosting providers, although some of the intial setup cannot be automated .
In addition, many web hosting providers will host DNS as part of a website or email hosting package. Provided they have a mechanism for hosting an external domain, this may also be a viable option.
The key thing is to ask about hosting an “external”, “third-party” or “your own” domain (i.e one for which they are not the registrar).
DNS Hosting Providers
The following is an incomplete list — in no particular order — of some of the third-party DNS providers used by existing AC.ZA Registrants1.
| Hosting provider | DNSSEC Support | ISPA |
|---|---|---|
| Afrihost 2 | Unknown | Yes |
| Azure DNS | No | No |
| Cloudflare DNS | YES | No |
| DNS Made Easy | YES | No |
| domains.co.za 2 (DiaMatrix ) | Yes | Yes |
| e Networks 3 | Unknown | No |
| Xneelo | No | Yes |
| 1-Grid 2 | Unknown | No |
Note that this list is provided for convenience and does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of any particularly hosting provider. The information provided here was — to the best of our knowledge — correct at the time of writing. However, Registrants should do their own research and must make their own decisions based on an understanding of their own needs and requirements.