New domain registration and renewal service

We are pleased to announce that we have launched a new domain registration and renewal interface.

It can be found in Account > Domain Registration, and aside from the improved user experience it now uses individual prices based on the top-level domain instead of a system based on domain credits.

Continue reading to find out more, and how if may affect you if you already host your domain name with Runbox.

What is new?

In recent years the domain registration industry has changed very significantly, and there are now hundreds of Top Level Domain (TLD) extensions available (TLD examples are .com, .org and .pro etc.). Pricing varies very considerably from one type of TLD to another. More recently there has been a significant increase in the registration and renewal prices for certain common TLD extensions, and this has made the system we currently use unsustainable for the future.

For many years we operated a domain registration service based on the idea of domain credits. The intention was that one domain credit allowed you to register one domain for one year. With the changes mentioned above we were forced to change how we price and register domains, and we will no longer be using a domain credit system.

We have now launched a new domain registration service where domain TLDs are priced on an individual basis. In many cases the prices will be unchanged or will in fact be lower. However, in some cases the prices will increase to reflect the recent changes.

How does this affect me?

If you don’t already host a domain name with Runbox, then you will just have a better experience if you choose to do so.

If you do host one or more domain names with Runbox, then there are a few changes to be aware of.

  • The existing domain credit(s) you have used to pay for your domain name will be replaced with new products according to the TLD of your domain name. The next time you renew your domain, you will be using the new product instead of domain credits. You can see the pricing for your renewal by going to Domain Hosting in your account and clicking on the renew option.
  • If you have used PayPal to pay for domain credits, and the payments recurred automatically, then we will cancel the recurring agreements to avoid you inadvertently paying for a product you no longer need. You can then pay manually for the new TLD product, and will receive a payment reminder about this.
  • Because of the changes to domain name pricing mentioned above, the Max subscription will no longer include a domain name. If you are hosting a domain name with a Max subscription you will receive a separate email about this.

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Server relocation: Scheduled downtime Tuesday June 14

Server Relocation and Email Downtime – Tuesday June 14 10-14 CET (08-12 GMT / 05-09 AM EDT / 02-06 AM PDT)

We’re excited to announce that Runbox is partnering with a new server hosting and management company, Copyleft Solutions. As part of this change we will move our email server park to a new Data Center on Tuesday June 14 between approximately 10 and 14 CET.

How will this affect me?

Our email services, including Webmail, POP, IMAP, and SMTP, will be inaccessible for about 4 hours while the servers are being moved. Incoming email will normally be queued on the sending servers, but users of mailing list services such as Yahoo Groups might want to suspend those to avoid bouncing of incoming email.

The Runbox Web Hosting services will *not* be affected as they are hosted in a different location. All web sites and domains hosted with Runbox will continue to work normally.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the relocation.

What can I do?

We recommend that you check your email before the scheduled downtime. While we are migrating it will not be possible for you to access your email.

You will not need to change any settings in your email client. It will work normally once our servers are online again.

(For those who have been using our IP address (87.238.52.70) instead of a regular server name, please change this to 91.220.196.211.)

To get updates about the relocation and when the services will be online again, please check this page, Twitter, or http://status.runbox.net

If you have any questions, please use the Support Center at http://support.runbox.com

Why are you relocating?

Runbox is partnering with Copyleft Solutions, a Norwegian company focusing on secure hosting and open source software. Copyleft Solutions shares Runbox’ values and core principles, and we will be their preferred email provider going forward.

The partnership will strengthen both companies in the long-term as we also share many goals and interests — first and foremost to provide the best possible email services for our users.

The new Data Center

The Runbox email server park will be moved to Copyleft Solution’s data center at Digiplex. Digiplex offers state of the art facilities with secure, climate controlled environments and full power and telecom redundancy.

In the future, this move will improve the quality and responsiveness of our services, as the servers will be hosted on a higher capacity network by a company committed to further developing the platform.

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Domain registration launched

We’re very happy to announce that Runbox now offers integrated domain registration!

This means that you can host both your domain name, your website, and your email in one place with the same user-friendly interface.

Just open Account: Domain Hosting Administration to get started with a new domain name!

Currently we only support the main top level domains .com, .net, and .org, but plan to add more soon. We also plan to support transfers of domains from/to other providers.

To find out more about how Runbox Domain Hosting works, please see our Help section.

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