Domain Research¶
ARCHIVED: This document is superseded by
domain-strategy.md.Final decision: Use
cronova.dev(already owned) +verava.ai(to purchase). The domains below (nanduti.io, verava.net) were not purchased.
Original research from 2026-01-14 preserved below for reference.
Domain name options for homelab infrastructure and business. Researched 2026-01-14.
Candidates¶
| Domain | Status | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| nanduti.io | Available | ~$30/yr | Homelab / Infra | | verava.net | Available | ~$12/yr | Business / Consulting | | mbyja.io | Available | ~$30/yr | Alternative | | kuarahy.io | Available | ~$30/yr | Alternative |
The Showdown¶
| Aspect | verava.net | nanduti.io | mbyja.io | kuarahy.io |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Brand name | "Web/Lace" (Guarani) | "Star" (Guarani) | "Sun" (Guarani) | | Pronounceable | Easy | Medium | Hard | Hard | | Spellable | Easy | Medium | Hard | Hard | | Memorable | Medium | High | Medium | Low | | TLD Vibe | Corporate/Classic | Tech/Startup | Tech/Startup | Tech/Startup | | Price | ~$12/yr | ~$30/yr | ~$30/yr | ~$30/yr | | Geek Factor | 5/10 | 9/10 | 7/10 | 6/10 | | Paraguay Pride | 0/10 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 10/10 |
Analysis¶
verava.net¶
Vibe: Professional, corporate, safe
+ Professional, safe, corporate-friendly
+ Easy for customers to type/remember
+ Cheap (.net ~$12/yr)
+ Good for "Supply Chain Consulting + AI" branding
- Generic tech-company feel
- No story behind it
- .net feels 2005
Best for: Business cards, customer-facing, consulting work.
nanduti.io¶
Vibe: Cultural hacker, poetic geek
+ PERFECT metaphor (ñanduti lace = intricate web = network mesh)
+ Cultural flex (Paraguay heritage)
+ Conversation starter ("What does it mean?")
+ .io = modern tech credibility
+ Homelab/mesh networking poetic justice
- Loses the ñ (but still recognizable)
- Harder to spell over the phone
- More expensive
Best for: Homelab, personal infrastructure, technical projects.
mbyja.io¶
Vibe: Mysterious, short
+ Short, mysterious
+ "Star" = aspiration, navigation
- Nobody can pronounce it
- Nobody can spell it
- You'll spend your life saying "M-B-Y-J-A"
Best for: If you want maximum obscurity.
kuarahy.io¶
Vibe: Always-on, but forgettable
Best for: Not recommended.
Why nanduti.io Wins (Geek Factor)¶
1. The Metaphor¶
Ñanduti is traditional Paraguayan lace with intricate web patterns. The word literally means "white web" in Guarani. You're building a digital web/mesh network. Poetry.
Traditional ñanduti lace = intricate interconnected web
Your homelab = intricate interconnected mesh
2. The Story¶
Every time someone asks "what's nanduti?", you get to explain:
- Guarani indigenous culture
- Paraguayan heritage
- Your sovereign infrastructure philosophy
- Why self-hosting matters
That's a flex no generic domain gives you.
3. The Aesthetic¶
# This hits different
ssh admin@nanduti.io
curl https://api.nanduti.io/status
# vs this
ssh admin@verava.net
curl https://api.verava.net/status
4. The TLD¶
.io = The hacker's TLD
- Says "I build things" without saying it
- Tech credibility
- Startup/maker culture
.net = The 2005 TLD
- "We couldn't get .com"
- Corporate fallback
- Safe but boring
Recommendation¶
Strategy: Get Both¶
| Domain | Use Case | Subdomains |
|---|---|---|
| nanduti.io | Homelab / Personal | headscale.nanduti.io, pihole.nanduti.io, git.nanduti.io |
| verava.net | Business / Customers |
Why Both?¶
- Separation of concerns - Personal infra vs business
- Professional flexibility - Customers see verava.net, you see nanduti.io
- Total cost - ~$42/year for complete coverage
- Future-proof - If one brand grows, the other stays personal
Subdomain Planning (nanduti.io)¶
| Subdomain | Service | Environment |
|---|---|---|
| hs.nanduti.io | Headscale | Mobile (RPi 5) |
| dns.nanduti.io | Pi-hole | All |
| git.nanduti.io | Forgejo | Fixed (NAS) |
| home.nanduti.io | Home Assistant | Fixed |
| media.nanduti.io | Jellyfin | Fixed |
| vault.nanduti.io | Vaultwarden | Fixed |
| status.nanduti.io | Uptime Kuma | VPS |
| notify.nanduti.io | ntfy | VPS |
| watch.nanduti.io | changedetection | VPS |
Technical Notes¶
IDN Limitation¶
.io domains don't support Internationalized Domain Names (IDN).
| Domain | Registrable? |
|---|---|
| ~~ñanduti.io~~ | No (special character ñ) | | nanduti.io | Yes (ASCII only) |
The ñ must be dropped, but "nanduti" is still recognizable and searchable.
Paraguay TLD Alternative¶
If you want the ñ, use Paraguay's TLD:
| Domain | Notes |
|---|---|
| ñanduti.com.py | Supports IDN | | nanduti.com.py | Also available |
But .com.py lacks the tech credibility of .io.
WHOIS Results (2026-01-14)¶
nanduti.io - Domain not found (AVAILABLE)
verava.net - No match for domain (AVAILABLE)
mbyja.io - Domain not found (AVAILABLE)
kuarahy.io - Domain not found (AVAILABLE)
Decision¶
| Domain | Decision | Action |
|---|---|---|
| nanduti.io | BUY | Primary homelab domain | | verava.net | BUY | Business domain | | mbyja.io | Skip | Too hard to spell | | kuarahy.io | Skip | Too long |
Total annual cost: ~$42/year
Cultural Reference¶
What is Ñanduti?¶
Ñanduti (Guarani: "white web") is a traditional Paraguayan lace-making technique. The intricate radial patterns resemble spider webs, created by weaving threads around a central point.
Connection to homelab¶
- Radial pattern = mesh network topology
- Interconnected threads = Tailscale connections
- Central point = Headscale coordination server
- Handcrafted = self-hosted, DIY infrastructure
The metaphor is perfect.
Registrars¶
| Registrar | .io Price | .net Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | ~$30/yr | ~$12/yr | Good UI, privacy included | | Cloudflare | ~$28/yr | ~$10/yr | At-cost pricing, no markup | | Porkbun | ~$28/yr | ~$10/yr | Cheap, good reputation | | Google Domains | Discontinued | - | Moved to Squarespace |
Recommendation: Cloudflare Registrar (at-cost, includes DNS/CDN)