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Web Hosting Shopping Guide

Web Hosting Shopping Guide
Web hosting means a web host provides the storage, connectivity, and services necessary to serve files for a web site.  Web hosting costs greatly depend on your personal web hosting needs.
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Add comment July 28th, 2007

Web hosting Services and Domain names

Web hosting Services and Domain names
Choosing an appropriate domain name is very important. First and foremost, when it comes to domain names, try to stay away from the silly, stupid, ridiculous or clever. Keep your domain name simple an…
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“Website Tips Every Internet Entrepreneur Should Know”
Find out how to capitalize on the effectiveness of your Internet business website.  Learn the tricks of the trade to bring in subscribers and jet propel sales.
Source: www.articlesfactory.com

Web hosting sites choosing - how to do it the right way?
After selecting the best from a list of several cheap website hosting companies, a person needs to find out more about them before making the final decision. The final process needs a closer look at t…
Source: www.articlesfactory.com

Hosting A Website - What Do You Need To Know
Web hosting is especially useful for personal and small business, and e-commerce sites. It simply involves building your site, setting up an online store and promoting it in the search engines to get …
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“Don’t Panic! Follow these Tips when Building your Website”
Overwhelmed with the idea of building your website?  Don’t be.  Use these steps as a guide to get you started.
Source: www.articlesfactory.com

Why IXWebHosting Reduces its Web Hosting Price
This article will dig into the reason why IXWebHosting increases the price its web hosting plan and change it back in a very short time period. And it’s a good lesson for those web hosting service pro…
Source: www.articlesfactory.com

Add comment July 28th, 2007

Glossary of Domain Name Terms

.COM: Short for .commercial. Domain names with the .com extension are by far the most popular, and can be purchased by any individual or business. .

.NET: Short for .network, this domain extension was originally designed to be used by technical Web sites. However, domains using this extension can be registered by anyone.

.ORG: Short for .organization. Originally designated for non-profit firms and any other organizations that did not fit under the .com or .net extension, any individual or business may now register a .org domain name.

.AERO: The TLD designated for the air transport industry. Available only to aviation community members, this domain suffix is now live and fully functional. You can find more information on this TLD here: http://www.nic.aero.

.BIZ: The .biz TLD is a designated suffix for businesses. Domains using the .biz extension must be used for business or commercial use. This suffix is fully active. http://www.neulevel.biz has more information on the .biz suffix.

.COOP: This TLD is available to cooperatives, cooperative service organizations and wholly owned subsidiaries of cooperatives. You can find more information on the .coop suffix here: http://www.nic.coop.

.INFO: The first unrestricted top-level domain since .com, .info domains are available to the general public. You can find more information here: http://www.nic.info/gateway.

.MUSEUM: This TLD is available only to museums, museum organizations and individual members of the museum profession. More information on the .museum TLD is available at http://musedoma.museum.

.NAME: Available to the general public, .name email addresses are listed as firstname@lastname.name or lastname@firstname.name, while Web sites are listed as www.firstname.lastname.name. More information on the .name TLD is available here: http://www.nic.name.

.PRO: The .pro suffix was created for certified professionals including lawyers, doctors and accountants. RegistryPro, the organization in charge of administering .pro domains, has initiated steps to set up the new registry, and anticipates taking registrations in late 2002. More information is available at http://www.registrypro.com.

Appraising: The process of evaluating a domain name and determining its market value.

Bandwidth: The amount of data that can be transmitted at a given moment to a server. The higher your bandwidth, the larger amount of traffic your site can handle at one time.

CGI: Short for Common Gateway Interface, a small script that processes data taken from the user (such as from a form application).

Cgi-bin: The directory on a Web server where CGI scripts are stored.

Domain servers: This contains the DNS (Domain Name System) information for a domain, and is usually listed in WHOIS records. There are usually two lines of DNS information. The first is typically a site’s primary DNS information, while the second contains secondary/back-up information.

DNS: Short for Domain Name System which is used to translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses) into words.

Domain names: The word sequences users enter in their URL bar to visit your site.

Escrow: A third party service that will essentially hold on to the buyer’s payment when selling a domain name, thereby protecting both the buyer and seller.

HTTP: Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol by which HTML files move across the Internet. HTTP requires a client browser and an HTTP server (typically a Web server).

ICANN: Stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which is a not for profit organization that handles IP address space allocation and most other regulatory tasks associated with domain names.

IP Address: The numeric address behind a domain name that holds a website’s real location on the Web.

Domain Name Parking: All domain names have to be stored on a server in order to be purchased. Most domain registration services will therefore temporarily place a newly purchased name on their servers until a hosting plan is purchased or the owner points the DNS to a different site. This is known as parking.

Propagation: The process where name servers throughout the Internet add new domains and remove expired ones from their records. This can be a lengthy process, which is why connecting to a new domain name can often take three or four days.

Reseller: A company/person that sells domain names through registry services provided by an ICANN approved registrar.

SSL: Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape to handle and protect confidential/sensitive information required for e-commerce transactions (like credit card numbers). SSL address usually begin with ‘https’.

Subdomain: Typically known as a “domain within a domain”, subdomains are individual Web addresses built upon a pre-existing domain name (such as clientname.yourhostingcompany.com). As a reseller, you will have the option of assigning subdomains to clients if they do not choose to have a domain name.

TLD: Short for Top Level Domain, the suffix to a domain name. TLDs include .com, .net, .org and country codes such as .ca.

WHOIS: A central database which tracks all domain name/IP registrations. Each domain name registrar typically maintains its own version of a WHOIS database.

Add comment June 20th, 2007

How A Domain Name Works

Although the concept of a domain name may seem simple enough – using a sequence of letters and words to identify a Web address – there is a great deal more going on “behind the scenes”. This is because a domain name does not represent a Web site’s true address; rather, it is a mask that makes a Web site’s true address easier to remember.

Domain names are actually attached to a DNS (Domain Naming System) server, which is used to translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses) into words. Each site you visit on the net has a numeric IP address behind its name, which represents the site’s real address on the Internet.

Every domain name must be attached to a DNS server, which is the responsibility of the domain’s owner (most registrars and Web hosts will handle this issue for you). There is no one central registry for DNS information; when a user enters a domain name in to their Web browser, it is up to that URL’s DNS to handle the request. The DNS server then provides the browser with the correct IP, if it exists; otherwise, it returns an error message or redirects the user elsewhere.

After an IP has been determined, the user can interact with the Web server to access specific pages. While this is a specific and complex process in itself, here is a general overview as to how it works:

1. The browser now determines which protocol (the language client machines use to communicate with servers) should be used. Examples of protocols include FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, and HTTP, HyperText Transfer Protocol.

2. The server sends a GET request to the Web server to retrieve the address it has been given. For example, when a user types http://www.example.com/1.jpg, the browser sends a GET 1.jpg command to example.com and waits for a response. The server now responds to the browser’s requests. It verifies that the given address exists, finds the necessary files, runs the appropriate scripts, exchanges cookies if necessary, and returns the results back to the browser. If it cannot locate the file, the server sends an error message to the client.

3. The browser translates the data it has been given in to HTML and displays the results to the user.

This process is repeated until the client browser leaves the site.

When you purchase a domain name, you should be able to edit your DNS information as often as you like. Make sure to retain your login information, as DNS servers tell users where to go; if you need to update your DNS information and you can’t access your control panel, users will never find your Web site.

Add comment June 20th, 2007

How Does a Web Server Work?

You have probably come to this site to find a company that provides Web servers or Web hosting services. But do you actually know how these hosting machines work? It’s a good idea to know a little bit about the product or service you are searching for before you begin your quest.

First, it’s important to note that this is a two-sided story. Web servers are responsible for storing and exchanging information with other machines. Because of this, at least two participants are required for each exchange of information: a client, which requests the information, and a server, which stores it. Each side also requires a piece of software to negotiate the exchange of data; in the case of the client, a browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer is used.

On the server side, however, things are not as simple. There is a myriad of software options available, but they all have a similar task: to negotiate data transfers between clients and servers via HyperText Transfer Protocol, the communications protocol of the Web. What type of server software you are able to run depends on the Operating System chosen for the server. For example, Microsoft Internet Information Server is a popular choice for Windows NT, while many Unix fans choose Apache Web server.

A simple exchange between the client machine and Web server goes like this:

1. The client’s browser dissects the URL in to a number of separate parts, including address, path name and protocol.

5. The browser translates the data it has been given in to HTML and displays the results to the user.

This process is repeated until the client browser leaves the site.

Aside from its functions listed above, the Web server also has an additional number of responsibilities. Whereas a Web browser simply translates and displays data it is fed, a Web server is responsible for distinguishing between various error and data types. A Web server must, for example, designate the proper code for any sort of internal error and send that back to the browser immediately after it occurs. It also has to distinguish between various elements on a Web page (such as .GIFs, JPEGS and audio files) so that the browser knows which files are saved in which format. Depending on the site’s function, a Web server may also have numerous additional tasks to handle, including logging statistics, handling security and encryption, serving images for other sites (for banners, pictures, etc), generating dynamic content, or managing e-commerce functions.

Now that you’ve had a behind-the-scenes tour of a Web server, you can appreciate all the work that goes in to delivering a single page of content to your computer screen. Use this knowledge to your advantage, and keep it in mind when shopping around for your next host.

Add comment June 20th, 2007

Introduction to Domain Name Management

Although it may seem simple, the way in which you manage your domain name could mean the difference between your site being online or offline. As a result, it is important to pay close attention to detail when performing administrative tasks that pertain to your domain names, as one slight mistake can lead to a great deal of anguish.

The most common mistake domain owners make is entering incorrect contact information in their domain’s WHOIS record, which essentially serves as a domain’s record of ownership. There are several components to a WHOIS record, all or most of which you will be asked to complete when registering a domain name. These are:

Registrant: The person/organization that registered the domain name.

Administrative contact: The person/organization that will be responsible for all administrative issues pertaining to the domain name, including registrant information.

Billing contact: This is the person/organization responsible for handling any billing issues related to the domain name.

Technical Contact: The technical contact is one of the most important aspects of your registration record. This is the person/company that should be contacted regarding any technical issues pertaining to your domain, and usually contains the contact information of the domain name registry that registered the address.

Should you ever wish to sell, transfer or otherwise modify your domain in a significant manner, there is a good chance your technical contact will have to become involved. As a result, it is absolutely crucial that your technical contact information remain up to date – otherwise, making any adjustments to your domain will become frustrating, and potentially impossible.

There are also several pieces of information that are only when a domain name is queried via a WHOIS service. These include:

Registrar of record: The domain name registry that registered/approved the domain name.

Record last updated: The last time any sort of alteration/update was made to the domain’s WHOIS record.

Record expires on: The date the domain name expires. When a domain name expires, the registrant risks losing control of the name.

Record created on: The date the domain was initially registered.

Domain servers: This contains the DNS (Domain Name System) information for a domain; there are usually two lines of DNS information. The first is typically a site’s primary DNS information, while the second contains secondary/back-up information.

Most registrars allow their users to update most of this information at any time via a Web-based control panel. Make sure you retain your login information when you initially register a domain.

Failing to complete any component of a WHOIS record fully and truthfully, or not keeping it completely updated, can lead to serious problems down the road. An out of date email address, for example, may prevent you from receiving the information required to renew your domain when its expiry date approaches. Therefore, always make sure your information is up to date – otherwise, you could eventually lose control of your domain.

Add comment June 20th, 2007