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Web Domain Primer
What are Domain Registration and Domain Hosting?
If this is the first time you've been involved in creating
a website, a lot of the terms involved with website development
can be pretty confusing at first. This is the reason for
this page--to take some of the guesswork out and give you
a clearer picture of what these terms mean.
There are two main services you need in order to get
your website online where users can
find it:
Domain Registration
Hosting
These are very different
services, and you need both.
URLs and Domain Registration
Since you found your way to this
page, chances are good that you know
what URLs are. URLs are the text
in the Address bar of your browser
that look like:
Computer terms like "URL" are most
often abbreviations of a technical
phrase. In this case, URL stands
for Universal Resource Locator.
Using the example of the URL above,
the "http" means "hypertext
transfer protocol", referring
to the set of rules for exchanging
the files that comprise your website
between computers. Sometimes you'll
see the "www" and
sometimes not, but this part refers
to "world wide web" and
indicates the particular network.
Following the "//www" and
before any additional forward slashes "/" is
the domain name, in our example above "tonerdesign.com." This
is the part you must "register" with
a domain name registrar, so that
the network resources on the World
Wide Web (DNS or Domain Name Servers)
have a record of it in their databases
and can send visitors to your website
when they type in your domain name.
Prices for this service vary widely,
but they have fallen dramatically
in the last few years as the Web
has grown and competition has increased.
What you're paying for when you register
a domain name:
- Verification that your domain name is a unique name not used by anyone else.
- Insertion of your domain name into a huge database of domain names so that web servers (the computers which are responsible for powering the Internet) can find it among the many millions of domain names registered.
- Updates of the information associated with your domain name whenever you require that it be updated, such as when you change hosting services and need that information changed.
All of the above is usually handled
by automated systems, but sometimes
requires support staff to take care
of a glitch or problem not covered
in the automated systems. Your registration
fee covers all of these services.
Toner Design can register
your domain name for as little as
$12 per year (plus ICANN fee of
$.25 per domain name). You can register
your domain names using our web interface,
or have us do it for you at no additional
cost. Toner Design has contracted
with an ICANN-accredited registrar
for these services. Click here to
go to our Domain Registration page.
What is Domain Hosting?
Domain Hosting is required in addition to Registration. When
you "host" a website, you are placing your domain name
(and any files that will be associated with it, which actually
create the website) on a computer that is networked into the
Internet on a permanent basis, called a "server". You
cannot host a domain on your home computer, which is neither
connected to the Internet in a way that would allow it, nor does
it have the security features that protect your website from
malicious intruders known as "hackers". Servers are
run with specifications and security features that the home computer
doesn't have, nor would you want the expense and headaches of
keeping one running up to par and secure from hackers, every
minute of every day.
Before you register a domain name,
you will want to consider where you are going to keep
the domain name.
You
have two options:
You can HOST it, in which case you will have a place to put
the files that will become your website. This is set up after
checking to make sure the domain name of your choice is available,
but before you actually register it. After you set up your hosting
account, the hosting service will give you the DNS information
you will give the domain registrar during the registration process.
You will PARK it, meaning that you will not have a place to put
your files, but your domain name is reserved for your future
use. Some registrars charge for "parking" a domain,
usually a minimal yearly fee. (Toner Design parks domains for
FREE, thanks to our contract with a registrar that allows us
to register domains directly through our website.) If you use
our website interface to register your domain name, you will
have the option of parking the name for free during the registration
process and will not need to set up a hosting account until you
are ready to use your domain.
Click here to go to our Hosting page.
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