Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

How does domain name registration work? I have a web page and an IP address to get to it, but I want to know why I'd have to pay money to get a www.whatever.com address. What do they do to get me that domain that I can't do myself?

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: East Coast, USA
Posts: 134

umm, i'm not sure how you'd go about it yourself, but there is a standard fee, other than that, they just charge extra for profit

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all around good guy

brandon
drop me a line

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 289

I'm not sure of the technical side of things, but basically registering a name will place the domain name and related DNS servers in the database that gets sent out to the various subdomains -- (so when u type in a domain, your local DNS servers will translate that into another name server IP address and then will get furthered translated to the IP address of the actual machine hosting the site..)

In anycase, there is a place called directnic.com that seems pretty reasonable and they also provide DNS servers and redirection (for example, if you have a static IP address on your own computer, u could have your domain name redirected directly to your computer)

Joe

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

What do you pay for when you get a phone number? Nothing, really...just the 'privilege' to be listed in their directory.

Same with the Domain name system. You are paying to have your IP address associated with a particular domain name that is listed in a particular Domain Name System that most of the world recognizes. Of course, you are also paying for things such as them making sure no one has the same name and such, but it IS really mostly profit.

There ARE other Domain Name Systems that are used out there and several of them are free. However, both your browser and your ISP need to be compatible with them, which makes them less appealing.

So you are basically stuck with using an ICANN registrar. Whatever you do, do NOT use Network solutions. They tend to be the most expensive and most inept at taking care of your domain name.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Thanks for the quick answers! I think I'll bite. $15 a year isn't that bad (less than $1.50/mnth). I might register my son's name to make sure he has it when he'd use it. I can't believe it's that easy to get on the internet! I saved a document in AppleWorks as HTML, put it in my web sharing folder, turned on web sharing, and viol�; I'm on the internet for free. Of course it's rather difficult to remember my IP address so I'll end up paying for a simpler life. Now to learn how to link so someone can download a file from my computer. I'm not thinking AppleWorks was meant for web page design, but I'm a novice. I use what I know and work up to the big guns.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 6

I strongly advise you not to use any registrar except http://www.register.com. the reason for this is that register.com allows you to assign yourself a username and password so when the time comes that you want to change any of the information (and that time will come, trust me) attached to your domain, it is simple.

other registrars will require a ridiculous amount of paperwork (like getting proof that you are who you are from a notary public for instance).

register.com is us$35.00. i recommend you only get one year and then renew at the end of each year as prices will probably drop. register also sends out occasional offers to save you money.

i don't work for register.com but am a web developer and have used various registrars over the years. register.com is the best i've come across.

in addition, if you're looking for a fullservice web host, i would recommend interland.com. if you're looking for a free web host (with a few limitations (no asp, among other things)), i would recommend doteasy.com ($35 set up fee, no monthly charges). i have used both of these services for my various clients (and my own sites) and have been very happy with both.

if you go with interland, and they ask who referred you, please say alientomato.com as i get a month free service. if you go with doteasy.com please tell them victoryshag.com sent you. if you find another service and are satisfied with them, by all means please let me know who they are as i'm always looking for realiable hosting companies.

thank you,

satch

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

I've had a few client sites hosted at interland and have been less than happy with them. That's not to say they aren't good, I've just been disappointed in them.

If at all possible, try finding a good local ISP to host your sites. They tend to be smaller, and the good ones are really good at customer support.

Mind you, THAT is the most important factor in choosing an ISP...customer support.

I don't think hosting your site of off your own Mac using personal web sharing is a good idea. It opens your own system up to the rest of the world.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 289

directnic.com also has a user name/password which does make it easy to trasnfer around domains. After you setup your account, u can easily register other domains (it basically will fill in all of the info for you), change your name servers, enable email forwarding ([email protected] is forwarded to an email account if requested..), change hosting options, transfer the domain, etc..

I agree, compared to network solutions, it is nice and simple and quick ---

as far as interland --- I have mixed feelings about them .. I like their offering and the fact I have a lot of control over clients sites -- however, I have been less than happy with the support I receive from them -- Several times I have wrote to them (using their online ticket system) regarding problems with the site, they write back and say "all better" and they didn't do anything.. however, compared to the smaller hosting provider I feel their automated systems are a lot more mature than what I have delt with and as such have not had to make any calls regarding simple requests (additional email accounts, website reports, email problems, etc..) so I guess its a toss up ..

Joe

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 165

other free domain/web hosting options

You can register a domain for "free" at http://www.namezero.com... the catch is that namezero actually owns it, and holds it for you; you tell them which URL you want it to point to, and they'll redirect it into a frameset; the top frame is your content at the the URL you specified, and the bottom frame is a big banner ad. To take ownership of a domain and get rid of the banner, I think you have to upgrade to a 'plus' account, for $30/year. Oh, and you're only supposed to register one domain per person.

A decent free hosting service is http://www.virtualave.net. They give you 20 MB of space with your own CGI-BIN directory, PERL, and SSI's. They'll also register your domain for you through Network Solutions (N.S. bills you separately) and provide e-mail forwarding, or you can just register a secondary level domain (yourname.virtualave.net). The catch is (predictably) either having a banner ad at the top of every page, or having it popped up in a window if you leave the banner code out. It's not ideal, but free is free... and it's a good place to start tinkering with PERL programming if you don't have access to it through a work or home server.

http://www.isamillionaire.com provides free hosting (not sure about domain hosting though) with PHP, but their customer service is terrible, if not non-existent. Slow connections and (last time I went a few months ago) a limit of 50 concurrent FTP users. I would only recommend them to somebody who wants to start learning PHP but can't get access to a PHP-enabled server anywhere else.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 23

quote:

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Originally posted by satch
I strongly advise you not to use any registrar except http://www.register.com. the reason for this is that register.com allows you to assign yourself a username and password

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:

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Originally posted by homer
I don't think hosting your site of off your own Mac using personal web sharing is a good idea. It opens your own system up to the rest of the world.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: May 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
Posts: 1429

The read- only access SHOULD be fine..


It doesn't matter if you only give your IP to friends, Search Engine's will still search it, hackers will find it while scanning the web for open computers..

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-miradu

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

quote:

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Originally posted by dick-richardson
[QUOTE]Originally posted by homer
[B]How about keeping it turned on but only giving my IP address to family/friends?

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:

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Originally posted by BEN
Well, I don't think that's going to work very well. If you use any chat software it's pretty easy to get you're IP address. If you post a AIM name, I might be able to tell you what IP address you have, or somebody else will be able to do it for sure.

BEN

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

Dick,
They would also be able to access ALL of you're files. I dunno about you, but that sounds very bad to me. I don't want everybody looking at all of my documents.

BEN

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 6

quote:

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Originally posted by CrayDrygu
Satch, I strongly advise you not to make rediculous claims unless you've actually looked into them. Dotster is a great registrar that does the same username/password thing, and they're considerably less expensive than register.com. DomainDirect does it that way too, at around the same price as register.com. I'm sure there are others.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:

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Originally posted by BEN
Dick,
They would also be able to access ALL of you're files. I dunno about you, but that sounds very bad to me. I don't want everybody looking at all of my documents.

BEN

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__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Dick:

Any computer hooked to the internet can be broken into. You can make it REALLY hard for someone to do it, but don't let anyone tell you that there is such a thing as a completely safe computer system. There just isn't.

If someone can access your computer (such as through personal web sharing) they can get to everything else. Of course, it may take them months to figure it out, but if there is someone out there with enough time, it can be done.

Should you worry? Probably not. Macs are a lot harder to bust into than other OSes, so a lot of casual crackers probably won't see it worth their time.

There are a few things you can do to make it a bit harder. Be sure to set up a password on your system (IF you need filesharing on when using Personal Web Server...you may not need that on). Also, do not name your hardrive after yourself...that's just one more item the cracker has to guess at.

I would strongly suggest NOT hosting it on your own workstation for other reasons, though...mainly so that the computer hosting your site isn't the same as the computer with all of your personal files and records on it. Find a cheap 486, throw Linux on it, and use that as your server. Granted, that's a bit more complicated to do that setting up personal web sharing.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Thanks homer! After careful consideration I've decided to go with it. I figure it's rather like my car. I leave the door unlocked because it's such a piece of crap I'd rather someone just opened the door to find out instead of breaking a window. If it's secure against the casual cracker I'm not too worried. I figure the big boys aren't going to piss with a peon like myself. And if, by some horrible tragedy, someone did break in and read all the information about me that's on my computer they'd walk away with some pretty droll homework assignments they could've just downloaded from my web page (if I get it figured out). We don't put our financial information on the computer, we don't have any personal information (eg. SS#, bank #, etc.) on it. They would know my name and my computer settings (neither of which are that interesting). I'm not going to register a domain name because that limits who gets to my web page to begin with. It saves money, too. When I graduate and I'm rolling in the dough I'll get an internet computer and a separate home computer. Let 'em have my mp3's.

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Nevermind. You wouldn't believe how much that slowed down my connection! I'll use it when I need it.

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.