Website Hosting

What is a domain name? A domain name is a unique name, kind of like an e-mail address is unique, which is registered in a database called WHOIS through an organization called Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI). The domain name corresponds to a unique set of numbers called an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The reason we use domain names instead of IP addresses is that they are closer to our language. It would be difficult to market a site like this: “Go to 64.233.167.99 or 216.109.112.135 to search the internet!” A much easier way to do this is to say “Go to www.Google.com or www.yahoo.com to search the internet!” (Both Google and Yahoo are trade marked by Google, Inc., and Yahoo, Inc., respectively).

A domain name points to a computer called a “name server”. The name server knows that your domain name corresponds to your web hosting server’s IP address and it routes the person who typed in your domain name to your web hosting server – to your web site. That is how people anywhere in the world can see your web site by typing your domain name.

In 1992, the National Science Foundation granted an exclusive contract to NSI to be the sole registrar of top level domain names. NSI also had a cooperative agreement with United States Department of Commerce (”DoC”). With no competition, consumers were at the mercy of NSI.

In 1998, NSI and the DoC amended their cooperative agreement to allow for competing registrars. NSI was forced to provide domain name registration to the competing registrars at wholesale prices, rather than the standard $34.99 annual fee. NSI still charges $34.99 per year.

In late 1998, the DoC assigned the responsibility of overseeing the transition to a competitive market for domain names and accreditation of new registrars to a new organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

In 1999, ICANN began taking applications from companies who wanted to become registrars – and then capitalism took over: companies had to compete for business. Prices came down and service improved, however some are better than others. For a more detailed history of this transition, visit www.icann.org/registrars/accreditation-history.htm.

Even with the positive effects of competition in the domain name marketplace, the process of internet domain name registration remains a mystery for many.

There are a lot of companies that want to charge you hundreds of dollars to do the simple task of domain name registration for you. There are some registration companies who will charge you $35 just to register a domain. And there are web site consultants who charge over $100 to do the work for you. But you can do it yourself in about 15 minutes and it can cost as little as $1.99 for a year. If you do some research, learn a little and work smart, you can save yourself some money – and some headaches.

Nicholas LaPolla
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/the-history-of-domain-names-186982.html

You’ve made yourself a great web site. Through good design and better content, you’ve been able to build up a respectable amount of traffic. And then your web site is linked from Slashdot. Traffic to your site soars to levels you had only dreamed of. However, before you get the chance to benefit from your newfound popularity you exceed your bandwidth allocation and your hosting company takes your site offline. If you’re relying on virtual hosting, it may be time to switch over to a dedicated hosting service.

Most people who are new to web hosting use a virtual, or shared, hosting service. In a virtual hosting service you rent space and bandwidth on a common server. Your site will be just one of many on a single physical server. More experienced users will often use a dedicated hosting service. While with virtual hosting you are pretending that you have your own server, with dedicated hosting you actually get the whole server to yourself.

Although dedicated hosting can be significantly more expensive than virtual hosting, it has many benefits. Nonetheless, dedicated hosting is not necessary for everyone. It is therefore necessary to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each type of hosting when deciding what type of hosting service is best for you.

The main benefit of using a virtual hosting service is it is fairly cheap. If you are looking for a relatively inexpensive way to get your content onto the Internet, virtual hosting is for you.

However, along with the cheaper price comes many disadvantages to using virtual hosting. Because you are sharing the server with other web sites, the amount of space and bandwidth you can use will be limited. And because you are sharing our server’s resources, if one web site starts to slow down under excessive traffic or server processes, your web site’s performance will also be affected.

You will also be limited in what types of software you want the server to run because you will not have any access to the server. If you want to install something on the server that is outside of the usual parameters, you will have to ask your server administrator to do it for you. And in many cases, it will not be worth the server administrators time to do it for you. Your web site will also be more vulnerable to security breaches, since a hacker just has to be able to get into one of the web sites to be able to access all the web sites on the server.

A dedicated hosting service will avoid all the disadvantages of using a virtual server. The only disadvantage to using a dedicated hosting service is the price, especially if you are not particularly knowledgeable about server upkeep and have to use a managed service.

It is important to seriously consider what your budget is and what your web site needs to be effective. If your web site is just a blog or does not have a lot of content, than it will probably not use a lot of the servers resources and you will likely be fine with virtual hosting. For complex e-commerce sites, or web sites that receive a large amount of traffic, it may be more economical in the long run to use a dedicated hosting service.

Stephen Dolan
http://www.articlesbase.com/web-hosting-articles/dedicated-hosting-is-the-only-way-to-go-86831.html

There are currently over 70 million registered Internet domain names across the globe according to Web Host Industry Review.

Jim Croce’s famous song “I got A Name” may one day need to be changed to “I got a Cheap Domain Name” if current Internet growth rates remain the same. Today there are over 70 million registered Internet domain names across the globe.

While more and more businesses are taking advantage of the innovation and power offered by the Internet by registering domain names, an equal number of individual users are registering domain names as well. In fact, with the Internet becoming such an ubiquitous part of everyday life and commerce, one can imagine a day when every individual and every corporation will have domain names and hosting just as they do a social security number or corporate tax ID.
Cheap domain name registration is on the rise as a result of the growing online community and more affordable domain names and hosting, and online services marketed and offered by companies such as the World’s Largest Registrar – GoDaddy.com. According to the most recent Verisign reports, 8.5 million new domains registered were registered in the 3rd quarter of 2005, a 33% increase from 3rd quarter 2004 and a 94% increase from 3rd quarter 2003. Internet use worldwide reached the landmark number of 1 billion users in the 3rd quarter of 2005.
While some may have the perception that all the good cheap domain names are gone, the reality is that what we are seeing today is only the frost on the tip of the iceberg. It’s still very much a buyer’s market as far as online real estate goes. Years from now, those who have purchased and registered cheap domain names today – whether for business or personal use—will look back at this time period as a golden opportunity to acquire the cheapest domain names of their choice and put their e-stake in the ground.
Part of the growth in cheap domain names is being fueled by small businesses such as an independent local grocer or dry cleaner that, by effectively establishing a presence on the Internet today, are building a foundation for their future while expanding their business reach and competing as never before. Companies like iPower.com, who provide the full spectrum of cheap domain names and hosting services, enable small businesses to establish a powerful site quickly and more affordably than ever.
ICANN, now performing the functions of previously U.S. government contracted entities, is responsible for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions.
Recently, the World’s Largest Registrar – GoDaddy.com announced that it, too, had been named a Gold Certified member of the Microsoft Partner Program. Go Daddy provides a range of Microsoft-based hosting solutions, including three different shared hosting plans and several options for dedicated and virtual servers.

Shana Shane
http://www.articlesbase.com/domain-names-articles/registering-domain-names-and-hosting-53757.html