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What
is a domain?
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A domain is the identifying
URL title and address of your web site1 such as www.ebay.com and www.sears.com.
Most domains come with the extension .com, net1 and .org. There are domain
extensions for government agencies [.gov] and for education institutions
[.edu]. The .com extension is the most popular, net the second most used
extension, and .org the third most used extension. The .com extensions
are mainly used for commercial businesses, .net extensions were created
for services relating to the Internet or computer services, and .org are
primarily for non-profit organizations. Although any John Doe with a credit
card and an email address can purchase a domain with any of the above
3 extensions, it is more difficult to register a .edu or a .gov because
you must first be authorized to do so. Also, when choosing your domain
name, you must make sure you are not infringing on a trademark because
if there is a trademark related to the domain you just bought, you will
eventually have to turn the name over should the company as for it. In
time, there may be extensions such as .shop or .web and many other creative
extensions for individuals and businesses to use. But until then, you
only have the 3 top extensions to choose from. Also, just to note, the
.com extensions are worth more in value because they are the most widely
used and more known. It is also a smart marketing decision. If your business
should ever move up to television and/or radio advertising, and even Internet
advertising, most of the general Internet public remembers .com extensions.
And if they don't remember the extension at all but they do remember the
domain name, they will more than likely type the .com in their browser.
The .com extension also implies that the company has been around longer
and knows the ropes, even if it isn't true, it implies such. A good analogy
would be to think of the Internet is a new frontier, just as America was
many years ago. The first that arrived claimed the land, and then sold
it for incredible profits later on. So bottom line, if you own land in
the .com areas and it is a well chosen, valuable name, you could be looking
at a nice investment in the long run. .COM: The top-level domain originally
intended for "commercial" entities. This is the most recognized top-level
domain worldwide. Any person or organization may register a domain name
in .com.
.NET: The top-level domain originally designated for Internet service
or computer affiliated domains. Any person or organization may now register
a domain name in .net.
.EDU: The top-level domain designated for four-year, degree-granting colleges
and universities.
.GOV: The top-level
domain designated for agencies and branches of the United States Federal
Government. State and local governments in the United States should use
the US top-level country code domain. Prior to October 1, 1997, registration
in .GOV was handled by Network Solutions; the General Services Administration
(GSA) began handling registration in this top-level domain starting October
1, 1997
. MIL: The top-level domain designated for United States military entities.
.ORG: The top-level domain originally designated for miscellaneous entities
such as non-profit organizations that do not fit under any of the other
top-level domains. Any person or organization may now register a domain
name in .org, a worldwide toplevel domain.
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How
do I choose the right domain name for my business?
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First,
you must decide on a domain that you want to represent your business on
the Internet. We can do a domain search for you. If you are just starting
your company, and are trying to think of a good name, this is probably the
most important part of the success of your business because it is the name
that will represent you. Below are some tips when choosing a domain and
site name for your business.
·Make sure that the name you choose is not too long and that it is easy
to remember. Most people don't like typing long domain names in their browsers,
and if it is too long, they may have a hard time remembering it. Think of
the successful sites on the net and look at how short and unique their domains
are: ebay.com, yahoo.com, amazon.com. Try to get something like this, and
also try to get a .com versus a .net extension.
· Don't get discouraged if your domain is taken. If this happens, you can
get creative. Try adding a very short word or letter before or after the
domain you want. Popular ones are the letters e (stands for Electronic)
and i (stands for Internet) if your business relates to the Internet in
any way. If these are taken, try adding a suffix behind them such as -inc
if your comapany is incorporated. And if your company sells a product, try
adding the name of that product (eg. books). As long as your domain is not
more than 12 letters long, this should be fine. If you are trying to think
of an eye-catching name for a company that you are just starting try using
creative adjectives in the domain. Get out a thesaurus to help you. You
will be surprised at how many ideas you can get just by opening thesaurus
or dictionary.
· Do not try to copy another popular web site. A lot of people buy domains
and change one letter so that it is similar to a popular company. This is
a big no no in the business world because you want to stand out and be unique,
not stand in someone's shadow. This also says a lot about a company when
they do this. Let's say someone thinks that by having the name amozon.com
it will increase hits by people that misspell the name or that people will
remember it better because it is so close to the amazon.com. Wrong. By doing
this you are telling the public that you are not worthy of creating your
own identity and must get customers by tricking them into going to your
site. Yes, you may get hits, but you certainly won't thrive, and most of
your visitors will leave your site with a chuckle and head for the real
amazon.com. |
| I
see the term DNS everywhere but I have no idea what it means and how t affects
my domain. What does DNS stand for and what does it mean? |
| DNS stands for Domain
Name System. This is the Internet Protocol number for your ~omain name.
In other words, computers need numbers in order to function. The :omputer
itself does not care whether you are yahoo.com or google.com. It has no
dea how to find the name; it needs a number that identifies that name. So
when 'ou buy a domain, say www.whatever.com, it is nothing until you get
it hosted ;omewhere and until that host assigns a number to your domain.
A good analogy of :his would be social security numbers and humans. Humans
are identified primarily ~y their names, but government organizations use
social security numbers to identify :he person behind that name |
| What
is a host? |
| Nhen you hear the term
"host" in the Internet world, it is usually referring to an nternet company
that has the required servers and software to connect domain names to (IP)
Internet Protocol numbers so that your site can be viewed by the public
when they type your domain in their browser window. Without a host, your
domain name is useless. |
| Do
hosts design my site too? |
| It depends on where
you go. Some hosts design sites, and some don't. But always look at the
portfolio of the site that you consider designing your site. This gives
you a good idea of what they can do for your site. And if you like their
portfolio, you will more than likely like the designs they come up with
for your site. |
| How
do I know where to go or what to pay for my site to be designed and implemented?
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| When you are looking
for a company to design your site, you must think about how much you are
willing to pay, how impressive you want you site to look, what features
you would like, and most of all you want to determine the purpose of your
site. If you are a lawyer and want a simple 4-5-page site for your law office
or other small business and want to give people information about your services,
you would more than likely spend about $500 - $1,000 for your site. If you
are a large corporation that will be selling thousands of products on your
site, you will need to go with a company that designs for e-commerce, and
you may spend anywhere from $20,000 $70,000 or more depending on how big
your site is. The reason for this is that there is a lot more information
involved, more hours of work, and back end database programmers that work
with the designers. If you aren't ready to spend that much for an e-commerce
site, you can always start out with a basic site and then move up to e-commerce
later on. Before making the decision on your site designer, make sure you
understand the way they price their services. Some web site designers charge
by the hour, some charge by the project, and some charge by using a little
of both. If you are on a budget, you may be better off choosing a site that
charges a flat rate rather than by the hour. For instance, some sites may
charge $50/hour for site design and implementation. This can really add
up for someone that is on a budget. Other sites charge a certain amount
for the design, and a certain amount for implementing the pages with the
HTML code, etc. So if you are on a tight budget, it may be better to go
with a flat rate designer. |
| I
have a large company with many products Where should I look for site design
and implementation of e-commerce and how much will I be paying for this?
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| If you are a large
corporation that will be selling thousands of products on your site, you
will need to go with a company that designs for e-commerce, and you may
spend anywhere from $15,000 $70,000 or more depending on how big your site
is. The reason for this is that there is a lot more information involved,
more hours of work, and back end database programmers that work with the
designers. |
| Ok.
My site is up and ready to go. Now how do I get people to know it exists?
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| In order to sell your
products or services, the public must know that your site exists. And without
advertising or being listed in the top lOolo of search engines, no one will
ever see your site. This is very important, not only for e-commerce sites,
but for the small sites as well. Recognition is also achieved by a link
exchange program that is free or that but can be targeted to special audiences
by paying to display your add for a small (or large) fee. |
| What
is the difference between NT and UNIX? |
Microsoft Windows NT
and Unix (of which there are many varieties, or flavours, including Red
Hat Linux, AIX, Solaris and more) are computer operating systems. Both Windows
NT Server and quality Unix implementations are enterprise application servers
that can be used for a variety of critical purposes, including, but not
limited to, Web, email, and database hosting. Windows NT was developed by
Microsoft and is, in many ways, the flagship of their software solutions.
Microsoft spends millions of dollars developing and supporting Windows NT.
UNIX's development roots begin about twenty years ago - jointly at Berkeley
University and AT&T Bell Labs. UNIX is often referred to as an "open system",
which means that its source code is publicly available. This has both its
advantages and disadvantages. While it has allowed many thousands of developers
from all over the world working for different companies to contribute to
its development, it is also more complex and less co-ordinated. Both of
these operating systems make excellent platforms for mission-critical Web
hosting, and they function well in the data centre environment. Some individuals
and organizations feel very strongly in favour of one operating system over
another. At Verticallnterg ration, we fully support NT and Linux platforms
in order to provide a complete line that satisfies all of our clients. When
choosing a platform, please keep the following points in mind:
· FrontPage is fully supported under NT only.
·ASP functionality is supported under NT only.
·Active X is supported under NT only.
· Remote interactive access, via telnet or SSH is only supported under UNIX.
Generally one is able to do more configuration/setup tasks themselves rather
than having to request services from us.
· The majority of existing CGI programs (generally perl scripts) that are
available on the Internet have been developed on UNIX platforms and hence
tend to install and operate much more smoothly under UNIX.
· Relational Database systems (SQL servers) databases are supported only
under UNIX at this time. If you are considering MS Access Database, then
NT is the proper platform. We do plan on offering MS SQL on our NT platform
within the coming months.
· The use of compiled executable programs via CGI or SSI are supported only
under UNIX.
The bottom line is that for many websites the operating system on which
the Web server is housed is largely inconsequential. The real question is,
"Are you using a specific website or database technology that is more appropriately
hosted on NT instead of Linux (or vice versa)?" Verticallntergration is
proud to offer Web hosting on both platforms in an effort to provide hosting
solutions for any website needs. |
