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Topics covered
What an Internet Service Provider (ISP) does
What a Hosting Provider does What a Domain Name is
how to get one how to use one the typical costs
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Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Provides Internet connectivity e-mail accounts, Web access, etc.
Can include web server space (not under your own domain name!)
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A general domain name
You can use the server space provided by your ISP.
Typical URL formats: www.island.net/~username www3.telus.net/public/username members.shaw.ca/username
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Hosting provider
Server space for your own website (with your own domain name) Most individuals and small
businesses purchase a hosting service
Some companies provide web hosting services exclusively
Internet connectivity usually purchased separately, usually from a different provider
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Your own domain name
A form of branding, and more businesslike:
www.yourdomain.com Portable and permanent:
does not depend on the ISP
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Using a domain name
Domain Name Service (DNS) server is needed to host it This is the role of the Hosting Provider
Options for hosting Parked (i.e. register only) Shared hosting (By far the most common) Co-locating your own server on the premises
of a hosting provider (expensive!)
Server on own premises (need reliable server & fast connection)
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Shared hosting
Very common arrangement for individuals and small businesses Accounts usually provide reasonable
bandwidth and storage space and sufficient e-mail addresses.
Bandwidth requirements will depend on how large the files are that people will access from your site, and how many people use the site.
Typical cost: $20 per month.
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Dedicated Server, Co-located
The server is just for your use. You purchase (or lease) server
hardware and software. The hosting service manages it for you.
This is called a Co-located server Typical costs: $275 - $475 per
month.
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Your own server
Costs can vary widely Need reliable
components Need reliable, high-
bandwidth connection
Multiple redundancies!
Extensive technical knowledge required
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The domain name system
How is a domain name made up? An actual name followed by the TLD
Top-Level Domain (TLD) refers to the suffix attached to the domain name
amazon.com
viu.ca
bbc.co.uk
island.net
sierraclub.org
nasa.gov
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Domain name system
ICANN – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
CIRA – Canadian Internet Registration Authority
Use an accredited registrar to register a domain name
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Choosing a domain name
Select a name that is (ideally): descriptive and/or memorable user-friendly not too long
Can resolve more than one domain name to the same website, e.g. the .com and .ca forms (i.e. aliasing)
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WHOIS query (or lookup)
WHOIS – a record of who owns a domain name.
This is public information, widely available: http://baremetal.com/domains/whois_tool.php3
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Obtaining a domain name
Decide which top level domain or domains you want, ie .com, .ca or .org
Perform a WHOIS lookup Decide on your ideal domain name(s) Many certified registrars to select
from: local ISP www.domaindirect.com many others
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Registering a domain name
Registrant has the right to use the domain name
Cost per year is typically under $20
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Making your website available
All files must be on a web server
Use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to send the files to the server
WS_FTP (Windows) Fetch (Mac)
Use the Web Folders method (Windows)
Website software often includes utilitiesto upload files
Some programs allow direct editing on the server BBEdit (Mac) for example
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On the server…
The Server has a folder or directory structure similar to your PC
For example, your domain name is www.mypetdomain.com you have a folder called pets in your space on
the server you upload your HTML file called cats.htm into
this folder find this page on the web at
http://www.mypetdomain.com/pets/cats.htm
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When is a web page not on the Web?Viewing your web page locally
View your html file locally (ie. not on the Internet) In Internet Explorer select File – Open (type
in file name or browse your local drives. You can also drag and drop from a folder or double-click)
The file looks exactly as it would if it were on the World Wide Web, but only you can see it – it is not publicly available until it is put on a web server
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How does the domain name system work?
The Internet functions using IP addresses, not names, so a DNS (Domain Name System) server is necessary if you are going to make a website available
DNS is an Internet Standard for resolving the names of individual machines into IP addresses and vice versa
An IP address looks like: 142.25.33.60 Each machine on the Internet has a unique IP
address DNS is the process of turning the name you
register into an IP address so that the computers, which use only numbers, can translate the name into the numbers they understand.
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