What is a Domain?: Domain Name Basics

All computers have a unique Internet Protocol, or IP, address. Essentially, this is a number that is given to each and every computer. It is like both a home address and a fingerprint. No two IP addresses are exactly the same.

An IP address is presented in decimal format with numbers ranging from 0 to 255. To better identify the IP address, a person must know what to look for. An IP address looks like this: 64.58.91.254.

Essentially, a domain name is identical to an IP address. IP addresses are domain names that people can easily read and comprehend. For instance, Google.com is far easier to remember than 64.233.167.99.

All domain names are a combination of numbers, letters and/or hyphens. Special characters such as &, $ or * are not allowed. If a person or business wants to create a site, he/she must have a domain name to get started. When a person registers his/her domain, it will directly correspond to their own personal IP address.

Domain Levels

In addition to simply choosing a name for the site itself, the domain levels must be considered. There are three levels of domains. Domains on the top level are most commonly used.

These domains are divided into three categories: 

• Generic
• Country code
• Infrastructure

Generic top-level domains are the domains that you would normally see when surfing the internet. These consist of:

• .com- used by commercial organizations, available to the public
• .net- used by sites related to the internet, available to the public
• .org- used for non profit organizations, available to the public
• .edu- used by educational organizations, not available to the public
• .gov- reserved for government agencies, not available to the public
• .mil- reserved for the US military, not available to the public
• .biz- used only by businesses, not available to the general public
• .coop- reserved for cooperative organizations, not available to the general public
• .name- reserved for individuals, available to the public

Country code domains are used to designate a country. For example: you may see .uk at the end of a domain name. This is used to represent the United Kingdom.

Infrastructure domains are limited to .arpa. This domain is used exclusively by the government agency that developed the internet The United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA.

Second level domains come right after the dot in the top level domains. Examples of second level domains are .co.uk, .edu.uk, .org.au, and .net.uk.

Third level domains come prior to first level domains. These are usually sub domains like: www.johndoe.hostname.com. These are generally used on free hosting packages.

Here’s a quick breakdown of http://johndoe.tripod.com.uk:

1. john doe- third level or sub domain
2. Tripod- first level domain
3. com.uk- second level domain

In short, a domain name is what distinguishes one website from another. Make sure that the name you choose is not too complicated to spell or remember. Also, be sure that this name cannot be mistaken for anything questionable. Understanding domain names is the key to choosing the right one for your business or organization.

source : http://smallbusiness-domain.com

Web Hosting Glossary: Learn About Web Hosting

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Adult Sites Allowed: Adult material tends to be a taboo in a lot of different cultures in the world today and that is reflected in the way that a lot of web hosts will operate; namely in not allowing that type of content on their servers.  If you are interested in operating a website with that kind of content, make sure that your web host actually allows it first.

Alias: An alias is something that is used as the front line to direct traffic to something else.  The most common use for an alias is in personal privacy, but alternate uses can be seen from time to time.

Applet: An applet is a piece of software that is actually created to function inside a specific website.  The most common language to write applets in is a language known as Java and the most common types of applets are the ones used to create special virtual effects on a website such as a flying title or a specialized mouse cursor.

Active Server Pages (ASP): ASP is an alternative to PSP that was created by Microsoft.  Basically, it allows a person to use database content to script servers into making sites dynamic and interactive.  Servers have the ability to read ASP code and use those instructions to create specialty HTML for each visitor to the website.

Audio Streaming: This is the process of offering actual audio content on your particular website.  Because of the high bandwidth costs of such an act, a number of web hosts will not allow audio streaming; especially with more basic packages.

Auto Responder: A program that is triggered by receipt of an e-mail message, usually sent to the auto responder by way of a website form.  Based on the e-mail message, the auto responder takes some action, usually the sending back of a reply e-mail to the person that sent the initial e-mail.

Availability: This refers to the relative amount of time that a particular web host is active.  For example, if your web host claimed to have 99.9% availability, then it means that your own website would only be inactive for about 8 seconds each day.  Nowadays, any availability figure that is less than 99.0% is not worth using.

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Backbone: Networks need to operate by virtue of a number of connections within them; any major pathway within a network consisting of multiple connections is a backbone.

Backups: Some web hosts provide this service as part of their packages; backing up data on their servers every now and then.

Browser: Any kind of software designed to read and display the HTML code shown to it from different websites.  Two major browsers of today are Internet Explorer and Firefox.

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C: C is a family of different object oriented programming languages.  C is the oldest one, with three variants of C+, C++ and C# having stemmed from it over the years.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface): As the name might imply, a CGI is sort of a middle man program; allowing the interface of the web server and the final product (either a web page or an e-mail).  The purpose of the CGI is to take information from the input (the web server) and display that data as output that the user can understand.

Chat Server: A specialized type of server that some web hosts offer to clients that allows the client to host a chat room on their website.  This is getting less popular now, as the golden age of online chat rooms is long gone in favour of personal instant messaging programs.

Click Through: When a user sees and advertisement and then clicks on that advertisement, that is known as a click through.  The percentage of clicks as a function of total ad impressions is known as the click through rate.

ColdFusion: A Macromedia program that makes database querying easier to do.

Co-Location: The process of purchasing your own web server, but having it housed and maintained by a hosting company.

Control Panel: A software package of tools that you can use to manipulate various parts of your online enterprises.

Cookie: An instruction that a browser gets from a server and that is stored in a text file on your hard drive.  Cookies are mainly used to be able to identify repeat visitors and allow the web site to display the same features the visitor configured the last time they were at the web site.

Credit Card Billing: The process of an online web site through the use of some merchant payment provider (i.e. PayPal or some similar service) accepting payments for products or services by credit card.

CSS: Stands for cascading style sheets.  These are used to maintain the same styles vis-à-vis colours and text parameters through multiple web pages through just the construction of one style sheet.

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Database Support: If you see this from a particular web host, it means that they will give you support if you wish to use databases and related querying languages such as MySQL or MSSSQL.

Data Transfer: The amount of memory or bandwidth that is used when a user visits a specific website.  Text websites are likely to have low data transfer, whilst multimedia websites are likely to have more.

Dedicated Server: A server that is specifically used by the web hosting company for just one client.  Similar to co-location, except that the server is owned by the web host rather than the client.

Disk Space: The amount of actual server space that you have in order to host your website.  For every page of text on your website, you will need approximately 50 KB of text.  If you are going to have pictures, applets and multimedia on your website, then you will need more.

Domain Parking: The act of acquiring a domain name well ahead of the website actually being constructed.

Domain Name: A unique identifier used to distinguish a particular website.  For example, yahoo.com is a domain name.

DNS: An acronym that stands for Domain Name System.  It is a method that is used to track web sites by tracking the domain name to a server and then using the IP address of that server to identify the website.

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E-Mail POP Account: POP stands for Post Office Protocol and is one of the methods that are used to facilitate the transfer of data in the form of e-mail messages back and forth between e-mail servers and e-mail clients.

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Frontpage: A program created by Microsoft that can be used to construct websites.

Frontpage Extensions: Smaller pieces of software installed on servers in order to ensure a smooth transition from the website as it can be seen offline in frontpage to how it can be seen online by a visitor.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP): A system that can be used to transfer files back and forth to a website server through the use of a remote connection from another hardware setup.  FTP is most commonly used when a person wants to transfer files directly to a server without having to first log into their server account to do so.

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Host: The actual company that is responsible for storing the files of your website on their server and then using that server to connect to a particular domain name that people that want to see your website can visit.  Most hosts will charge a fee monthly, quarterly or yearly for the use of their services.

Host Country: The country in which a particular hosting company is headquartered.

Host Platform: The actual platform provided by the host; usually either some recent form of Windows or Linux.

HyperText Markup Language: The full phrase that the acronym HTML stands for, it is the primary language that webpages are built in.

HyperText Transfer Protocol: The full phrase that the acronym HTTP stands for, it is the protocol used to connect client programs and server programs (i.e. browsers and servers).

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IP Address: IP addresses are unique numbers that stand for Internet Protocol Addresses.  They are used to identify different computers or networks or servers as well as where those particular units are situated.

Internet Service Provider: A company that is responsible for providing access to the internet for its clients, who might be using that internet access for personal or business reasons.

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Javascript: A language that allows people to add different dynamic aspects to a particular website they might be constructing.  A good example of a javascript element in today’s world is AdSense.

Java Servlet: The same as Javascript, except it happens to be used on servers rather than on clients.

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Mailing List Software: A piece of software that eases the burden of conducting mailing list discussions.  A lot of web host companies have a specific piece of software that they will license to you in exchange for business.

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ODBC Sources: ODBC stands for Open Database Connectivity.  It is a piece of software or a program application that is used to connect databases to applications that use the information contained within them.

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Perl: PERL stands for Practical Extraction and Report Language.  It is a great language for use when you want to scan a number of text files quickly and pull specific information from them.

PHP: PHP is a scripting language similar to ASP, except created with a generic software license rather than the proprietary one that Microsoft owns for ASP.

Post Office Protocol: See E-mail POP Account

Price: The cost of services that the web hosting company is providing to you.  The price goes up depending on how involved you want your hosting package to be and how much flexibility you want it to contain.

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Reseller Plans: Web hosting plans that allow you to earmark portions of your own account to be used to create other accounts that you can then re-sell to other people.

Root Server: The server that contains all of the information needed in order to display the top level of a particular domain.  For example, the root server for Yahoo would contain the information needed for the yahoo.com page.

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Setup Fee: A fee that is required by some packages from some companies in order for the account that you purchased to be set up.

Server: A piece of hardware that allows the provision of certain kinds of services to other pieces of hardware that link up with it through facilitated internet connections.  Different servers will contain information for websites, e-mail accounts and many other things as well.

Shell Account: An account that actually allows you to edit your website in real-time directly while the files are on the server.  This is an advanced option and for most cases should not be necessary as simple editing offline and then uploading online should be sufficient.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol: The phrase represented by the acronym SMTP, it is a particular kind of protocol used in the managing and retrieval of e-mail messages from an e-mail server.

Server Side Includes: The phrase represented by the acronym SSI, these are particular commands that are allowed in web pages when a user of that web page requests something to be done.

Secure Socket Layer: The phrase represented by the acronym SSL, this is a specific type of protocol that is used to encrypt files and therefore maintain privacy in conversations taking place across the internet.  It was designed initially by Netscape.

Shopping Cart Software: A program that can be installed on a server to act as a virtual store; allowing people to choose items to purchase, have their costs calculated for them and have their payments processed.

Statistics: Information regarding things like the users that visit your website, what they do and the amount of bandwidth they use doing it.  A lot of statistics programs are available out there but many web hosts include basic statistics as part of their packages as well.

Support: Staff that are employed by the web host to help clients with any problems they might be having.

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TCP/IP: The protocols that are used by personal users as well as businesses in order to connect to the internet.

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UNIX: A multi user TCP/IP operating system.

Uniform Resource Locator: The phrase represented by the acronym URL, it is the web address of a website.  For example, www.yahoo.com is the URL for Yahoo’s main website.

Unique IP Address: An IP address that is set aside for a particular website or user.

- V -

Video Streaming: The provision of video content on a website.

Virtual Server: The situation whereby a single server has multiple people using it.

Domain Name Glossary: Learn About Domains

.com- domain for commercial businesses
.edu- domain for colleges and universities
.mil- domain reserved for US military
.net- domain originally designated for network service providers
.org- domain originally reserved for non-profit groups.
.US- country code for the United States

- A -

Account holder- A person or company responsible for a domain name.
Account number- The number issued to account holder to access the account.
Administrative Contact/Agent- Any person who is authorized to access the account other than the account holder.
Appraising- The process of determining the market value of a specific domain name.
Authentication- Verification method to obtain proof of the identity of the account holder.
Authorization- This happens when permission is required in order to access the account.

- B -

Bandwidth- The amount of data space that users have available to them when registering the domain name.

- C -

Country code- A two letter abbreviation used to distinguish a country.
Cyber squatter- A person who buys domain names, and holds them with the intent of making a profit from the selling of the domain name. Cyber squatters often buy enormous quantities or sought after domain names and try to sell them for profit.

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Deactivation- Term used when a domain name is not functional on the internet.
Deletion- Term used when a domain name is taken out of the database of records. The deleted domain name goes back into the pool of available domain names.
Digital Signature- Data attached to an electronic file which is the digital equivalent of a written signature.
Domain- A division of the space which holds domain names which is indicated by the domain name.
Domain name- The name used to identify a location of a website.
Domain name disputes- A dispute over the right to register a domain name, most often when the name is similar to a registered brand or trademark
Domain name system (DNS)- The informational system used to translate domain names into IP addresses.
Domain Parking- Every time a domain name is registered, registries require the use of hosts. Most people do not have their own private servers, so many servers offer domain parking. It is a way to hold a domain name for a long period of time.

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Email- The electronic way to send mail from one person to another. A message goes from the senders outbox to the recipients inbox.
Encrypted Password- Method of mixing up a password to ensure privacy for he account holder.
Encryption- A high security way of protecting personal information. Encryption scrambles information so only authorized users can read it.
Escrow- A protective measure to ensure protection to the buyer and seller when a payment is made for registration.

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File Transfer Protocol- The method by which data is transferred from one computer to another. It also stores files that can be obtained when accessing from a different computer. Security measures are placed to ensure that only authorized people are allowed to access the information.
Forwarding- The process by which email is directed from one inbox to another, also known as email forwarding. This term is also used to describe traffic that is sent from one website address to another, known as URL forwarding.
Fully Qualified Host Name- The name given to the computer that hosts your domain name.

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Hold Status- Term used when a domain name has not been registered by the owner. It is on hold because it is no longer in the available domain name pool.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)- The way a website is stored, in a way that the web browser can read is known as HTML language.
Host- The group of computers that establish domain names for IP addresses.

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IP Address- A unique number given to represent each host and network.
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)- The organization which overlooks the internet infrastructure management parameters, which include port assignments.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)- The non profit organization who is responsible for managing domain name systems.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)- A business that supplies internet capabilities to consumers.
Name server- The computer system that establishes domain names to IP addresses Name servers are also known as hosts.
Name Service- The service that supplies domain names to IP addresses by making the hardware, software, and information available.
NIC fee- When registering a domain name, you must pay a fee known as the NIC fee.

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PGP Public Key Server- A searchable database of information used to find a the public key of an individual.
Private Key Encryption- The method in which both the sender and recipient of a message share a single key that is used to encrypt and decrypt messages.
Public Key Encryption- The method which is intended to work with private key encryption. It is a method that uses a key ring. The key ring uses both private and public keys.

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Registrant- A group or individual who registers a specific domain name. They alone hold the rights to that domain for the time agreed on.
Registration- A process by which a person sets up a domain name, and pays the fees.
Registry- The unit responsible for distributing IP addresses.
Root- The top of the domain name system, known as the “dot”.
Root server- A system by which a person locates name servers that contain information for the top level domains.

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Second level domain- The next level of the domain name system underneath the top level domain.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)- The protocol developed to handle confidential information such as credit card, or social security numbers. These addresses usually begin with https.
Subdomain- The individual web address built within another domain name.

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Top level domain- The highest level of the domain name system which is the most often used.
Trademark- A business uses a word, phrase, image or symbol to represent themselves.

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Web page- The document that contains pictures and text and is accessed by the web address.
Web site- A collaboration of many web pages within a web address.
Web host- A business that shares servers with clients. The clients are allowed to access these at any time. It usually refers to a computer that stores the files for a website. 

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Zone- The division of the domain name, which is characterized by the data, which is stored on a certain server.
Zone file- The file in which the data of the domain name is stored.

source : http://smallbusiness-domain.com

What is a Yahoo Domain Name?

What are domain names for? If you are starting a website, you need to have a web address, also known as your domain or your URL.

There are a wide variety of companies out there with a wide range of prices which sell domain names. Technically you are not buying the name, but a temporary license to use the URL online for a certain period or time (often 1 year at a time). With an annual domain registration, you can assign this address to your site.

You may even purchase multiple domain names and do what's called a "redirect." Using this technique, you can have visitors arrive at the same site regardless of which of your addresses they type into their internet browser.

The company that provides registration of domain names is called a "domain registrar." The very most basic package includes a panel that you can log into and control what happens with your address. This includes essential tools like redirects and so on.

What happens is that your website host has a literal address that your files are stored at on their server, and your domain names are sent to that (usually complex looking) address. This gives an easy to remember way for your site visitors to get to your site without having to see "the man behind the curtain" so to speak.

It doesn't seem fair that, if you come up with a unique website address, that you should have to pay someone to use it. Does it? True. It really doesn't seem fair! However, there is a benefit to the fact that people are required to pay for domain names' registration. This system prevents random people from using up every URL and then wasting these addresses on useless content (or worse, not using them at all).

Do you need a Yahoo Domain for your business? Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gabriel_J._Adams

Why Choose a Yahoo Domain Name?

New businesses looking to start their online website often look for the best way to register their domain name and come up with the best address for customers to access their website. One great way to accomplish this is to use the service available from Yahoo. Using the Yahoo Domain service is simple, low cost, and backed by the Yahoo website once you make your choice.

A domain name is an address for your website. The website address consists of a primary name and top level domain extension at the end of the address like.com,.net,.edu (for public schools), and.org. It is important to pick a good domain name that will attract business to your site and tie in with the type of service or product you are trying to sell online. Yahoo Domains can help you find the right primary name that will attract the most customers and help promote your site by hosting it on their network.

Businesses looking to register their domain name ideas can count on Yahoo to provide quality domain service at a low cost price. New customers can get the service for as little as $1.99 per year and that excludes set up fees for first time customers. They also provides a toll free number and online support for all of its Yahoo Domain customers. Since Yahoo is a popular site, setting up your domain name with their Yahoo Domain service can really be a positive for your business. Their experts are there to help you with any questions that you may have about the process and walk you through the whole process if needed. They can also help with additional services like web hosting or business solutions to help you grow your online business greatly.

Need to register a yahoo domain for your business? Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gabriel_J._Adams