this is the famous form of web hosting called Hyper Text Transport Protocol

            you need a http server (like Apache-Linux, IIS-WinNT) to host a http service

            all your files are kept in http://www.yourname.com directory in the server

            www is nothing but the directory (Win NT) or directory alias (Linux,Unix)

            all your htm, html files will be kept in this www folder only

            you can keep www2.yourname.com also! –FREE registration!

            You can also type http://youname.com it will take to www directory –servers has to be configured for this (now a days POPULAR)

            yourname is the Domain Name of your website

            .com, .org, .net these things are called Top Level Domains (TLDs)

            yourname is called second level or middle level domain (SLDs) –PAID Registration only!

            www is the Third Level Domain

            there are domain like this http://saivaneri.freeservers.com/ -this is a Sub Domain

            where Saivaneri is a sub or virtual domain on primary freeservers domain –FREE Registration!

            90% of web pages are http://www public domains

            a http server (remote PC) and http client (your PC) ‘listens’ on port 80

            means File Transfer Protocol

            listens on port 21

            you need a ftp server software on the server to listen to the user

            files are transported between client and the server using FTP commands

            popular ftp servers are Apache, WS FTP, WinFTP

            popular ftp clients are WS_FTP client, Cute FTP, Bullet Proof FTP etc..

            sample site ftp://saivaneri.com

            after IE 5 and above, you can view ftp site’s folders on a browser also

            popular uses are….image sharing, songs sharing, file sharing  

            usenet

            gopher

            mosaic

            NNTP – Network News Transport Protocol

            SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol – to send your mails Port 110

            POP3 – Post Office Protocol version 3 – to receive your mails Port 25

            SNMP – Simple Network Management Protocol

            IRC – Internet Relay Chat Protocol – Port 5050

            Every Domain whether Primary or virtual has an IP Number

            It is not easy to remember and type the Number so Domain Name is born

            When you type Domain Name, the DNS redirects you to that IP No.

            IP number means Internet Protocol Number

            A DNS (Domain Name Server) is kept at most of the ISPs or gateways

            If DNS is not having your site name in its database, you can’t reach to your site by typing www.yourname.com in the address bar of the browser

            By default IE resolves any name typed in the address bar to .com first, .net second, .org third. If it cant get any such from nearby DNS, it will show cannot find server (or DNS error) page.

            .in, .us, .sl –these are country domains –costly

            ping, whois, finger, nslookup, tracert, IP block, dig, time, blacklist, abuse lookup –these are al some commands you can use to verify/scan/investigate on any domain –more on this later

            ICANN –International Consortium on Authorised Network Names –this is the monopolistic(!) standardization organization that regulates the domain names – some OPEN minded people are against them, they create varied domains, but not gained much popularity.

            WWW Consortium (W3C) standardizes on HTML, protocols etc.

            IEEE standardizes on Electronic Hardware like Network cards etc..

            Standards are discussed as RFC’s (Request For Comments) on their sites, many people comment it, modify it, then it becomes a standard.

            Some people sell shared IP numbers which is cheaper, in which you cant do the above

            Rs.4500 if you are registering at US company –more reliable

            Rs.500 to Rs.3000 if Indian Registrars –more or less (!) reliable

            Rs.1000 to Rs.5000 per annum for 20 MB web space

            Prices vary, so services also vary

            Web host should have SCSI hard disk, fiber optic back bone (OC3),faster processor, dual processor (high profile hosting), more RAM, firewall etc..

            Individual IP Number must be insisted. For example you can type 66.96.210.59 in the address bar to go to www.Saivaneri.org

            Web server Operating System can be chosen as of your interest, but Apache –Linux/Unix based http server is 60% of the world is using – fast, reliable

            Win NT with Internet Information Server is costly, but have less followers

            Also with any web hosting you get many email ids for you. So if you run a personal website, you can have avoodai@avoodai.com as an email id!

            Service should be nice form the host

            You must insist these if you are paying for hosting:-

            Multi mail id/web mail/SMTP,POP3 access/auto responder/email blocker/chat room/FTP manager/search engine submit/POP manager/catch all account/forwarders/mailing lists/folder protection/sub domain manager/customized error pages/CGI center/raw access logs/web FTP/site stats/backup/message forum/discussion room/FREE perl scripts..