P.L. Ruth Web Design And Computer Services of San Luis Obispo, CA

Domain Name If you are just starting and have never owned a web site, you will need to obtain a Domain Name. A Domain Name is the name of your web site, such as www.PLRuth.com . I wanted my web site address to be associated with my name so I went to a Registrar and did a "WHOIS" for PLRUTH.COM . When I found that PLRUTH.COM was available, I bought the name for a few years. Buying a Domain Name should cost no more than $35 per year at the most. You can either Register your Domain Name through an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or through Network Solutions (http://www.netsol.com). A Domain Record is where your Domain Name (www.your-domain-name.com) has information tied to it. For instance, all of your Billing, Admin, and Technical Contact information is stored in this record. If for any reason you need to change the record information for your Domain Name, make sure your email address is current and accessible to authorize the changes.

What is a REGISTRAR? What is a WHOIS? A Registrar is a company you go to and see if what Domain Names are available. It's like going to the DMV to see what name you can personalize your license plate with and if it is available. Registrars have a function called "WHOIS" (pronounced "who is") that lets you search to see if your Domain Name is taken. Find your Domain Name here. Give it a try. Once you have found the Domain Name you have settled on, you need to register and pay for it. Once the transaction has taken place, you will be given a receipt #, user name, and password to modify your Domain Record in the future.

What is Domain Transfer? Most individuals transfer their domain if they are upgrading to an ISP that offers more functions for their site or are just unhappy with their ISP's service. Transferring a domain means to change your Domain Records information so that it will point to the new ISP that is going to host your site. Example, I want to move to company XYZ because they offer more web site space at a cheaper price. Once I obtain the XYZ Name Server information, I can log into my Domain Record and have it point to the new XYZ Internet Service Provider who will be hosting my site.
If you are buying a new Domain Name, you do not need to transfer a domain.

What is a Name Server? In your Domain Record, there is a section called Name Server. It will read something like this: Domain servers in listed order: NS.FASTDNS.NET 209.150.128.30 NS2.FASTDNS.NET 209.150.129.3 These are the names and addresses of my ISP's web servers who are hosting my www.PLRuth.com web site. So when someone types in www.PLRuth.com, NS.HOST4U.NET Name Server says to your browser, "I found your request for www.PLRuth.com" which is actually my IP Address 209.150.134.144 (PLRuth.com.) In short, your browser looks for an address number which is converted to a name (obviously easier to type out a name than remember a bunch of numbers!)

What is Redirection? When you own multiple Domain Names, you may want them all to point to the same web site. For example, I have a Domain Name www.PLRuth.com that has all of my web pages on it. But, I also want people to be able to type in webruth.com and ruthweb.com and come to the www.PLRuth.com web site. This is called Redirection.
The webruth.com and ruthweb.com Domain Names are being redirected to www.PLRuth.com web site. They are one in the same. Check with your current ISP if you feel you need this service.

Domain Name Expiration Make sure you keep an eye on when your Domain Record expires. It usually reads like this: Record last updated on 06-Dec-2001. Record expires on 29-May-2005. Record Created on 29-May-2001. This lets you know when the Domain Record was CREATED, was last UPDATED, and EXPIRED. In this example above, this record doesn't expire until May 2005. If your record is near expiration date, you can Renew your Domain Record through whomever you initially registered your Domain Name through.