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

What is an ISP?
For those of you who are new to the Internet, ISP is short for Internet Service Provider. Companies like AOL, Earthlink, and Pac Bell provide Internet connections and email either home or business. Internet Service Providers or ISP's allow homes and businesses to connect to the Internet. Generally most homes dial up to their ISP through a modem to connect at 56k speeds or slower. Broadband connections such as DSL and Cable modem are becoming more popular in both business and homes.

So far, DSL is the choice for small businesses while Cable is seen in the home. Larger businesses use T1 lines, Frame Relay or other high speed data transfer through the Internet Service Providers as well.

Web Hosting
ISP's also can provide what is called Web Hosting. Hosting a web site means that an ISP has a computer (or a web server) that is serving your web pages to the Internet. P.L. Ruth recommends using OLM.Net for your web hosting needs. With Web Hosting packages starting at just $8.95 a month, you have a great chance at getting a great deal.

Depending on your ISP, your site can have many features. A great feature is Domain Email.

What is Domain Email?
This is where you get your email address with your domain as part of the address.

	For Example, my Domain and web site address is www.plruth.com
	My email address is

Do you see the relation between the web site address and the email address? They both have plruth.com. However, the email has the "@" sign, whereas the web address has the "www" before plruth. Do not confuse the two addresses.

	A web site address such as www.plruth.com is meant for delivering web pages.
	An email address such as is meant for delivering email only.

You can also have your Domain Email forwarded to another email address for anonymous email. For example, I can have my webmaster@noname.com be forwarded to my username@hotmail.com account if I am traveling or want to keep my email anonymous. Likewise, I can have my username@hotmail.com look like it's coming from webmaster@noname.com for anonymity.

ISPs also offer Online Forms so you can create forms to send you information be it Guest books, Feedback Forms, etc. Some ISPs offer FrontPage Extensions so you can use your favorite HTML editor. Other features include Audio and Video streaming for people to watch in real time, be it business presentations or news. Some offer E-Commerce solutions too.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
FTP is used to upload and download your files from your computer to the web server at the ISP's end. Every ISP that Hosts web sites have an FTP server, user name, and password that authorizes you to make changes to your site.

The most common FTP software used to make changes to your site is WS FTP by a company called Ipswich. You can download a free copy of this program to make your site changes. There are other FTP software programs out there, but this is the best and most widely supported and recognized FTP standard on the web.


	Email is Crucial Email is a crucial tool for communication on the internet. Every ISP has email services in one form or another, especially if they host your web site. Email is not to be confused with web browsers. The email readers and web browsers have different functions even though they are integrated together sometimes, especially if you are an AOL user.
Most email is read through "clients" like Netscape Mail, Outlook, Outlook Express, and Eudora to name the most popular ones. These client email readers allow for you to organize more than one email account, or more than one internet connection. Fact is, if you anticipate having your web site hosted by and ISP, you should use one of the above email readers to organize your email, especially if you store important business emails. Using a free email service like Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo, NetZero or Juno is a bad business practice and quite risky as they offer no guarantee of restoring your lost email. IF you lose an important email, you will not get it back from them, and if security is priority, then a local ISP to host your site and email is a good move. Each email reader was built with a specific user and purpose. If you are a mobile user on a laptop, then Eudora is the way to go. If you are a casual stand alone user with a spouse or kids who have email too, then Outlook Express or Netscape Mail is the solution for you. If you are networked in an office environment with workgroups and departments, use Outlook 98 or 2000 for it's collaboration features. Click here to read the difference between Outlook Express and Outlook (provided by Microsoft.com).