Most NICs or Network Interface Cards within servers and computers are assigned a unique address known as Internet Protocol or IP address. An IPv4 ip address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. An ip address for a dedicated server using NAT (Network Address Translation) or your business computer would look similar to this 192.168.20.34 You can find out what your ip address is by typing ipconfig at the command prompt (Start, Run, ipconfig) on a Windows Server and by typing ifconfig on a Linux Server. You can type this command on your home Windows or Linux or Unix computer as well to find your static dedicated ip address.
When you lookup websites online, your web browser talks to web servers via their IP address. Advances in technology have made it possible to assign words or hostnames to ip addresses. PC’s use operating systems like windows or linux operating systems. These operating systems use something called a host file to translate the words into IP addresses. On a Windows computer the host file is stored in the c:\windows\system32\drives\etc\ directory; on Linux and Unix servers the host file is kept in the /etc directory.
If I asked “Have you ever been to Disney World?” more than likely you would associate Disney World with the theme park in Florida and you would know would quickly be able to respond either yes or no. But if I said “Have you ever been to 3111 World Drive in Orlando, Florida?” It would not be as easy for you to identify that I was referring to Disney World. You might be able to figure it out, but which is easier to use? In the internet world, 3111 World Drive would be the same as an IP address and Disney World would be the hostname. If you were to equate this to how the internet works, web hosting would be the equivalent of the real estate that Disney world sits on. When you purchase a website domain name, you must have internet real estate (website hosting) for your website to reside on, and conversely if you had website hosting without a domain name then no one would know where to go to access your website.
A hostfile will contain lines that look like this: 192.168.20.34 www.npsis.com which basically says that the ip address 192.168.20.34 corresponds to the hosname or webserver www.npsis.com. Hostfiles are used for name translation for a small number of computers.
For hostname to IP translation on the internet the DNS (Domain Name System) is commonly used. When you type www.npsis.com or the name of your website design store or the website name of your company, your computer contacts a DNS server to find out what IP address goes with the domain name or URL that you entered. Whether you are setting up website on a webserver or an email server you need a domain name.
Be sure to choose a domain name or website address for your business that is easy to remember and if possible choose a name that relates to your business or service (i.e. tomsgarage.com). You can use this to your by registering multiple website addresses and having their website design optimize the web pages for all those key words. You can then point multiple website addresses at your website (i.e. sarahs-hair-studio.com, bestlocalhairstyles.com and quickperms.com).
Website domain names are reserved on a first come, first serve basis. So if you have an idea for the perfect website address, you should reserve it before you’re your good idea is taken by somebody else. There are many companies and individuals who potentially popular domain names and resell them for a profit.
Have you hired a web design store or individual web design consultant? Make absolutely sure that you own your website address and not them. By purchasing your domain name yourself, you protect yourself from negligent people and predators looking to take advantage of the fact that you might not know better.
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