DNS Help Page: Helpful definitions and answers for both the novice and the expert.

Helpful DNS definitions and registration tips for the novice or expert.

What does DNS stand for?

Domain Name System (DNS)

A distributed database of information that is used to translate domain names, which are easy for humans to remember and use, into Internet Protocol (IP) numbers, which are what computers need to find each other on the Internet. People working on computers around the globe maintain their specific portion of this database, and the data held in each portion of the database is made available to all computers and users on the Internet. The DNS comprises computers, data files, software, and people working toget her.

What is a Domain Name?

Domain Name

An addressing construct used for identifying and locating computers on the Internet. Domain names provide a system of easy-to-remember Internet addresses, which can be translated by the Domain Name System (DNS) into the numeric addresses (Internet Protoco l (IP) numbers) used by the network. A domain name is hierarchical and often conveys information about the type of entity using the domain name. A domain name is simply a label that represents a domain, which is a subset of the total domain name space. Do main names at the same level of the hierarchy must be unique, for example there can be only one com at the top level of the hierarchy, and only one netsol.com at the next level of the hierarchy.

How will a Domain Name affect my web address?

Domain Names and Your Web Address.

Without a domain name a page hosted with Earthnet has the address www.earthnet.net/~userid. Or, if they have requested an alias the /~userid may be replaced with a word of their choice, such as /taxes. Once a domain has been registered or transferred su ch that Earthnet is the technical contact, there will be a $5.00/mo. hosting fee applied to your monthly charge, and the web address is now www.yourdomain.com/~userid. In order to drop the /~userid you must have a URL, or IP address assigned to your acco unt. A dedicate URL has a monthly $25 charge that is charged in lieu of the domain hosting fee. Now your address is www.yourdomain.com.

Still confused? Before you had your own domain and URL you were indexed under Earthnet's, thus the address www.earthnet.net/~userid. When you had your own domain you were still indexed under our IP number thus the address www.yourdomain.com/~userid. With your own domain and IP you stand quite on your own as a web presense with the address www.yourdomain.com. (See DNS definitions.)

How will a Domain Name affect my E-mail?

Domain Names and Your E-mail Address

Once you have your domain registered to Earthnet, you may have your E-mail set up to receive e-mail at your own domain as well as the Earthnet domain, meaning that e-mail can come to you both at: [email protected], and at [email protected]. A po sitive to having your domain name associated with your e-mail, is that you can now set up false E-mail addresses. This means that, as the account affiliated with your domain name, all mail coming to any address at that domain name will be sent to you. S o on your website you can now advertise mulitple E-mails, such as info@, help@, [email protected] etc�and in reality, they are all coming to your one mailbox. Is there a down side to setting up your domain to your E-mail? Only one, and it's this: spammers know that a valid domain name in an address is all it takes to get their mail successfully delivered. So, if your E-mail starts coming in the form of ads, and addressed to all sorts of colorful non-exsistant people, you can be pretty sure that your domain has found it's way to a mailing list. Earthnet can not designate which E-mails get bounced, but can only designate which E-mails at yourdomain.com can ge t through. Almost the same thing, but very different. So if you ask that only sara@ and info@ be delivered, that's all you get. If your full and appropriate address had been spammed, you are in the same boat as most spam victims, and will probably have to accept it, or change your userid. **Owning a domain name increases your chance of being spammed only slightly, and people shrewd with whom they share their address should generally not have any problems.

How do I get my own Domain Name?

Registering a Domain Name

The process through which individuals and organizations obtain a domain name. Registration of a domain name enables the individual or organization to use that particular domain name for a specified period of time, provided certain conditions are met and p ayment for services is made. Registering of a new domain name with Network Solutions is accomplished by completing and submitting the Domain Name Registration Agreement, thereby agreeing to be bound by the terms and conditions of the then existing Domain Name Registration Agreement, including the Domain Name Dispute Policy, and paying the registration fee. The Domain Name Registration Agreement can be confusing, and a mistake can prolong your registration for up to three weeks. For this reason Earthnet prefers to do the domain registration for you. It is a one time $25 fee and, and the registration through us can be successfully completed within 2-5 days. Your billing with Internic will be completely separate of us. (See Domain Name Fees.)

How much do Domain Names cost?

Domain Name Fees

The charge for registering a domain name. Network Solutions' registration fee covers the cost of processing the initial registration and maintaining the domain name record for two years. For domain names with registration dates on or before March 31, 1998 , the fee is $100.00 USD. This fee includes a 30% Internet Infrastructure Fund contribution that NSI is required to pay. (Re-registrations of these names, in the future, will not include the 30% fee because this requirement ends midnight, March 31, 1998 ET.) For domain names with registration dates on or after April 1, 1998, the fee is $70.00 USD. After the initial two-year period, the domain name is subject to renewal (re-registration) and the renewal (re-registration) fees will be due on an annual bas is if the registrant wishes to renew the domain name's registration.

How can I do a Domain Name availibility search?

Domain Name Availibility

Earthnet will do a domain name availability search for you for free, but if you'd like to try it yourself, here is a link to Internic's Search. ( Hint: Remember to drop the www off the title since that has nothing to do with the domain name. A domain na me is something.com, .org, .gov, .edu etc...) Click on Whois Search to go to Internic's Web Interface to Whois and search for domain availability. What does DNS stand for?