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Many people confuse an ISP with a Web Host. ISPs provide their customers with dial-up ACCESS to
the Internet and web hosts HOST web sites. Dial-up access and web hosting require totally
different accounts and SERVERS. Many ISPs offer both |
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So, you can choose to have your web site hosted by
your local ISP OR you can have your web site hosted by a separate web host. I did. I have a local
ISP and a top US web host |
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When choosing your web host, bear in mind that they
need to provide great service, reliable equipment, a high percentage of up times (ie, their
SERVERS don't go down) and provide everything you are likely to need as a
webmaster. As a guide, I list below what my web host provides. I pay US$49.95 per month
(around Aust$80) |
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4,000 MB/mo data transfer |
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24-hour access to your account |
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Email services: 1 master POP3 account,
10 configurable POP3 accounts, unlimited mail forwarding to a default address,
20 configurable mail forwarding options, 20 autoresponders |
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CGI Script Capabilities: your own cgi directory,
Perl, C, Unix SH, KSH, CSH, Java, Python, Perl script checker utility, FREE guestbook script,
FREE real-time chat, FREE discussion forum script, FREE Excite search, FREE random link
generator |
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Domain name registration (for US domains) |
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Detailed web usage statistics and access to raw
log files |
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30-day money back guarantee |
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24-hour technical support |
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Extensive online documentation |
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MySQL and mSQL databases |
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RealAudio® and RealVideo® |
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Technology: Powerful SGI Origin 200 SERVERS,
Customised Apache Web SERVER software, multiple T3 connections on diverse backbones, daily
tape backups |
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Hiway Technologies, Inc
5050 Blue Lake Drive Boca Raton, FL 33431 USA
Ph: (800) 339 HWAY (4929) or (561) 989 8574
Fax: (561) 989 8721
email: sales@hway.net
website: www.hway.net |
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Hiway hosts web sites all over the world.
I chose Hiway's "Plan 2" account
for nailitnow.com.au (my Australian web site) and "Plan 1" account for wwwalbum.com
(my US web site) |
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Hiway's "Plan 2" account costs me US$50 (around Aust$80)
per month and includes access to their SSL Secure SERVER, which I need to have a secure order
form on nailitnow.com.au |
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Hiway's "Plan 1" account costs me US$24.95 (around Aust$50)
per month and doesn't include access to their SSL Secure SERVER. I will shortly be needing a
secure order form on wwwalbum.com, so will need to upgrade to a "Plan 2" account |
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To set up both Hiway accounts, I filled
in their order form online at www.hiway.com/order and paid by credit card via their secure
SERVER |
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Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click
"Order Now" (this takes you to a "How to Order" screen |
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Ignore "Step 1 - Choose Your Domain"
unless you want a US domain name, which Hiway organises on your behalf |
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"Step 1 - Choose Your Domain" |
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Plan Type: Select Silver - Plan 2 |
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Plan Length: Select 3 months
(Hiway bills quarterly and automatically debits your credit card every 3 months - they send you an emailed invoice a few days before so you are aware of the debit to your credit card) |
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This is the minimum plan length. Hiway bills quarterly.
Every 3 months, they email their invoice to you and, then, automatically debit your credit card |
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DON'T check the Microsoft FrontPage Server
Extensions box |
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Within 24 hours, I received an email telling me that my web site had been activated.
It included my user id, password, FTP SERVER name and my IP address (which I used to access my
web site while waiting for my domain name to be registered and delegated) |
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The Domain Name Authority in each country assigns to
web hosts a number for each web SERVER they own (this is the SERVER portion of an IP address)
and the web host assigns the rest of the IP address to the web sites on the SERVERS they operate |
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Of course, I immediately jumped on the Internet, keyed in my IP address and saw my Home page for
the first time. Pretty exciting! And Hiway had set up a temporary home page saying
"Welcome to Nail It Now. This web site is under construction" (which I thought was
pretty professional) |
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As the webmaster of a non-US domain name, nailitnow.com.au, it was my
responsibility to register and delegate my own domain name with my local authority (Hiway
supplied the names and IP addresses of their 3 Name SERVERS for my delegation form) |
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Hiway registered and delegated my US domain
name, wwwalbum.com, with the US Authority, InterNIC. I received notification by email within
24 hours that this had been completed and, also, that propagation (in the US, delegation is
called propagation) would take 72 hours. Then my domain name was active! Several weeks
later, I received InterNIC's registration invoice by email, US$70 (Aus$112) for 2 years |
Copyright © 1998-2014 Nail It Now. All rights reserved
34 Tucker Avenue, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia, Phone: 61 3 9646 9511;
email: georgie@nailitnow.com.au |
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