Your website communicates with other computers and the internet by using its network adapter or NIC (Network Interface Card) that is within the server. This card and thereby the server uses a unique address known as an IP address. An IPv4 ip address is a address annotated as four numbers segmented by dots. Each segment or octet can have a value between zero and 255, so your dedicated server or business computer address format would look similar to this: 172.16.65.17 On a Windows Server you can determine what the server ip address is by selecting the start button then selecting run. Type in ipconfig and click "OK", a black command prompt should appear in which you can type ipconfig. On a Linux Server you can open a terminal window and type ifconfig. You can use the same command on your home Windows or Linux system to determine your static dedicated ip address.
When you browse for websites on the internet your browser communicates with web servers via their IP address. Methods have been devised to assign human readable names or hostnames to ip addresses. On a local windows or linux computer this translation can be accommodated in what's called a host file. On most windows systems the hosts file is located in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ directory; on Linux or Unix servers the hosts file is commonly stored in the /etc directory.
Have you ever been to 3111 World Dr. in Orlando Florida? Do you know where that is? You may be able to figure out what location I am talking about but wouldn't it be easier if I said have you ever been to Disney Magic Kingdom? That is essentially name resolution 3111 World Dr. Orlando, Florida 32830 is equivalent to the IP address and Disney Magic Kingdom is equivalent to a hostname. The server space or website hosting is equivalent to the land that the theme park sits on. So when you register for a domain name you get the name but you also must rent or purchase some "land" or server space for your website to reside. Likewise if you rent or buy the server space but do not register a domain name or an address, no one will know how to get to your website.
Hostfiles are typically used to translate names for a small number of computers. A hostfile contains lines that look like this: 192.168.20.34 www.npsis.com . This tells your computer to look for www.npsis.com using the address 192.168.20.34 whenever you try to access http://www.npsis.com using your web browser.
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.
It is important when selecting your website address that you pick a name that is easy to remember. The domain name should also reflect what your business does. For example the website address tomsgarage.com gives you a pretty good idea of what tom does for a living and its very easy to remember. You can also reserve multiple related domain names and point them at your website address as well. Have your website design store help you to incorporate several relevant key words into your website design and point all of your relevant website addressees at your website (i.e. wefixtires.com, bestlocaltireshop.com, toms-tires.com).
If you plan on having a web presence at some point, be sure to go ahead and register your website address now. There are many people and businesses that reserve the most desirable website addresses and resell them at costs much higher than the original reservation price.
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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