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A domain name (sometimes called
simply a "domain") is just a label for the location
of a web site (its ip address). Since only one
person can have use of a particular domain name,
having one gives your web space a unique identity -
just like a social security number, or a house
number / ZIP code combination. |
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Basically, domain registration is
limited-time ownership. You register a domain
(something.com or something.org etc.) in order to
claim ownership of it for a specified length of
time, anywhere from 1 to 10 years. The "Registrant"
of a domain is the actual legal owner of the domain
name until the registration period expires. |
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No. Because many of our clients
already own registered domains when they choose to
host their web sites at Winux Soft Hosting, domain
registration (ownership) is not included in the
Winux Soft Hosting Package pricing. This way, our
Package pricing is fair both to "other-host
refugees" who don't need a domain, and to clients
starting a web site from scratch. |
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Yes. We need a domain name to
associate with your hosting account in order to set
the account up. |
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You can register a domain for as
little as $12.95 per year at our consolidated web
site at Winux Soft Web Services. There you can
register domains, order many different kinds of web
hosting plans, find thousands of web site templates
for low prices, do a search engine keyword analysis
of your web site (for free), and more. If the domain
name you want to buy is available, you can purchase
it simply by completing the checkout process. If you
purchase your domain at Winux Soft, your domain's
DNS will automatically work with your web site
hosting package at Winux Soft. |
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You can also register your domain
at any valid domain registrar that allows you to
point your domain's name servers/DNS to the web host
of your choice. Winux Soft Domain Registrar also has
easy Name Server modification tools, so if your
domain is registered with us, even if you don't have
hosting with us you can still specify your name
servers for another web host elsewhere. |
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DNS technically stands for "Domain Name System"
although it is sometimes used to stand for "Domain
Name Server", sometimes just called nameserver. |
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Simply put, the name server is a pointer from your
domain at the domain name database to wherever your
actual website is (the server). Nameservers are
usually referred to by either their ip's (an ip
looks like 4 groups of numbers, or a "dotted quad"
separated by dots e.g. 123.456.78.90) or by
ns1.something.com or ns2.something.com etc. |
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Simplifying here, if you punch in
"www.mydomain.com", your browser will look for the
domain's location online. It finds the name server
information from the domain database, which tells
the browser what server to access. Once the server
is found it shows the pages for that domain's
account on the server - and bingo yourdomain.com is
visible in your browser. So in order for your web
site to be visible online, your domain name has to
"point" from the database to our servers -- that
means your domain registration account has to have
the correct DNS information in it for our servers. |
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We offer a WHOIS database search at our Winux Soft
Web Services site. |
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IF you purchase (register) your domain at Winux
Soft, don't worry about it -- your domain's DNS will
automatically work with your web site hosting
package at Winux Soft. |
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If you already own a domain that is registered
elsewhere, you must log in at your domain registrar
with whatever username/password they gave you when
you bought the domain. Find their DNS (or
Nameserver) modification area, and set the
nameservers to the new ones given in your Winux Soft
Hosting account Welcome info email. |
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Whether a new domain or a recently-modified domain,
it usually takes a couple of days for the new
information to get through the domain database &
finally start pointing to a new server. This is
called DNS resolving or propagating. |
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At most domain registrars, the Registrant,
Administrative Contact, and Technical Contact are
the only people who have authority to modify
anything about any domain including the DNS or
nameserver information. |
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Not if the domain is registered elsewhere. If
however it is one of the domains in our own database
(if you registered it with us), your domain will
automatically point to the correct name servers for
your hosting account here and no modification/switch
will be necessary. |
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Unfortunately there are disreputable and unethical
domain registrars out there which don't allow
control by the purchaser. If you didn't buy your
domain through us and you can't login at your domain
registration account to change the nameservers, you
need to either contact your domain registrar by
whatever means you can, and request they change the
DNS information for you; or you need to purchase a
new domain of your own at a domain registrar like
Winux Soft which does give you control over your own
domain. |
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Certainly you can, as long as the registrar you
choose gives you login access there and modification
access for your domain. If you purchase a new domain
of your own somewhere else, simply make *sure* you
pick a reputable domain registrar who actually makes
you the legal owner (Registrant) of the domain you
buy, and that you will have access to modify the
DNS/NameServers for your domain. After you get your
new domain registered (purchased), set the NS1 and
NS2 information to our nameserver info as specified
in the new account 'Welcome' email we sent you when
you signed up. |
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Yes. You will have control over your domain and you
will have access to Login, Contact changes,
Nameserver changes, renewals, notifications, etc.).
Therefore you can change DNS/nameservers, Contact
information, Renewal preferences, and more for your
domain anytime you want. |
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No. Although we will set up your hosting account
within a few hours at most, it takes approximately a
couple of days for the DNS to resolve to our servers
after the domain is purchased and/or the DNS
information is set. We have no control over the
length of time it takes to resolve. While your DNS
is resolving, you will see a "Page Not Found" when
you try to access your domain by its url
(http://www.somedomain.com). You will know the DNS
is fully resolved when you can can type your domain
in a browser address bar and see the blue 'Welcome
to' page. |
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Yes, but only if you use FTP or File Manager to
upload your files. If you use one of these methods,
you can upload your files to your web space before
the DNS resolves by using the IP as the host name.
You can also view your uploaded web pages online by
http://yourHostingIP/~yourusername/ before the DNS
resolves. However pages and scripts using PHP or
MySQL, or requiring a URL for access or
configuration, will not work until the DNS has fully
resolved. |
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If you use FrontPage to upload your site you MUST
wait for the DNS to resolve so you can begin to
publish/upload your files to www.yourdomain.com.
FrontPage cannot publish successfully to an IP so it
needs to be able to find the site by the full URL
after the domain's DNS has resolved. |
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You will see the blue "Welcome To" web page when you
access your site via http://yourdomainname.com in a
browser. Or if you have already FTP'd pages into the
public_html directory in your web space, you will
see whatever index page you have uploaded. |
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The DNS resolves in different parts of the world at
different times. It should be complete worldwide
within about 24 to 48 hours after the DNS is set at
the domain registrar. This is why during propagation
(the process of resolving), your web site may be
visible in some parts of the world and not in
others. |
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Yes. Just fill out a Help Desk support request and
let us know what the new domain name is. You will
have to own the domain you choose to use with your
hosting account, and make sure the DNS for the new
domain name points to our servers just as for your
old domain name. |
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No. The only cost to you is whatever you pay to
purchase the different domain name. |
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