How to Pick a Domain Name and Web Hosting

There have been a few questions about the differences between a domain name and servers, and also what do you need for the class. We can spend more time on this in the next class, but I'll try to define it a little better here.

DOMAIN NAME
You're purchasing a name. Think of it as registering a trademark like "Super Hot Muffin Company". You register the name so you can do business as SHMC Ltd. You don't have a store or any products, but you can now do business as that name.

Who knows, and how do they know, you're doing business as SHMC? There are servers whose entire job is just letting every other server know that when someone types "www.superhotmuffincompany.com 
" where to send them. It's like a giant address book of locations and names on the internet.

How many domains can I have?
As many as you want or need, as long as the name is available. You're leasing the name for a limited amount of time.

How much should it cost?
Maybe between $20-$30 for two years or more. Not much.

How do I pick a name?
Like picking a name on gmail or ebay pick something that is meaningful to you and you want to keep. If you change your mind you have to buy an all new domain name. I grabbed my name just because that's something I know won't change (and I didn't even get just my name, I had to add my middle initial).

HOSTING
If your Domain Name is your "doing business as" name, Hosting is the physical location of your store. I used the word Server but what you're really doing is leasing time on a Server at a Hosting company. Imagine huge rooms with AC and lots of backup power supplies and you've got the idea of what a Hosting Company looks like.

How do I pick a good Hosting company?
I look for three things:
•  Good customer support (24/7 support options, a toll-free customer service number)
• Good user reviews or comments (On an independent website that reviews them, or recommendations from friends)
• FTP access to the server

When I purchase hosting do I need to set up anything?
Usually, you will need to choose between Linux or Microsoft server (I always pick Linux).

FTP ( File Transfer Protocol)
File Transfer Protocol is the most common method to transfer files (your website code, images, etc.) to your Hosting server. When you set up hosting they will send you an email with details about how to access your server. Sometimes you need to sign in to their website and the details about how to access FTP are there.

FTP Programs
To use FTP to access your server download an FTP program like cyberduck below:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/internet_utilities/cyberduck.html

Start up the FTP program. It wants three details minimum to access your hosting server.
• An address (This could be a number like 255.203.93.51 or "ftp.brinkster4.com")
• Username
• Password (There may be a temporary one they gave you in an email, or it might be the same as your account password).

I've attached an image of cyberduck's FTP interface.

Hope this helps, no worries if you get stuck or can't get it running. We'll discuss problems in class. Please email me with any additional questions and I'll try to answer to everyone.