On 13 Oct 2005 at 16:46, Jim Dykes wrote:
> When I opened the message, I found that Bernie Cosell had written:
>
> > It depends on what you mean by 'hosted'. It must have a *nameserver*, but
> > nothing else: no IP addresses, no defined names, no services, no email, no
> > nothing. A "domain name" is nothing more than a placeholder in the DNS.
>
> Someone has to "hang on to it", don't they?
Yes, there's one more player, the 'registrar'. The registrar handles the
paperwork and actually "registering" the domain name with the powers-that-
be. After that administrative job is done, the registrar doesn't do
anything.
> Now, that being said, and forgetting web pages........."but"
> considering using it as an email address......if only for forwarding
> to my current email address, what's involved. If my domain is
> at an entity somewhere and they can forward mail that comes into
> it, is that called hosting?
I avoid the term 'hosting' because it is not well-defined. There are
three layers of stuff here:
1) administratively claiming your name [so no one else can have it]..
that's done by the registrar.
2) providing "name servers" for the domain. The registrar will
require (at least) two 'name servers' for a domain. These
servers will have the job *SOLELY* of converting names within
the domain to IP addresses.. *nothing*else*. The Internet
[and the registrars, etc] put *NO* limits on what names you
can have within your domain. If you are told "no" when you
ask for something [e.g., "myhobbies.funstuff.jimdykes.com"],
that is *solely* a policy decision on the part of your name
server.
so now you can have all of the names you want, and they can all be
independently mapped to IP addresses. That done, you get to stage three:
3) associating services with various names within your domain.
Everything on the internet happens via *ip*addresses*, _not_ domain
names. So when you make arrangements to have a website, say, at
"www.jimdykes.com" three things have to happen:
i) you need to find a web server willing to host your website
[and your name: the name *is* passed through]
ii) you need to find out the IP address of the web server, and
iii) you need to contact your name-server to define
www.jimdykes.com ==> thatIPaddress
If you want to receive email it is a bit more complicated, because you
not only need a domain name, but also mailboxes, but the procedure is
basically the same:
i) find a mail server willing to receive your email.
ii) sort out with that server how you want email to your domain
handled [it can be forwarded elsewhere, kept in one or more
mailboxes at the server, some combination of those, etc]
iii) find out the IP address of the SMTP server, and
iv) contact your name server to define an "MX" [mail exchange]
record mapping jimdykes.com => that IP addr
You can, for example, have several web sites hosted by different web
servers: you just pick a "name" [whatever.jimdykes.com], and make
*that*name* to the IP addr of the particular server...
> For example my current ISP is direcway.com. All my mail goes
> out through them, but most all my incoming mail comes in
> through garlic.com. They are my mail server in many instances.
> I also have a web page on garlic.com. So, what's my relationship
> with them?
Twofold: they provide you with SMTP services and HTTP services.
> ... My domain name and a web page is with
> ipowerweb.com. They are hosting my domain name, right?
As I say, it depends on what you mean by 'hosting'. they are providing
the name-servers for your domain and _also_ providing HTTP services.
As for terminology, when I use "hosting" I reserve it for "complete"
packages. That is, they'll provide you with nameserver, SMTP, POP, and
HTTP services all bundled together. But the fact is that those services
are *all* independent and many of us use different servers for each of
them!
> Ok, then, what color is the bird sitting on my fence right now?
Blue.
/bernie\
--
Bernie Cosell Fantasy Farm Fibers
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Pearisburg, VA
--> Too many people, too few sheep <--
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