Ever been confused on the ways DNS works? Do you know what DNS is? Don’t be ashamed if you don’t because you are one of many not know all the facts behind it. Our good friend Google tells us DNS is, “(Domain Name Server) – Used to map names to IP addresses and vice versa. Domain Name Servers maintain central lists of domain name/IP addresses and map the domain names in your Internet requests to other servers on the Internet until the specified web site is found.”

What does that mean? It is pretty bad when you need a definition of the definition. The friendly folks over at Splodgy Web Design have put together one heck of a tutorial on this very subject.

DNS stands for Domain Name System. It is the process that connects the domain name you typed into your browser, to the server that serves or hosts the information for that domain.

People often get very confused when it comes to understanding DNS and nameservers. They get all mixed up with domain names, web servers, resolvers and IP addresses. Even people who are very computer literate can get in a complete fuddle over DNS. But it’s not really that difficult really. It’s just that whenever someone starts to explain it to you, they end up using all manor of buzz words. Things like bind and resolver. In some ways, DNS is like the offside rule in football (soccer). Everyone can play the game but just try an get them to explain the offside rule and things get very complicated. This tutorial is intended to help you understand how DNS works.

If that didn’t get your questions answered then try looking over at Webopedia:

(1) Short for Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they’re easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4.

The DNS system is, in fact, its own network. If one DNS server doesn’t know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on, until the correct IP address is returned.

No mater which source you turn to, they are both well written, full of information, and right. There is no such thing as a stupid question, and with the Internet at your fingertips you have a plethora of answers to choose from!

Alright, I finally have some news to talk about. The rough draft of my introduction is finished. I know it has been a while and some might be disappointed that this is all I have done, but there are several factors that play into that. Number one is the fact that I have never written a book before! A lot of mine time thus far has been spent writing notes to myself, making outlines and trying to visualize what the book will look like in my own mind.

Hopefully later today I will be able to get a little more done before I have my nephews and niece over here for the next two days. I love them to death, but it is really hard to get any writing done unless the house is empty, I’m in my underwear and I’m packed full of caffeine. Not exactly the visual you wanted? For that I am truly sorry.

On a somewhat related note, I did a little updating to my own Web site, MitchKeeler.com this morning as well. Mainly I did a little book plugging here and there. One thing I am pretty proud of getting done is creating pdf versions of the example articles listed on my Web site. So now you have the option to view it as HTML or a PDF.

No real magic behind how it was done though. Just copied them into Open Office, did a little formatting, and exported them into the PDF format. I figure if the Web hosting book goes into e-book form, I had better get used to trying to play with PDF formatting, reading and viewing. I had not been a big fan of the format till I checked out a few of Lockergnome’s tutorials. Now I am hooked.

When you have yourself a pie, chances are you are not going to want to eat the whole thing yourself. Instead you will divide the pie into several pieces so that it is easier to manage and everybody can get some. Think of a Web hosting account in the same way. You might want to have a section of it devoted to your blog. You might want another section of it to be devoted to your favorite links. With or without subdomains this can be done. However, with subdomains the process is so much easier to navigate.

Now I will save you the horrible trouble of what goes on during the Web hosting server side of this. Trust me, it is nothing exciting and probably nothing you need to worry about just yet. Most of you should know by now that when you create a new folder inside your Web hosting account, the directory for it should look something like this:

Without Subdomain:

http://www.yoursite.com/blog

Now that is all fine and dandy, but it might be a little hard to remember. Now what if you got a different address that pointed at that same exact spot, but was easier to remember? Try this on for size:

With Subdomain:

http://blog.yoursite.com

Did you see what happened? We dropped the “www” and put in “blog”. Now that this is up there, you can drop the use of “/blog” at the end. This my friends is a subdomain.

How can you create one of these beauties on your own? Well, your Web hosting company should have provided you with a control panel when signing up for your Web hosting account. If they did, you should have a setting somewhere in there telling you how you can get it done. It differs from control panel to control panel, so I will leave that much as homework for you.

In effect you are telling the server that “http://blog.yoursite.com” points to your “blog” folder. This can be done with any folder that is inside your root or home directory. Now how would a folder look if it was inside the blog folder? Like this:

Without Subdomain:

http://www.yoursite.com/blog/mitchrules

With Subdomain:

http://blog.yoursite.com/mitchrules

Now why would you want to use subdomains? For easier navigation and organization. The shorter you are able to make a URL, the more likely a visitor is going to remember it and come back.

In the past I have defined many Web hosting jargon words that have sent many people to scratching their heads and calling upon the mighty powers of Google to look for an answer. Today I have one more for you. How many times have you hear of somebody saying they needed to FTP something? How about that they need to find a good FTP client? Thankfully FTP is a pretty simple concept to get your mind wrapped around.

FTP stands for file transfer protocol. What in the heck is File Transfer Protocol? The easy way to look at it would be to say it is just a way of transferring files over the Internet from one computer to another. Thinking of the Internet as one big network, FTP is the process in which you can get files from one computer to another computer across the globe.

Most of the time that other computer is going to be your Web hosting server, which in itself is a computer.

Think of it as your Web page files taking a hike across the country in a few seconds. No need to pack the camping gear, get out the toothbrush or even a change of underwear. With the high speed Internet access we have today even larger files can be moved pretty quickly.

FTP came to be way before the time of the Internet we know and love today. It was first used as only a series of text comands to move files from one computer to another over a network. While it hasn’t evolved from the main purpose it had, it has “grown up” I guess you could say. Now we use programs such as SmartFTP or CuteFTP to do the work for us.

Many of these FTP programs have features on top of features. The only ones you will probably ever use though is the act of connecting to your Web server to upload or download files, documents and folders.

Everybody and their grandmother should know that a Web site should be easy to use. You shouldn’t have to hunt for navigational links. You should be trying to guess if that is content, a trick or an ad. Over the past few years more and more Web sites have started to take the trickery out of Web site content. However there are still a few that are in the dark. Not all fools are bad fools though.

Some may have just not spent much time wondering how useable is their Web site content. Now is the time to wonder, are you one of those people or not? Which side of the fence do you sit on? Either way you may want to check out the following.

Meghan Whitmore, a contributing writer for The Dev Web, has written up a nice guide for any new folks in the proverbial house on the importance of Web site content usability.

When we say, “content”, we mean your website copy, your message. Web sites have a million different messages and a million different ways to say things, but there are some basic content usability guidelines that are appropriate for everyone.

First one should realize that when internet users “read” a web page, they do not read it as carefully as they would, say, a book. They scan. In a 1997 study by Jakob Nielsen and John Morkes, 79% of the people tested scanned pages, while only 16 % read word-for-word. For one reason, they aren’t sure if this web page even has the information they need. Another reason is that people are simply impatient and looking for where to click next.

For a few more resources on useability in the Web site creation world, check out these links:

Do-It-Yourself Usability Testing: Your Questions Answered

Web Site Usability And You

There is no doubt that content useability is an important issue. Content is the meat and potatoes of any Web site and should not be ignored. More times than not though it is overlooked, but not ignored. With the rush to get banner ads and click through rates, you can not forget that the reason a person is coming to the Web page if for what you have written within the walls of links, extras and ads.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but it has been a busy few days and will probably be a busy few more days. There’s always the weekend to look forward to though! By Sunday night I hope to have at least the introduction done. Now much as far as news on the book today. I did notice however I am already number two on a Google search for “Web Hosting Book”. High expectations, I know!

Having received several E-mails already about readers’ thoughts on my Web hosting book, I’ve heard the good and the bad. Some people say it isn’t worth the trouble to write if I am going to aim it for the person who has yet to even enter the world of Web hosting. My answer to that is I do believe that group of people are a good audience to try to reach. However though, I want to write something anybody can pick up, enjoy and learn. If they begin their Web hosting ways there? Good! If they find out something that leads to them switching to a better Web host? Even better!

In other news, I’ve been searching for a good search feed for my own name that I could track via a RSS feed. So far the one that has been giving me the best results is blogdigger. It is the best at tracking what I have written for both this blog and Lockergnome. Unfortunately not too many of the other places I write for are that into syndication.

I have been writing articles, tutorials and guides for well over a year now. For the most part, I believe I’ve done pretty well for myself. I’ve been carried by over a dozen different Web sites. With my Web site and blog combined, I get at least 500 folks going through my personal pages daily. It is time for a new challenge though.

I have sat on this idea for well over six months now, trying to measure the advantages with the disadvantages. Luckily, the advantages have won so I am making it official.

Mitch Keeler is starting to write his first book.

Right now I am still in the planning stages. Honestly, I have yet to even come up with a name. From now till the date it is done though, I will keep everybody updated on the matter here at my blog. As far as the subject matter goes, it will be about the wacky world of Web hosting. If you have read any of my previous articles and posts, you can tell this is a favorite muse of mine. There is so much unknown by the average user these days that stays unknown. Hopefully I will be able to write a book for your average Joe or Jane on the street so they too can understand what Web hosting is.

The majority of the book will be myself explaining the ins and outs of the Web hosting business, along with a few short funny stories I witnessed first hand during my career as a Web hosting lacky. I do believe it will be something worth reading.

So let me know what feedback, thoughts, and anything else you might have in mind for me during my writing process.

This was part three of a three part article series I did for Lockergnome’s Web Developers. The reason for the articles was that I had a few people wanting more information after I had previously written about the diffrences (shared, reseller, dedicated) between Web hosting plans. Enjoy!

More About Web Hosting Differences – 1 of 3

A few Gnomies have been writing me ever since I posted my article about differences in the Web hosting world as it relates to the different plan options you have to choose from. Here’s one of those messages:

Hi Mitch, great article but where are the meat and potatoes? I want to know more about what makes these all different and how to choose the right one. I’m new to the web hosting world so could you help me?

Read the rest of “More About Web Hosting Differences – 1 of 3″ at Lockergnome!

More About Web Hosting Differences – 2 of 3

Yesterday I told you of the exciting world of virtual Web hosting. After all the thankful E-mails and pumpkin pie recipes I received, I do not know if I can top myself. Honestly the world of Web hosting is not that confusing to learn about.

You just have to get some of the basic knowledge down then the world will open up to you with new possibilities and uncharted horizons. After having a virtual Web hosting plan for a while, you might realize you want to expand into a reseller account. What is a Web hosting reseller account?

Read the rest of “More About Web Hosting Differences – 2 of 3″ at Lockergnome!

More About Web Hosting Differences – 3 of 3

Over the past two days I have done my best to try to go in further detail about the differences in the Web hosting world. We have gone into further discussion about both virtual Web hosting and reseller Web hosting and I hope you have been able to pick up a few nuggets of knowledge along the way. Now is the time to start talking about the big daddy of the Web hosting accounts, your buddy and mine, Mister dedicated Web hosting.

Read the rest of “More About Web Hosting Differences – 3 of 3″ at Lockergnome!

Usage Statistics are very important to have. They give you endless amounts of data that you can use to shape the future of your own Web site. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can find out if your latest idea is working or what you might need to do to get more visitors to your Web site. Anybody who wants a successful Web site Online needs usage statistics about their visitors.

Read the rest of, “What are Usage Statistics?” at Lockergnome!

E-mail is something we all get and soon we will not be able to exist without it. In the time we live in today it is becoming more and more important to have a place to be reached on the Internet. At one time, being able to check your E-mail through a client, like Outlook Express, was enough.

Well that was then, and this is now. The new quick way to keep up to date with your Web hosting ways is Web Mail. Web mail is an a way to check your E-mail without ever leaving your browser of choice. Looking much like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or Gmail, Web Mail is usually offered as a part of your Web hosting package at purchase of a Web hosting plan.

Some Web hosting companies may offer several different programs to choose from. The most popular Web mail clients are: Horde, SquirrelMail, and NeoMail. All three have what you could expect from your basic interface and look much like the Hotmail or Yahoo Mail systems. You will have your inbox, sent messages, drafts and any of the other standard folders as well. It is worth mentioning though that these programs do not work well together. Just because you create a folder inside Horde that does not mean NeoMail can see it. The best thing to do is find which one you like the best, and stick with it.

How can you tell if your Web hosting plan has a Web mail account? That it easy. Login to your control panel your Web host offered you, then look under your mail settings. For my control panel (cPanel) it is located on the first page under “E-Mail”. Depending on your control panel or Web host it might be located somewhere different. You might also ask your Web host if they provide it, if you are not sure where to look.

What are the advantages of using Web mail? Well now you can check your mail on the go. If you happen to be at a friend’s house you can get on his computer and check for new messages in just a few seconds. Also, there’s no need to install any new programs or software yourself. The beauty of Web mail is it can be run from anywhere with an Internet connection and a standard Web browser.