DNS - Domain Name System
DNS is a network of servers that translate host names like www.aloha.net into numeric IP (Internet Protocol) addresses like 204.94.112.37. Computers and routers on the Internet use these numeric IP addresses to communicate. Without DNS, we'd have to remember these numbers instead of URLs or host names.

All you have to do is pick a registrar and register the name you want. Of course, it has to be a name no one's already using.

Registration prodecures differ from registrar to registrar, but normally include the following:

• You provide information about yourself and your organization.
• You provide name server information.
• You pay a fee.

You will have to provide your Contact Info -- usually your name, physical address, phone number, and email address. There are usually three contacts you must provide -- an administrative contact, a technical contact, and a billing contact. We ask that you use us as your technical contact whenever we're hosting your domain. (see the next question for details.) This Contact Info will be publicly available on the Internet.

You will have to provide name server or DNS information. This information will be entered into the global network of DNS servers so that any device on the Internet can find your website and email servers will know where to send your email. (see the next question for the name server information, or the question after that for more details.)

Your registrar will charge you to register your domain, even if you are a non-profit organization. The amount varies from registrar to registrar and will also depend on how long you want to keep your domain. You will have to visit the different registrars for more details.

We normally ask that you register us as your technical contact. Our contact "handle" is HN2644-ORG Our contact information is:

    HOL Network Operations (HN2644-ORG)             hostmaster@ALOHA.NET
       Hawaii Online
       737 Bishop St. Suite 1900
       Honolulu, HI 96813  US
       (808) 791-1000 Fax- (808) 791-3119
      

You will also need our DNS server information:

hostname inoa01.aloha.net inoa02.aloha.net

IP address 64.75.176.66 64.75.176.12

All domains on the Internet need to be hosted somewhere. When we "host" your domain, it means we will keep your domain's IP address information on our DNS servers. This IP address information is critical for devices on the Internet to find your website, and for email servers to know where to send your domain's email. By using our DNS servers' information when registering your domain, you're telling the world where this critical information about your domain is kept. Domain hosting is included with your HOL web site.

Traditionally, dot-coms (.com) are used for for-profit companies, dot-nets (.net) are used for organizations involved in Internet infrastructure, and dot-orgs (.org) are used for non-profit organizations. There are no rules, however, that state it must be this way. If you can get one, there's no technical reason why you can't get them all (unless, of course, someone's already using it).

There are other TLDs (Top Level Domains) like .mil, .edu, or .gov. These are reserved for military, universities, and goverment institutions, respectively. There are also international TLDs that end in a two-letter country code, like .uk, .us, or .jp. Some registrars will let you register a domain in some international TLDs, but for the most part, you're limited to .com, .org, and .net.

No, but that's traditionally how it's done. Nearly everyone will expect to find your website at www.mydomain.com, so you may lose many visitors if you use an unconventional URL.

Yes. There are two ways to do this. Let's say, for example, you have a main site for your customers, and you want a second site for your vendors (a B2B site). Your customer site would be called www.mydomain.com (since this is where the general public would expect to find your site.)

If you wanted your B2B site to be called http://b2b.mydomain.com, it would be a completely seperate website. It would have its own username and password, its own logs and statistics, and you'd have to pay for it as another website.

If you wanted to avoid the cost and complications of having another website, you could simply make your B2B site a directory off your main site. Its URL would be http://www.mydomain.com/b2b, and it wouldn't cost anything extra.

Forward DNS translates hostnames like www.aloha.net to IP addresses like 204.94.112.37. Reverse DNS translates IP addresses like 204.94.112.37 to hostnames like www.aloha.net. The forward and reverse information isn't kept in the same database (as you might expect), so forward and reverse information may not always match.

As humans, we really only use forward DNS because we memorize domain names, not IP addresses. Machines, however, use reverse DNS all the time, most commonly as a fundamental security precaution. If you can send email from only certain computers or only to certain places, or if you are unable to download US-only encryption software, you are probably having a reverse DNS problem.

These are organizations that oversee certain aspects of the Internet. You can learn more about each organization by visiting their website:
 
IANA

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority - Check out their website, particularly their FAQs.
 
ARIN

American Registry for Internet Numbers - Check out their website, particularly the About ARIN page.
 
ICANN

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - For more information, visit their website.
 
InterNIC

For more information, visit their website.
 
Network Solutions, Inc.

For more information, visit their website.

You can find a list of accredited registrars at the InterNIC's site.

The best way to learn more about DNS is to do a search for "dns" on any popular search engine, like Google, HotBot, or Yahoo!. If you don't find anything helpful, try these links:

• FAQ on the InterNIC site (a good one for beginners)
• comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains FAQ