Introduction to Web Hosting Technology – ICT 212

Course Lecturer: Ferguson Ogene

Course Units: 3
Lecture and Lab

Lesson 1: Web Technology?

Web Technology can be defined as the interface between web servers and web Clients. Computers
require codes, or directions. These binary codes and commands allow computers to process
needed information. Every second, billions upon billions of ones and zeros are processed in order
to provide you with the information you need.
Web technology is the establishment and use of mechanisms that make it possible for different
computers to communicate and share resources. Web technologies are infrastructural building
blocks of any effective computer network: Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area
Network (MAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as the Internet. Communication on a
computer could never be as effective as they are without the plethora of web technologies in
existence.
When we talk about the Internet, what we’re actually referring to is an interconnected network of
computers (hence, internet). Some of these computers are web servers, which are just specialized
computers that contain and serve content from your favourite websites, and others are just the
client devices we use every day, like our laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. To make this
discussion easier, take a look at the drawing below which I’ll be using for my internet analogy:
Some examples of web technology are:
Client side technologies:
 HTML, CSS , JavaScript ,VBScript
 XHTML, DHTML, WML, AJAX

Server side technologies:

 ASP, PHP, Perl, JSP
 ASP.NET, Java
 MySQL, SQL Server, Access.

How the internet works

The Internet is a global network of computers each computer connected to the Internet must have
a unique address. Internet addresses are in the form nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn where nnn must be a number
from 0 - 255. This address is known as an IP address. (IP stands for Internet Protocol; more on this
later.)The picture below illustrates two computers connected to the Internet; your computer with
IP address 1.2.3.4 and another computer with IP address 5.6.7.8.
If you connect to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you are usually assigned
a temporary IP address for the duration of your dial-in session. If you connect to the Internet from
a local area network (LAN) your computer might have a permanent IP address or it might obtain a
temporary one from a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server. In any case, if you
are connected to the Internet, your computer has a unique IP address.
Protocol stack is used to communicate between computers on the internet. Every computer needs
one to communicate on the Internet and it is usually built into the computer's operating system.
The protocol stack used on the Internet is referred to as the TCP/IP protocol stack because of the
two major communication protocols used. The TCP/IP stack looks like this:
Protocol Layer Comments
Application Protocols Layer Protocols specific to applications such as WWW, e-mail, FTP,
etc.
Transmission Control Protocol TCP directs packets to a specific application on a computer
Layer using a port number.
Internet Protocol Layer IP directs packets to a specific computer using an IP address.
Hardware Layer Converts binary packet data to network signals and back.
(E.g. ethernet network card, modem for phone lines, etc.)

1. The message would start at the top of the protocol stack on your computer and work its way
downward.
2. If the message to be sent is long, each stack layer that the message passes through may break
the message up into smaller chunks of data. This is because data sent over the Internet (and
most computer networks) are sent in manageable chunks. On the Internet, these chunks of
data are known as packets.
 3. The packets would go through the Application Layer and continue to the TCP layer. Each
packet is assigned a port number. Ports will be explained later, but suffice to say that many
programs may be using the TCP/IP stack and sending messages. We need to know which
program on the destination computer needs to receive the message because it will be
listening on a specific port.
4. After going through the TCP layer, the packets proceed to the IP layer. This is where each
packet receives its destination address, 5.6.7.8.
5. Now that our message packets have a port number and an IP address, they are ready to be
sent over the Internet. The hardware layer takes care of turning our packets containing the
alphabetic text of our message into electronic signals and transmitting them over the phone
line.
6. On the other end of the phone line your ISP has a direct connection to the Internet. The
ISPs router examines the destination address in each packet and determines where to send
it. Often, the packet's next stop is another router. More on routers and Internet infrastructure
later.
7. Eventually, the packets reach computer 5.6.7.8. Here, the packets start at the bottom of the
destination computer's TCP/IP stack and work upwards.
8. As the packets go upwards through the stack, all routing data that the sending computer's
stack added (such as IP address and port number) is stripped from the packets.
9. When the data reaches the top of the stack, the packets have been re-assembled into their
original form, "Hello computer 5.6.7.8!"

The web environment

One of the most commonly used services on the Internet is the World Wide Web (WWW). The
application protocol that makes the web work is Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP. Do not
confuse this with the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML is the language used to write
web pages. HTTP is the protocol that web browsers and web servers use to communicate with
each other over the Internet. It is an application level protocol because it sits on top of the TCP
layer in the protocol stack and is used by specific applications to talk to one another. In this case
the applications are web browsers and web servers.
HTTP is a connectionless text based protocol. Clients (web browsers) send requests to web servers
for web elements such as web pages and images. After the request is serviced by a server, the
connection between client and server across the Internet is disconnected. A new connection must
be made for each request. Most protocols are connection oriented. This means that the two
computers communicating with each other keep the connection open over the Internet. HTTP does
not however. Before an HTTP request can be made by a client, a new connection must be made to
the server.

When you type a URL into a web browser, this is what happens:

1. If the URL contains a domain name, the browser first connects to a domain name server and
retrieves the corresponding IP address for the web server.
2. The web browser connects to the web server and sends an HTTP request (via the protocol
stack) for the desired web page.
3. The web server receives the request and checks for the desired page. If the page exists, the
web server sends it. If the server cannot find the requested page, it will send an HTTP 404
error message.
 4. The web browser receives the page back and the connection is closed.
5. The browser then parses through the page and looks for other page elements it needs to
complete the web page. These usually include images, applets, etc.
6. For each element needed, the browser makes additional connections and HTTP requests to
the server for each element.
7. When the browser has finished loading all images, applets, etc. the page will be completely
loaded in the browser window.

What is a Website?

A website is a collection of related web pages, including multimedia content, typically identified
with a common domain name, and published on at least one web server. Notable examples are
pti.edu.ng, wikipedia.org, google.com, and amazon.com.
A website may be accessible via a public Internet Protocol (IP) network, such as the Internet, or a
private local area network (LAN), by referencing a uniform resource locator (URL) that identifies
the site. All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World Wide Web, while
private websites, such as a company's website for its employees, are typically a part of an intranet.
Web pages, which are the building blocks of websites, are documents, typically composed in plain
text interspersed with formatting instructions of HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE (HTML,
XHTML). They may incorporate elements from other websites with suitable markup anchors.
Web pages are accessed and transported with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which may
optionally employ encryption (HTTP Secure, HTTPS) to provide security and privacy for the user.
If you want to view web pages on different websites, you will need to use a program called a
'browser'. This acts as your door to the internet. Browsers are all slightly different, but they all
allow you to 'surf' the internet and access different websites.

There are two types of website

 Static website
 Dynamic website
Static website

Static sites are the most basic type of website and are the easiest to create. Unlike dynamic
websites, they do not require any Web programming or database design. A static site can be built
by simply creating a few HTML pages and publishing them to a Web server. Since static Web
pages contain fixed code, the content of each page does not change unless it is manually updated
by the webmaster.

Dynamic website

Dynamic websites contain Web pages that are generated in real-time. These pages include Web
scripting code, such as PHP or ASP. When a dynamic page is accessed, the code within the page is
parsed on the Web server and the resulting HTML is sent to the client's Web browser.
Most large websites are dynamic, since they are easier to maintain than static websites. This is
because static pages each contain unique content, meaning they must be manually opened, edited,
and published whenever a change is made. Dynamic pages, on the other hand, access information
from a database.

Scripting Language

As earlier mentioned, there is client-side technology and server-side technology in web

development. In creating web pages, the developer has to know the difference scripting languages:

Client side scripting language

The client-side environment used to run scripts is usually a browser. The processing takes place on
the end users computer. The source code is transferred from the web server to the user’s computer
over the internet and run directly in the browser.
They are usually used to
 Make interactive webpages.
 Make stuff happen dynamically on the web page.
 Interact with temporary storage, and local storage (Cookies, localStorage).
 Send requests to the server, and retrieve data from it.
 Provide a remote service for client-side applications, such as software registration, content
delivery, or remote multi-player gaming.

Example languages:
 JavaScript (primarily)
  HTML*
 CSS*

Any language running on a client device that interacts with a remote service is a client-side
language.

Server side scripting language

The server-side environment that runs a scripting language is a web server. A user's request is
fulfilled by running a script directly on the web server to generate dynamic HTML pages. This
HTML is then sent to the client browser. It is usually used to provide interactive web sites that
interface to databases or other data stores on the server.
Server-side programming, is the general name for the kinds of programs which are run on the
Server. used for
 Process user input.
 Display pages.
 Structure web applications.
 Interact with permanent storage (SQL, files).

Example Languages:
 PHP
 Python
 ASP.Net in C#, C++, or Visual Basic.

Web developer web designer

A web developer is a programmer who Web designers are responsible for the design
focuses on the development of Web of the visual layout of websites.
applications, or applications that are run over
HTTP from a web server to a web browser.
Care about website functionality Cares about the look and feel of the website

Web Design and Application

Web Design and Applications involve the standards for building and Rendering Web pages,
including HTML, CSS, SVG, device APIs, and other technologies for Web Applications
(“WebApps”). It covers the following areas:
 HTML & CSS: HTML and CSS are the fundamental technologies for building Web pages:
HTML (html and xhtml) for structure, CSS for style and layout, including Web Fonts.
 JavaScript Web APIs: Standard APIs for client-side Web Application development include
those for Geolocation, XMLHttpRequest, and mobile widgets. W3C standards for document
 models (the “DOM”) and technologies such as XBL allow content providers to create
interactive documents through scripting.
 Graphics: W3C is the home of the widely deployed PNG raster format, SVG vector format,
and the Canvas API. WebCGM is a more specialized format used, for example, in the fields
of automotive engineering, aeronautics
 Accessibility: W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has published Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to help authors create content that is accessible to people
with disabilities.
 Audio and Video: Some of the W3C formats that enable authoring audio and video
presentations include HTML, SVG, and SMIL (for synchronization). W3C is also working
on a timed text format for captioning and other applications.
 Internationalization: W3C has a mission to design technology that works across cultures and
languages. W3C standards such as HTML and XML are built on Unicode, for instance.
 Mobile Web: W3C promotes “One Web” that is available on any device. W3C’s Mobile
Web Best Practices help authors understand how to create content that provides a reasonable
experience on a wide variety of devices, contexts, and locations.
 Privacy: The Web is a powerful tool for communications and transactions of all sorts. It is
important to consider privacy and security implications of the Web as part of technology
design.
 Math on the Web: Mathematics and formula are used on the Web for business reports,
education materials and scientific research. W3C’s MathML enables mathematics to be
served, received, and processed on the World Wide Web, just as HTML has enabled this
functionality for other types of content.
Essential Questions and Answers?

How does the Web work? How can I make my own Web Site?

What is a Web Host? What is an Internet Service Provider?

What is the Internet?

 The Web is a network of computers all over the world.

 All the computers in the Web can communicate with each other.
 All the computers use a communication standard called HTTP for web services.

How does the WWW work?

 Web information is stored in documents called web pages.

 Web pages are files stored on computers called web servers.
 Computers reading the web pages are called web clients.
 Web clients view the pages with a program called a web browser.
 Popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

How does a Browser Fetch a Web Page?

 A browser fetches a page from a web server by a request.

 A request is a standard HTTP request containing a page address.
 An address may look like this: http://www.someone.com/page.htm.

How does a Browser Display a Web Page?

 All web pages contain instructions for display

 The browser displays the page by reading these instructions.
 The most common display instructions are called HTML tags.
 HTML tags look like this <p>This is a Paragraph</p>.

What is a Web Server?

 The collection of all your web pages is called your web site.
 To let others view your work, you must publish your web site.
 To publish your work, you must copy your site to a web server.
 Your own PC can act as a web server if it is connected to a network.
 Most common is to use an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
What is an Internet Service Provider?

 ISP stands for Internet Service Provider.

 An ISP provides Internet services.
 A common Internet service is web hosting.
 Web hosting means storing your web site on a public server.
 Web hosting normally includes email services.
 Web hosting often includes domain name registration.

Summary

If you want other people to view your web site, you must copy your site to a public server. Even if
you can use your own PC as a web server, it is more common to let an Internet Service Provider
(ISP) host your site.

Included in a Web hosting solution you can expect to find domain name registration and standard
email services.

You can read more about domain name registration, email and other services in the subsequent
lessons of this notes.

Lesson 2: Web Hosting

Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or web page
onto the Internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the
technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed in the Internet.
Websites are hosted, or stored, on special computers called servers. When Internet users want to
view your website, all they need to do is type your website address or domain into their browser.
Their computer will then connect to your server and your webpages will be delivered to them
through the browser.
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy,
authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of
the Domain Name Server.
Most hosting companies require that you own your domain in order to host with them. If you do
not have a domain, the hosting companies will help you purchase one.
Web hosting is an essential service for anyone that wants to set up a website. Without a web host,
you cannot share your website with any users. It basically provides all of the services and
technology that is required to get your website onto the internet including storage space/servers.

There are many hosting companies that will offer to take care of your technology requirements
and you can pretty much pick and choose how much support you require from such businesses
depending on how much you want to spend, your own knowledge or experience and how much
control you want to have over the hosting.

Of course, the expense is a key driver in any decision around your web hosting solution and you
may opt to go for one of the free web hosting options that are available. What you should be
mindful of, however, is that free web hosting can leave you in a position where you are at the
mercy of the supplier. For example, if sites have downtime, or they decide to add cost further
down the line.

There are a number of different types of web hosts and depending on the size of your business and
your business priorities, you can choose the most relevant type of web host.

There are some things to consider when choosing a web hosting company, some include the
following:
 24 x 7 reliability guaranteed
 Plenty of storage capacity and fast data transfer
 Email addresses dedicated to your business
 Easy and affordable business website updates and redesigns
 Security of the very highest level
 Broadband allocation.

Types of Web Hosting Services/Packages

There are different kinds of web hosting being offered by web hosting companies. when
choosing a hosting package, it's not a matter of separating the "good" from the "bad," but rather
determining the right Web hosting solution for you – whether it's shared website hosting,
dedicated Web hosting or virtual private server (VPS) hosting. While all types of Web hosting
servers will act as a storage centre for your website's content, they differ in the amount of space,
control, and reliability they offer.

1. Free Hosting

There are a number of hosts that advertise as being free, including popular CMS WordPress.
Usually, there are some drawbacks to this, such as the host may use your website to display banner
ads and also that you don’t have any control over the service, so the host may remove the service
at some point.

Good: Bad:

Low cost. It's free. No domain names.

Good for family, hobby or personal sites. Few, limited, or no software options.

Free email is often an option. Limited security options.

Limited or no database support.

Limited technical support.

2. Shared Hosting

With shared website hosting, multiple websites "go live" on the same server and split the cost
charged by the Web hosting company. This makes shared Web hosting the most cost-effective
Web hosting solution.
This is generally the more popular out of the hosts for people first set up. It basically means that
you share some server space with other people’s sites. You can usually set this up with relatively
low costs as the web host generates their fees through allowing multiple users to use their server.
Again, there will be some negatives associated with this approach including the need to upgrade
your account as your site increases in size.

There is a chance of higher downtime and the space and bandwidth shortage limitations that come
with sharing servers. That said you can look for a Web hosting service that guarantees uptime and
has the space and bandwidth you need at a reasonable cost.

Good: Bad:

Low cost. Cost is shared with others. Reduced security due to many sites on one
server.
Good for small business and average traffic. Restrictions on traffic volume.

Multiple software options. Restricted database support.

Own domain name. Restricted software support.

Good support

3. VPS Hosting

VPS is a Virtual Private Server whereby you share the server with other users but a single server is
portioned so, in essence, it is similar to having your own dedicated server. The difference from a
dedicated server is that as multiple VPSs will be sharing hardware the performance may be
affected.

For some, VPS hosting (also known as virtual dedicated hosting) is a Web hosting solution that
can be the best of both worlds – a middle ground between shared and dedicated Web hosting.
After all, use of a virtual private server (VPS) gives you the control and flexibility of dedicated
Web hosting at a lower cost.
While you will technically be sharing the same server with other websites, that server will be
divided into multiple "virtual" private servers. Each VPS operates independently without
interfering with the VPS hosting of other websites on the same system. You'll have total
administrative control over the VPS software, without any of the added costs associated with
hardware and maintenance that dedicated Web hosting requires.

4. Dedicated Server Hosting

This option means that the web host provides you with a physical server, giving you full control
over the server and selecting the operating system. With dedicated Web hosting, you'll be the only
website on the server – meaning that all the space, bandwidth and server access is "dedicated"
to hosting your website alone. This exclusive relationship between the Web hosting server and
your website makes dedicated Web hosting the most reliable of its kind.
This option is generally used for larger, more established websites with large amounts of traffic.

The problem for many is that it's also the most expensive. The space you rent on a server will
function as your website's home, so it makes sense to think of dedicated Web hosting as renting
a home that you'll live in alone. You won't have to worry about anyone infringing upon your
space – but you won't get any help paying the bills either.

Good: Bad:
Good for large business. Expensive.

Good for high traffic. Requires higher skills.

Multiple domain names.

Powerful email solutions.

Powerful database support.

Strong (unlimited) software support.

5. Collocated Hosting

Collocation means "co-location". It is a solution that lets you place (locate) your own web server
on the premises (locations) of a service provider.

This is pretty much the same as running your own server in your own office, only that it is located
at a place better designed for it.

Most likely a provider will have dedicated resources like high-security against fire and vandalism,
regulated backup power, dedicated Internet connections and more.

Good: Bad:

High bandwidth. Expensive.

High up-time. Requires higher skills.

High security. Harder to configure and debug.

Unlimited software options.

6. Managed Hosting

Due to the large usage of WordPress, some web hosts offer a managed WordPress hosting service.
They basically take care of everything for you in terms of SEO, security, and backups and provide
expertise in all elements of running your website.
Web Hosting Providers

If you want your web site to be visible to the world, you have to store it on a web server.

Most small businesses and companies store their web site on a server provided by an
Internet Service Provider (ISP).

a) Hosting Your Own Web

Hosting your web site on your own server is always an option. Here are some problems to
consider:

 Hardware Expenses

To run a "real" web site, you will have to buy some powerful server hardware. Don't expect that a
low cost PC will do the job. You will also need a permanent (24 hours a day ) high speed
broadband connection to your office, and such connections are expensive.

 Software Expenses

Don't forget to count the extra cost for software licenses. Remember that server licenses often are
much higher than client licenses. Also note that some server software licenses might have limits
on number of concurrent users.

 Labour Expenses

Don't expect low labour expenses. Remember that you have to install your own hardware and
software. You also have to deal with bugs and viruses, and keep your server constantly running in
an environment where "everything could happen".

b) Using an Internet Service Provider

Renting a server from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a common option. Here are some
advantages:

 Connection Speed

Most providers have very fast connections to the Internet, like full T3 fiber-optic 45Mps
connections equivalent to about 2000 traditional (28K) modems or 1000 high speed (56K)
modems.
  Powerful Hardware

Service providers often have many powerful web servers that can be shared by several companies.
You can also expect them to have an effective load balancing, and necessary backup servers.

 Security and Stability

Internet Service Providers are specialists on web hosting. Expect their servers to have more than
99% up time, the latest software patches, and the best virus protection.

Things to Consider in Choosing an ISP

 24-hour support

Make sure your Internet service provider offers 24-hours support. Don't put yourself in a situation
where you cannot fix critical problems without having to wait until the next working day. Toll-
free phone could be vital if you don't want to pay for long distance calls.

 Daily Backup

Make sure your service provider runs a secure daily backup routine, otherwise you may lose some
valuable data.

 Traffic Volume

Study the provider's traffic volume restrictions. Make sure that you don't have to pay a fortune for
unexpected high traffic if your web site becomes popular.

 Bandwidth or Content Restrictions

Study the provider's bandwidth and content restrictions. If you plan to publish pictures or
broadcast video or sound, make sure that you can.

 Email Capabilities

Make sure your provider fully supports the email capabilities you need. (You can read more about
email capabilities in a later chapter)

 Front Page Extensions

Make sure your provider fully supports FrontPage server extensions if you plan to use FrontPage
to develop your site.

 Database Access

Make sure your provider fully supports the database access you need if you plan to use databases
from your site.
Hosting and Domain Names

A Domain Name is a unique name for your web site.

Choosing a hosting solution should include domain name registration.

Your domain name should be easy to remember and easy to type.

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is a unique name for a web site, like pti.edu.ng.

Domain names must be registered. When domain names are registered they are added to a large
domain name register, and information about your site - including your internet IP address - is
stored on a DNS server.

DNS stands for Domain Name System. A DNS server is responsible for informing all other
computers on the Internet about your domain name and your site address.

Registering a Domain

Domains can be registered from domain name registration companies such

as http://www.dotdnr.com.

These companies provide interfaces to search for available domain names and they offer a variety
of domain name extensions that can be registered at the same time.

Domain Name Registration provides registration services for .com .net .org .biz .info .us .nu .ws
.cc and .tv domains.

Newer domain extensions such as .biz .info and .us have more choices available as many of the
popular domains have yet to be taken. While .com and .net domains are well established and
recognized, most popular domains with these extensions are already registered.

Choosing Your Domain

Choosing a domain is a major step for any individual or organization.

While domains are being registered at a record, new domain extensions and creative thinking still
offer thousands of excellent choices. When selecting a name it is important to consider the
purpose of a domain name, which is to provide people an easy way to reach your web site. The
best domains have the following characteristics:

Short - People don't like to type! The shorter your domain, the easier it is to reach and the less are
the chance the user will make a typographical error while typing it.

Meaningful - A short domain is nothing without meaning, 34i4nh69.com is only 8 characters long
but would not be easy to enter or remember. Select a domain that relates to your site in a way that
people will understand.

Clear - Clarity is important when selecting a domain name. You should avoid selecting a name
that is difficult to spell or pronounce. Also, pay close attention to how your domain sounds and
how effectively it can be communicated over the phone.

Legal to possess: When registering a domain name, it’s possible to accidentally infringe on
someone’s trademark. For example, using a domain name like cocacola.blog, it would put you in a
lot of legal trouble. It’s always a good idea to make sure the name you’re planning to register
doesn’t infringe on any trademarks. The easiest way to check this is to simply search the terms
you’re interested in.

Exposure: Just like premium real-estate on the ground that gets the most exposure, names that are
short and easy to remember are an asset. In addition to humans viewing your domain, you should
consider search engines. Search engines index your site and rank it for relevance against terms
people search for online. In order to maximize your sites exposure, consider including a relevant
search term in your domain. Of course, this should only be considered if it still maintains a short,
clear and meaningful domain.

Sub Domains

Most people are unaware but they already use sub domains on a daily basis. The famous "www"
of the World Wide Web is the most common example of a sub domain. Sub domains can be
created on a DNS server and they don't need to be registered with a domain registrar, of course,
the original domain would need to be registered before a sub domain could be created. Common
examples of sub domains used on the internet are http://store.apple.com and
http://support.microsoft.com.

Sub domains can be requested from your web hosting provider or created by yourself if you
manage your own DNS server.

False Domain Names - Directory Listings

Some providers will offer you a unique name under their own name
like: www.theircompany.com/yourcompany/
This is not a real domain name, it is a directory - and you should try to avoid it.

These URLs are not desirable, especially for companies. Try to avoid them if you can afford to
register a domain. Typically these are more commonly used for personal sites and free sites
provided by your ISP, you may have seen www.theircompany.com/~username as a common
address, this is just another way to share a single domain and provide users their own address.

Open competition in domain name registration has brought about a dramatic decrease in pricing so
domain sharing is far less common since people can register their own domains for only $15 per
year.

Expired Domains

Another source for domain registrations is expired domains. When you register a domain, think of
it as a rental, assuming there are no legal or trademark issues with the domain name, you are free
to use it as long as you continue to pay the yearly fee (you can now also register in advance as
many as 10 years). Some people register domains as speculators, hoping that they can later sell
them, while others may have planned to use a domain and never had the time. The result is that
domains that were previously registered regularly become available for registration again. You can
see, and search through a list of recently expired domains for free at http://www.dotdnr.com. If
you wish to register an expired domain you pay the same fee as you would for a new registration.

Use Your Domain Name

After you have chosen - and registered - your own domain name, make sure you use it on all your
web pages and on all your correspondence, like email and traditional mail.

It is important to let other people be aware of your name, and to inform your partners and
customers about your web site.

DotDNR offers .com .net .org .ws .cc and .tv domains for as little as $15 per year.

In addition, you can transfer your domain to DotDNR and add a full year to your existing
registration for only $15. Save $20 or more over other major registrars.

International domain name registration is also offered.

Hosting Capacities
Make sure you get the disk space and the traffic volume you need.

How Much Disk Space?

A small or medium web site will need between 10 and 100MB of disk space.

If you look at the size of HTML pages, you will see that the average size is very small. Maybe
even smaller than 1KB. But if you look at the size of the images (button, gif, banner, jpg) used
inside the pages, you will often find images many times larger than the page itself.

Expect each HTML page to take up between 5 and 50KB of disk space on your web server,
depending on the use of images or other space consuming elements.

If you plan to use lots of images or graphic elements (not to mention sound files or movies), you
might be needing much more disk space.

Make sure that you know your needs before you start looking for your web host.

Monthly Traffic

A small or medium web site will consume between 1GB and 5GB of data transfer per month.

You can calculate this by multiplying your average page size with the number of expected page
views per month. If your average page size is 30KB and you expect 50,000 page views per month,
you will need 0.03MB x 50,000 = 1.5GB.

Larger, commercial sites often consume more than 100GB of monthly traffic.

Before you sign a contract with a host provider, make sure to check this:

 What are the restrictions on monthly transfer

 Will your site be closed if you exceed the volume
 Will you be billed a fortune if you exceed the volume
 Will my future need be covered
 Is upgrading a simple task

Connection Speed

Visitors to your web site will often connect via a modem, but your host provider should have a
much faster connection.

In the early days of the Internet a T1 connection was considered a fast connection. Today
connection speeds are much faster.
1 byte equals to 8 bits (and that's the number of bits used to transport one character). Low speed
communication modems can transport from about 14 000 to 56 000 bits per second (14 to 56
kilobits per second). That is somewhere between 2000 and 7000 characters per second, or about 1
to 5 pages of written text.

One kilobit (Kb) is 1024 bits. One megabit (Mb) is 1024 kilobits. One gigabit (Gb) is 1024
megabits.

These are connection speeds used on the Internet today:

Name Connection Speed per second

Modem Analog 14.4-56Kb

D0 Digital (ISDN) 64Kb

T1 Digital 1.55Mb

T3 Digital 43Mb

OC-1 Optical Carrier 52Mb

OC-2 Optical Carrier 156Mb

OC-12 Optical Carrier 622Mb

OC-24 Optical Carrier 1.244Gb

OC-48 Optical Carrier 2.488Gb

Before you sign up a contract with any hosting provider, surf some other web sites on their
servers, and try to get a good feeling about their network speed. Also compare the other sites
against yours, to see if it looks like you have the same needs. Contacting some of the other
customers is also a valuable option.

Hosting Email Services

Hosting services should include proper Email Accounts and Email Services.

Email Accounts

Hosting solutions should include email accounts for each person in your company.

Email addresses should appear something like this:

[email protected]
[email protected]

[email protected]

POP Email

POP stands for Post Office Protocol. POP is a standard client/server protocol for sending and
receiving email.

The emails are received and held on your internet server until you pick it up with a client email
program, like Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird.

IMAP Email

IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. IMAP is another standard protocol for
sending and receiving email.

The emails are received and held on your internet server until you pick it up with a client email
program, like Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird.

IMAP represents an improvement over POP because email stored on an IMAP server can be
manipulated from several computers (a computer at home, a workstation at the office, etc.)
without having to transfer messages back and forth between computers. POP was designed to
support email access on a single computer.

Web-based Email

Web-based email services enable you to access email via a web browser. You log into your email
account via the Web to send and retrieve email. Being able to access your email from any browser
anywhere in the world is a very attractive option.

Examples of web-based email services are Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Hotmail.

Email Forwarding

Email forwarding allows you to have multiple email personalities.

With email forwarding, you can setup aliases for other email accounts like

[email protected] should be forwarded to [email protected]

[email protected] should be forwarded to [email protected]

Mailing Lists

Some service providers offer mailing list capabilities. This is a valuable plus if you plan sending
out email to a large number of users.

Web Hosting Server Technologies

This section describes some of the most common hosting server technologies.

Windows Hosting

Windows hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Windows operating system.

You should choose Windows hosting if you plan to use ASP (Active Server Pages) as server
scripting, or if you plan to use a database like Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server.
Windows hosting is also the best choice if you plan to develop your web site using Microsoft
Front Page.

Unix Hosting

Unix hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Unix operating system.

Unix was the first (original) web server operating system, and it is known for being reliable and
stable. Often less expensive than Windows.

Linux Hosting

Linux hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Linux operating system.

CGI

Web pages can be executed as CGI scripts. CGI scripts are executables that will execute on the
server to produce dynamic and interactive web pages.
Most Internet service providers will offer some kind of CGI capabilities. Internet service providers
will often offer preinstalled, ready to run, guest-books, page-counters, and chat-forums solutions
written in CGI scripts.

The use of CGI is most common on Unix or Linux servers.

ASP - Active Server Pages

Active Server Pages is a server-side scripting technology developed by Microsoft.

With ASP you can create dynamic web pages by putting script code inside your HTML pages. The
code is executed by the web server before the page is returned to the browser. Both Visual Basic
and JavaScript can be used.

ASP is a standard component in Windows 95,98, 2000, and XP. It can be activated on all
computers running Windows.

PHP

PHP is an open-source software and is a powerful server-side scripting language for creating
dynamic and interactive websites.

PHP is the widely-used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft's ASP.
PHP is perfectly suited for Web development and can be embedded directly into the HTML code.

The PHP syntax is very similar to Perl and C. PHP is often used together with Apache (web
server) on various operating systems. It also supports ISAPI and can be used with Microsoft's IIS
on Windows.

PHP supports many databases, such as MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL,
Generic ODBC, etc.

JSP

JSP is a server-side technology much like ASP developed by Sun.

With JSP you can create dynamic web pages by putting Java code inside your HTML pages. The
code is executed by the web server before the page is returned to the browser.

Since JSP uses Java, the technology is not restricted to any server-specific platform.
Cold Fusion

Cold Fusion is another server-side scripting language used to develop dynamic web pages.

Cold Fusion is developed by Macromedia.

Chili!Soft ASP

Microsoft's ASP technology runs only on Windows platforms.

However, Chili!Soft ASP is a software product that allows ASP to run on UNIX and some other
platforms.

Microsoft FrontPage

FrontPage is a website design tool developed by Microsoft.

FrontPage allows users to develop a web site without any deep knowledge of web development.

Most Windows hosting solutions support FrontPage server extensions for users that use FrontPage
to develop their web site.

If you plan to use FrontPage, you should look for a Windows hosting solution.

Adobe Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver is a website design tool owned by Adobe Systems.

Dreamweaver allows users to develop a web site without any deep knowledge of web
development.

Dreamweaver has support for web technologies such as CSS, JavaScript, ASP.NET, ColdFusion,
JavaServer Pages, and PHP.

Dreamweaver is available for both Mac and Windows operating systems.

Secure Server

A secure server can transmit data encrypted.

If you plan to do online credit card transactions, or other types of web communication that needs
to be protected against unauthorized access, your web host must provide a secure server.
Web Hosting Database Technologies

MS SQL Server or Oracle for high traffic database-driven web sites.

MySQL for low-cost database-access.

MS Access for low traffic web sites.

Web Databases

If your web site needs to update large quantities of information via the web, you will need a
database to store your information.

There are many different database systems available for web hosting. The most common are
MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, and MS Access.

Using the SQL Language

SQL is the language for accessing databases.

If you want your web site to be able to store and retrieve data from a database, your web server
should have access to a database-system that uses the SQL language.

SQL Server

Microsoft's SQL Server is a popular database software for database-driven web sites with high
traffic.

SQL Server is a very powerful, robust and full featured SQL database system.

Oracle

Oracle is also a popular database software for database-driven web sites with high traffic.

Oracle is a very powerful, robust and full featured SQL database system.

MySQL

MySQL is also a popular database software for web sites.

MySQL is a very powerful, robust and full featured SQL database system.

MySQL is an inexpensive alternative to the expensive Microsoft and Oracle solutions.

Access

When a web site requires only a simple database, Microsoft Access can be a solution.

Access is not well suited for very high-traffic, and not as powerful as MySQL, SQL Server, or
Oracle.

Control Panel

A control panel is the administration portion of your webhosting account. It is an interface that
you access to administer all the aspects of your account. You can typically control all portions of
your site within the control panel without using any additional software including FTP software to
upload files, though many people find it faster and easier to do so.

Some web hosts use customized, proprietary control panels but most use one of the more popular
platforms. Plesk is one of the control panel options that is preferred along with Server CP and
Virtuozzo. However, the leader is in the industry is CPanel. Although there are some variances
between the programs, they all have similar functionalities and features.

Control Panel Basics

Control panels offer basic information that can be useful for your site. One of the most important
aspects is your account at a glance. You can see how many resources you are using to ensure you
are not at risk of exceeding any limitations. There is typically a section where you can change
your password, set preferences such as the email address for notifications and the language you
prefer. You may see:

 Bandwidth usage for the month

 Disk space usage
 Hosting package
 Path to Perl
 Path to Sendmail
 IP Address
 Version identification
 Quantity of:
 MySQL databases
 FTP accounts
 Add on domains
 Email accounts
 Mailing lists
 Parked domains
Lesson 3: File Management

One of the most important aspects of a web hosting account is the actual content on your site. This
is where the file management system comes into play. Often this will include a means to backup
your files so you can download them for security purposes. This is the section where you can also
create FTP accounts so that you can use an FTP client for ease of uploading and downloading
documents to your site. The actual file manager allows you to view the document map of your site
so you can view all files, directories and sub directories. Within the file manager you are typically
able to:
 Create new folders/directories
 Create new files
 Move, copy and delete files and folders
 Upload and download files
 Change permissions

Email

The control panel also performs the important function of allowing you to administer your email
settings. This part allows you to create email addresses and set quotas for as many accounts as you
are allowed. You can also set a catch-all email if you have this functionality. You may also set up
mailing lists, auto responders and forwarders from this section.
Some hosts have the ability to check web mail from the control panel and some offer anti-spam
tools where you can choose whether or not to turn on a spam filter and modify your preferences on
how to handle emails marked as spam.
Statistics

Most control panels have a variety of statistical analysis options to help you optimize your site.
You may use the statistics to monitor security, analyze traffic for search engine optimization or
determine the efficiency of your site. Some of the data you can obtain from the provided statistics
include:
 Latest visitors
 Number of visitors to the site
 Referring website
 Browser used
 Where browser navigated to within site
 How long someone stayed on the site

Security
You can tighten the security of your site or enact special permissions for various parts of your site
with the security section. This is often where you can create password protected directories so any
information accessed from that area of your site requires a user name and a password. If you have
a problem with particular visitors you can block by IP to deny a particular IP or block of IPs from
accessing your site. You can also enable hot link protection so people do not use your images and
link directly to them, effectively stealing your bandwidth.
Applications
Many web hosts have available one click applications available to help enhance your website.
These may include third party software applications. Fantastico is an especially popular addition.
This is a bundled software package that includes multiple applications. Whether your host offers
Fantastico or not, you may see the following as additional software options in your hosting
account:
 Blogs
 Classified Ad Management
 Content Management Systems
 Customer Support Systems
 Forums/Discussion Boards
 Ecommerce Solutions
 FAQ Management
 Image Galleries
 Project Management
 Form Builders
 Site Builders

Control panel likely has more functions than you will ever use or may even be familiar with.
There are advanced options available and the ability to administer various parts of your site. Some
additional functions you may see in your control panel include:
 Internal links to help files or support
 Automatic notifications or news updates from your web host
 Image manager
 FrontPage extensions
 Cron jobs
 Network tools
 Apache handlers
 MIME types
 CGI center
 PHP administration
 MySQL settings
 PHPMyAdmin
 Domain management

File Transfer Protocol

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and is a connection method designed for transferring files
from a remote server to local computer, and vice versa. FTP is often used in corporate and
academic settings, and is the primary way of managing webpage servers.
FTP addresses on a webpage, are usually denoted in the same way as a usual webpage address—
with a couple of exceptions:
 For example, you might see ftp.example.com:21. This means that the address is
ftp.example.com and the port used is 21. You will need both of these when connecting to
the FTP server.
 If the FTP requires a username, it may be written as [email protected]:21 where
"username" is the required name.[1]
 If no username is specified, then you will usually need to enter "anonymous" as the username
when you connect. Note that you are not actually anonymous when you connect to a public
FTP; the host can see your IP address.

FTP may run in active or passive mode, which determines how the data connection is
established.
Active mode: The client starts listening for incoming data connections from the server. It sends
the FTP command to inform the server on which port it is listening. The server then initiates a
data channel to the client from its port, the FTP server data port

Connecting to File Transfer Server

There are three main ways to connect to FTP servers: via visual clients, via browser-based clients,
or through the command line. Downloading and installing a visual client is the most widely used
and easiest way to connect to an FTP, and also affords you the most power and control over the
process. The majority of this guide will focus on using an FTP client.
A visual client is essentially just a program which allows you to enter the necessary FTP address
and port; the program does all of the hard work from there.
To connect to an FTP through a web browser, simply enter the FTP address into the address bar
just like any other website. You may be asked for login credentials, and then you can browse the
directories. Using a browser is usually much slower and less reliable than using a designated
client.
Responsive website

Responsive Web Design is about using HTML and CSS to automatically resize, hide, shrink, or
enlarge, a website, to make it look good on all devices (desktops, tablets, and phones):
Web pages are viewed using many different devices: desktops, tablets, and phones. Responsive
web development makes it easy to view the same website on these different devices and still web
page should look good by making the pages its content to fit any device. For website to be
classified as responsive web design, is must have the following:
 Responsive web design makes your web page look good on all devices.
 Responsive web design uses only HTML and CSS.
 Responsive web design is not a program or a JavaScript.
Maintaining website

Website maintenance is the act of regularly checking your website for issues and mistakes and
keeping it updated and relevant. This should be done on a consistent basis in order to keep your
website healthy, encourage continued traffic growth, and strengthen your SEO and Google
rankings.
Just like your health can fall apart if you go too long without a regular check-up, so can the health
of your website.
Regular monitoring of your website is a must for keeping your business running smoothly.
Steps in Website Maintenance
There is a list of tasks that should be done to keep a website running smoothly. The most time-
sensitive of these are website security updates and patches. Without these, your website has the
potential to be an actual danger to those who click on it. They include:
Done monthly
 Check the load speed of your website and ensure that nothing is bogging it down
 Review your security scans and make sure nothing is out of place
 Analyze website statistics from the previous month
 Check your blog to see if there are any articles that could be updated

Done quarterly
 Review your website design and structure – can be it improved?
 Check graphics and images – should anything be updated?
 Review SEO and meta titles and descriptions to ensure they are as effective as possible
 Test and tweak popups, forms, and calls to action
 Review your workload for efficiencies to see if anything can be automated
 Test your website on all devices and browsers to see if it displays correctly
 Review advertising and marketing campaigns to see if anything needs to be changed or
updated.
 Restore a previous version of the website to check your backup health

To be done yearly
 Update any reference to the current year
 Review each page for content accuracy, grammar, typos, and relevancy
 Check any active email addresses and see if any are excessive and can be deleted
 Ensure that your website domain name is renewed
 Consider whether a website design update is due
 Review all of your top performing blog articles and see if they can be updated with new
content
Why Maintain a Website?
It’s tempting to buy a domain name, throw up something temporary, and just worry about it later.
There are many reasons why this is not a good idea. Maintaining a current, healthy, and active
website is important for a number of reasons.
 SEO
 Customer Attraction/Engagement
 Security
 Corporate Image
 Keep up with Trends in Design and Technology

LAB SESSIONS WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THE CLASS

REQUIREMENTS
WAMPSERVER
MYSQL SERVER
MYSQL DATABASE
WORDPRESS
PREMIUM THEMS AND PLUGINS