What is virtual Web hosting?

We specialize in virtual Web hosting, which means that you can find a home for your Web site on our high performance Web servers and establish your presence on the Internet with your own unique domain name. This is a very intelligent and cost effective alternative to hosting your own web site internally. Our shared hosting environment gives you the benefits of high performance servers, high bandwidth connectivity that can seamlessly grow with your needs, pre-installed software, guaranteed reliability and around-the-clock support, all at a small fraction of the cost of doing it yourself. (top of section)

No. Local Internet access will be necessary to maintain your Web site and retrieve your e-mail. Because we provide only Web hosting, we do not have to maintain the hundreds of modems necessary to provide dial-up service. This allows us to specialize in Web hosting services, which means that we can provide you or your business with the most dynamic hosting environment available anywhere. (top of section)

Yes we do. Please see the design services section. (top of section)

Yes. You can upgrade your account at any time. We will invoice you for the pro-rated monthly charges and a setup fee will apply. Please e-mail your request to our sales department and be sure to include your domain and userID. (top of section)

Our experience has shown that 325 MB/month will be more than enough bandwidth for the average Web site. Depending on the quantity and size of your files, this could support thousands of hits per month. Note that only a small percentage of our customers have exceeded our data transfer threshold. Should your needs grow, however, we have cost effective plans that are designed to grow with you. A very small percentage of our customers with extremely popular sites have found it cost effective to upgrade to our Enterprise or High Volume plans which have high enough data transfer limits to accommodate nearly all of our customers' needs. (top of section)

Files can be transferred to the Web server via File Transport Protocol (FTP). If you have a PPP Internet account and need FTP software, you can download a program for either the PC or Mac from our site. Internet providers such as AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy may have a built-in FTP interface. An FTP tutorial is available for first-time users.

Microsoft FrontPage users can 'publish' their sites to our server and should not use FTP. (top of section)

You have unlimited access via FTP or FrontPage 24-hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain your Web pages on your own computer and upload files to your Web site at your leisure. (top of section)

Yes, you can use your account for commercial purposes. The World Wide Web hasbecome a most efficient and cost-effective means of making information available to the users of the Internet community. In addition, our Corporate plan and higher plans provide the features you would need to set up your own online commerce solutions. (top of section)

Yes. You can resell space within your account. However, you will be responsible for its content and data transfer. It will not be possible to acquire multiple account passwords for FTP access or set up sub-directories of your domain to have their own domain names. (top of section)

Most accounts are set up and active within 24 hours! Once an account is set up an activation notice will be sent you via e-mail including a userID, password, and FTP hostname. You can begin uploading files to your new web site immediately thereafter.

Domain account users will be given a temporary URL to access their site via the Web prior to the completion of either domain registration or transfer. (top of section)

Can I check domain name availability?

Yes. You can check domain availability directly from our Web site.

Yes, you will be able to access the domain name with or without the 'www.' in front. For example, you can access the domain name "mydomain.com" by going to "www.mydomain.com" as well as "mydomain.com". (top of section)

Yes. We will contact the InterNIC once your account is activated to request either a new domain name registration or a transfer. You do NOT need to submit a registration or modification template to the InterNIC, as this will only delay your request.

When an account is activated with a new domain name, we will automatically send the registration template to InterNIC. The information sent on the template is pulled directly from the order form. InterNIC typically completes the registration within 24 hours, and propagation typically takes about 72 hours.

Let us know if you do not receive notification that a domain name has either been registered or transferred within two weeks. In the meantime, refer all concerns to Registration Services. You can reach them by calling (703)742-4777 and selecting option number 2, or you may write them at hostmaster@rs.internic.net. Be sure to reference your NIC ticket number when contacting either us or the InterNIC. (top of section)

Yes. Whether you place an order by telephone or via our online order form, be sure to specify that you are requesting a transfer and NOT a new domain. You should keep the service at your present site while waiting for your domain name to transfer. We will provide you with a temporary IP address so you can mirror your site on our server. All e-mail and Web pages will still be accessed from your current site. When InterNIC receives the template, they will generate an acknowledgment request (Ack/Nak) and send it to the current administrative contact of the domain. Once the administrative contact acknowledges the transfer, InterNIC will update their records.

It is very important that you use the same company name and address on the template as that which is on file at InterNIC. If the company name differs from that which is on file, InterNIC will treat the transfer as a delete/new and will not allow the transfer to be completed.

If the contact information for the domain is no longer current, you will need to prepare a fax on company letterhead, as follows:

1.Include company name, address and phone number in the header

2.Reference the domain name and NIC tracking number

3.Request the domain name modification in accordance with the NIC number to the new Name Servers

4.Have the President or Vice-President of your company sign the request

5.Print the name and title below signature

6.Fax this letter to us, ATTN: DOMREG department with 'InterNIC' as the subject. (top of section)

In order to transfer a domain name from one organization to another, InterNIC requires that the original owner file a "delete/new" template. This template consists of two domain registration templates, combined into one e-mail. The first template deletes the registration of the original domain name, and the second re-registers the domain name using the new owner information. This request must be initiated by the original owner, as the owner is the only one authorized to make such a modification. (top of section)

Once the InterNIC announces that your domain name has been registered (or transferred, if applicable), it usually takes about 72 hours before it visible to all users of the Internet. All Internet providers must update their records (DNS tables) to reflect new site locations. This process is called propagation. (top of section)

Answers to questions you may have about using Microsoft's FrontPage on our UNIX Servers.

NOTE: For specific information on how to use the FrontPage software, please consult the program's documentation or Microsoft Technical Support.
 
 

Support for FrontPage

We support Microsoft FrontPage in several ways:

We configure your site for FrontPage by installing and maintaining the server extensions. We provide Technical Support related to the functionality of the extensions.

We point FrontPage users to resources that will help you solve problems, publish your FrontPage webs and learn techniques for getting the most from your FrontPage software.

We DO NOT provide direct technical support related to the use of your FrontPage software. User issues are referred to Microsoft's Technical Support Team. (top of section)

FrontPage extensions are CGI programs that provide the server side implementation of FrontPage. FrontPage communicates with the extensions via HTTP using a Remote Procedure Call (RPC). When the server sees the "POST" request addressed to the FrontPage server extensions it simply directs the request to the appropriate CGI program.

The extensions implement authoring (uploading/downloading documents, ToDo lists), administration (setting end-user, author, and administrator privileges), and dynamic content (browse-time WebBot components).

Without the FrontPage server extensions you will not be able to take advantage of the WebBots that are available through FrontPage. Also, without the extensions you cannot author and administer your web using the tools provided as part of the FrontPage Editor/Explorer package. (top of section)

New Accounts

Check the box on the order form indicating that you want the FrontPage extensions. New domains that request the FrontPage extensions when the order is placed will have the extensions installed within two days of activation. (top of section)

To have the FrontPage server extensions installed on your existing site, send an e-mail request to support with the following information:

Your domain name

Your userID

Your request for FrontPage extensions. Confirmation that you have back-up of any Web pages currently on the site. (In most cases it is not necessary to delete files currently on the site to install the extensions. However, if there are directories or files with special permissions (.htaccess) these will have to be removed. You can then re-establish permissions and password protection via the FrontPage Explorer.)

On existing sites, the installation will generally be done within 24 hours. (top of section)

There is no charge for installing the server extensions. We will also reinstall corrupted extensions free of charge*.

*Note: There are certain precautions that MUST be taken when publishing and maintaining your site with FrontPage. (top of section)

There are some issues that potential FrontPage users should consider:

1.Web size -- This seems to be most critical when a "searchable event" is present in the web (Search, Discussion Forum and Table of Contents). The lengthy process of updating the indices for these functions can lead to the connection timing-out (HTTP 500 Error or 'Server has timed-out').

2.Disk Usage -- You may create and publish as many child webs as your disk storage space allows. However, for each child web you publish, FrontPage duplicates certain information into indices and hidden files. This adds 'overhead,' increasing the storage space required for your files. Microsoft's documentation notes, "FrontPage's optional full-text search indexes can take up to the same amount of disk space as your textual content."

3.PRECAUTIONS

There are several precautions which need to be taken to protect the FrontPage extensions on your site if it is housed on our UNIX servers:

a) Do NOT use the Edit Access or File Manager features found in your Control Panel to set passwords, limit access, set file permissions or delete directories or files in a FrontPage web. This should only be done through the options in FrontPage Explorer.

b) Do NOT use regular FTP (such as WS_FTP) to upload files to the server when FrontPage extensions are installed. This may corrupt the extensions, disabling the interactive features available with FrontPage.
 
 

NOTE: The exception to this is when loading custom scripts to the cgi-local directory on your site. Instructions for uploading custom CGI scripts is included in the notice you will receive when the extensions are installed. (top of section)

WebBots are the mechanism for invoking many of the interactive features built into FrontPage. These features are added to your web through the FrontPage Editor | Insert WebBot component.

Some, such as ''Include'' and ''Substitution'' allow elements of the web to be entered once and included in any or all of the pages by inserting the Bot component referencing that element (e.g., a logo or navigation bar). Changes made to the 'master' element are made automatically to any page containing the referencing Bot.

Other Bots, such as Search, Table of Contents and Timestamp, control dynamic browse-time features. These Bots work behind the scenes to keep the web up-to-date for visitors.

The Page Counter Bot, which is available from the FrontPage CD-ROM or Microsoft Web site will not work on our UNIX servers.

For more information on using the Bots, see the documentation provided with FrontPage or contact Microsoft Technical Support. (top of section)
 
 

Since FrontPage was created for developing Web sites in the Windows environment, some features are only available when the site is hosted on an NT Server.

Active Server Pages

ODBC and MSSQL Database connections (Access, FoxPro)

ActiveX

VBScript

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Forms Processing (using the WebBot Save Results component)*
 
 

*FrontPage sites hosted on the UNIX Servers may use SSL by sending output from forms through cgiemail. (top of section)

You may also find answers on many user issues at Microsoft's Web site, from newsgroups and, of course, in books on FrontPage. (top of section)