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General FAQ's | |
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What is a domain name?
Similar to how your house address indicates where you live in the world, a domain name indicates where your computer is located on the Internet. Organizations that do business over the Internet want domain names (addresses) that are easy to remember and that are closely related to their company's trademark, so that customers can locate their web site very easily. The actual domain name is a simplified, easier-to-read translation of an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The Internet is composed of a vast number of interconnected computers. Each of these computers is assigned a numeric value of the form 000.000.000.000. This numeric value is called an IP address. If each computer on the Internet were identifiable only through its IP address, people would have a lot of difficulty when trying to locate each other and having to memorize each other's addresses. Domain names simplify IP addresses into an easy to remember combination of words and numbers. How long will it take to setup my account? Accounts are usually set up within 1 business day. As soon as you receive your welcome letter, you may begin to FTP your files, your welcome letter will give you the address. See below for information on when www.yourdomain.com will be available. How long before www.mydomainname.com is accessible? Your domain registration request is handled by the Registrar of your choice. Requests for new domain names typically take only a few minutes to register, but normally take 24 to 72 hours to "propogate" through the Internet. In other words, it can take as long as 3 days before you see something when you type in http://www.yourdomian.com. If your domain has already been registered, you must log into your account with the Registrar you used to register your domain name and change the DNS information to point to our servers. After you have entered this information, it takes 24 to 72 hours to go into effect. How do I know if the domain name I want is available? You must perform what is called a "who-is" lookup. This can be done here. What happens behind the scenes in order for my transfer to take place? The first step in transferring your domain is to set up a hosting account with us. After your hosting account has been established, you will receive an email explaining all the information you need to transfer your website files to our servers. Once you have transferred your files to our servers, you need to let your registrar know that you wish to change the location of your website. You do this by changing the DNS information for your domain. Before the new DNS information propogates through the Internet, people going to your website will still be seeing the files you have on your previous hosting provider's servers. Once the new DNS infomation finishes propogation, people will see the files you have on our servers. By setting up your account with us (and transferring your files) before you make a DNS change, you assure that your website will not have a lapse in service. How do I register/transfer an international domain name to be hosted by ISC? If you wish to register an international domain, you will need to contact the international registrar for the country in which you are located and register the domain name through your local register. You will then need to give them our DNS information in order for your domain to be hosted with us. If your international domain is already registered you will need to give them our DNS information in order for the change to take place. What DNS servers should be associated with my domain? Our DNS servers are:
What forms of payment are acceptable? The following are the credit cards we accept:
How do I cancel/suspend my account? You must utilize our online cancellation form. How do I make changes to my registration information or transfer ownership of my domain? You may change this information by visiting your Registrar's website. Internic has the wrong contact information for my domain! You may change this information by visiting your Registrar's website. Does ISC pay the renewal fees for my domain registration? No. The Billing Contact for the domain is responsible for paying all registration & renewal fees. It is always a good idea to advise your current host that you are transferring to another company. You will then have to contact the agency with which your registered your domain and change the DNS information manually. You should contact your Registrar directly. Many hosting providers will reply "no" to the modification acknowledgement request they receive from your Registrar if your account with them is unpaid or otherwise unsettled. Your previous hosting provider may also respond "no" if they have not been informed that you plan to no longer user their services. I transferred my files but I still see under construction. What is wrong? The most common reasons for this are:
How long can a domain name be and what characters may it contain? Domain names may be up to 67 characters in length including the extension, this means that you can have 63 characters in your domain name. These characters may consist of any alphanumeric combination as well as the hyphen. Spaces, dollar signs, ampersands (&), etc., may not be used. Will my name and contact information be publicly available? Yes. Information about who is responsible for domain names is publicly available to allow rapid resolution of technical problems and to permit enforcement of consumer protection, trademark, and other laws. All registrars will make this information available to the public on a "Whois" site. What agency does ISC utilize to register domain names? We no longer register domain names. This is something that you must take care of. For a list of officially licensed Registrars, go here. I would like to register an international domain, such as .uk, .gr, etc. How do I do that? Two letter domains, such as .uk, .de and .jp (for example), are called country code top level domains (ccTLDs) and correspond to a country, territory, or other geographic location. The rules and policies for registering domain names in the ccTLDs vary significantly and some are reserved for use by citizens of the corresponding country. You should check with the registrar offering ccTLD registration services regarding the specific terms and conditions for registration. Many countries require domain registrants to utilize the third-level domain as the second-level domain may be reserved to indicate the type of organization utilizing the domain. For example, in the United Kingdom, businesses may utilize companyname.co.uk while non-profits organizations might utilize organization.org.uk. ISC does not register ccTLDs but will host them once you secure the domain name through the appropriate agency. ISC can host international domains for you. Consult the local domain registration authority for the country with which you wish to register a domain name to verify your eligibility, obtain the appropriate forms or templates. Provided you are eligible to have the domain name, go ahead and sign up for hosting service with our signup page. Many international registrars require that a zone file (DNS record) be in place on a hosting server at the time of registration. When this is the case, you will need to wait until after 3 am Eastern Time after signing up for hosting service on our site for the zone file to be loaded. If the international registrar does not require a zone file to be active at the time of registration, you may register the domain before purchasing hosting services through us. When you register your Domain Name with your local Domain Name registration authority, the name and the IP address of our name servers will be required. Our Primary DNS: dns1.CharlestonSolutions.com 66.33.50.102 Our Secondary DNS: dns2.CharlestonSolutions.com 66.33.51.102 Information regarding the United States Government's efforts to privatize the management of the domain name system and increase competition in domain name registration services is available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov. How can I protect my domain name against potential trademark disputes? One way to avoid trademark disputes would be to choose the right domain name - just as you choose the right company name. For instance, if your company is named Integrated Business Management, you would not want to register a domain name of "IBM". This would be a sure fire way of inducing a trademark dispute! I would like a third level domain set up. Who do I email? Please send an email to our Systems Administrator. Be sure to include your domain name and the 3rd level domian name you wish to have set up. Every ISP (Internet Service Provider) and Web hosting company operates a Domain Name Service. The DNS server translates the Domain Name into a numerical value that the computers on the Internet recognize. The DNS server saves, or caches, previous translations, so that later requests can be handled much more quickly (the name server reads the stored information and does not have to perform a translation/search each time the name is resolved). The cache of every DNS server is deleted periodically. The length of time between purges is different for everyone, though most hosts/ISPs clear their DNS cache every 7 to 10 days (some more frequently, some less frequently). This means that if your domain is moved or transferred, it may take up to 10 days for everyone on the Internet to see the changes.
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