Web Hosting & Domain Terms Glossary | Sitelutions

Glossary

A Record

'A' Records, or 'Address Records' are the most common type of DNS record. They are used to point a host name (or root domain name) to an IP Address.

Typically, this IP address is that of a server that provides web hosting or other services for the site.

Note that the server to which you point your site must be configured with web server or other software to accept connections from users.

AAAA Record

An AAAA record is an IP Version 6 record. It is similar to an A record, but is used for sites that are hosted using servers on IP Version 6 networks. Since IPv6 is not currently routable via the Internet, AAAA records are typically not very useful.

AAAA records may be used for testing, to provide DNS for an internal network (LAN), or for other experimental purposes. While Sitelutions does offer AAAA records, we currently do not provide technical support for users wishing to make use of this feature.

Approximate Renewal Date

Each item that you purchase through our system can be automatically renewed (the default setting). In order to help you avoid service interruptions, we will often renew hosting packages and domain names approximately 2-3 days before renewal is due. This allows us to be sure that your service stays up, and gives us time to contact you if your credit card information on file is invalid.

If your credit card is no longer valid, our system will automatically notify you so that you can update your card information. Once you do, we will try to bill your card again. Please contact us if you have any billing questions.

Card Verification Number

If you use Visa or MasterCard...

For the protection of our customers, Sitelutions currently requires the 3-digit Card Verification Number on the back of your credit card. Why? Because the only way to obtain this number is to actually be in possession of the card that you are making a purchase on.

Sitelutions keeps your prices lower by requiring the Card Verification Number to keep online credit card fraud down.

Card Verification Number (AMEX)

If you use American Express...

For the protection of our customers, Sitelutions currently requires the 4-digit Card Verification Number on the front of American Express card (typically located in smaller font, to the right, above your card number). Why? Because the only way to obtain this number is to actually be in possession of the card that you are making a purchase on.

Sitelutions keeps your prices lower by requiring the Card Verification Number to keep online credit card fraud down.

CNAME Record

You can use a CNAME record to alias a host name to another host name or domain name. When a CNAME exists, all other records will be ignored. The host name will take on properties of the host or domain name that it is pointing to.

CNAME stands for "Canonical Name." A CNAME record creates an alias of a canonical name. The alias gains all properties of the original, including IP addresses and mail routes. This means that the CNAME will use the A Records and MX Records of the site to which they point to.

Because of this, it is illegal for there to be any other record with the same owner name as a CNAME record. It is also illegal for any record other than a CNAME record to refer to an alias.

When a CNAME exists, all other records will be ignored.

Current Domain Registrar

Sitelutions allows you to both register domain names via Sitelutions Registrar as well as add domain names to our system that are registered with another registrar. When "adding" a domain name you are not initiating a transfer to Sitelutions Registrar, you are simply adding it to our system for use with our DNS or hosting services.

For your convenience, the Domain Control Center displays whether or not each domain name is registered at Sitelutions or another registrar. Certain functions may only be performed on domains registered with Sitelutions Registrar.

Delete

The [Delete] link for each host name provides you with an easy way to delete a host name from a domain name. For example, if you owned the domain name 'www.yahoo.com', this would allow you to delete all DNS entries for 'www' in one step.

DNS

DNS or "Domain Name Service" is the system that is used to translate domain names into IP Addresses. IP Addresses are needed by the internet and your internet service provider in order for you to access a site.

Much like phonebooks are needed to look up phone numbers if you wish to call someone, DNS servers are used to look up numerical addresses of web sites or other servers that you wish to access.

DNS Configuration

The URL & DNS Control Center offers you two ways to set up DNS or redirection for your site.

You can click [DNS Wizard] if you'd like an easy way to set up DNS or redirection without worrying about the details. You can click [DNS Mail Wizard] to easily configure where your mail is delivered (via MX records). If you're a power user and would like more control over your DNS, click [Advanced Config].

DNS Mail Wizard

The DNS Mail Wizard provides less technical users with a simple way of configuring where mail is delivered for a given host or domain name.

Technically speaking, the DNS Mail Wizard creates an MX Record.

The DNS Mail Wizard allows users to enter the fully-qualified domain / host name of the mail server which accepts mail for the given domain name, or to specify the Sitelutions Space account which should accept mail for the given domain.

While the DNS Mail Wizard is easier to use than the Advanced Configuration Tool, the Advanced Config tool is more flexible, allowing multiple MX records.

DNS Resolver

A DNS Resolver may also be referred to as a "DNS Server," however do not confuse the terminology; a DNS resolver is a DNS server that resolves host names into IP addresses. Internet service providers (ISPs) always offer DNS resolution service to their customers -- otherwise you as a customer would not be able to type "www.yahoo.com" into your browser, since it could not be resolved into an IP address.

DNS Server

Also known as "nameservers," these are servers that are authoritative for a given set of domain names. For example, Microsoft uses a set of servers that effectively act as automated phonebooks for Microsoft's web sites. While this example is grossly oversimplified, when someone type "www.microsoft.com" into his or her browser, Microsoft's DNS servers must respond to say "the IP Address for this server is 10.0.2.34."

DNS Wizard

The DNS Wizard in the URL undefinedamp; DNS Control Center provides less technical users with an easy way to configure URL redirection or DNS for their domains and host names. The DNS Wizard offers the following four options:

Redirection
Sitelutions Space (A Record)
IP Address (A Record)
Alias to another site (CNAME Record)

If you are a less technical user, or you'd just like a quick and easy way to set up DNS, the DNS Wizard is the best way to go.

DNS Zone

A zone is the administrative unit in the domain name system. For each subtree of the DNS there is a corresponding zone. A zone may contain the domain and its subdomains. For example, if we want to configure the DNS server with the domain yahoo.com, we have to create the zone yahoo.com and its subdomains. It would look like this: "www.yahoo.com" and "mail.yahoo.com," etc.

Domain Expiration Alert

Our system will automatically alert you when your domain is about to expire. Typically our system automatically alerts you 60 days from expiration, followed by alerts sent 45, 15, 7, and 3 days from expiration.

If the given domain name is registered with Sitelutions Registrar, however, and is set to automatically renew, we will only send you two reminders that the domain will autorenew, sent on the 15th and 7th day before renewal.

For domains that are not registered with Sitelutions but are added to our system for use with our DNS and hosting services, we provide users with the option of whether or not they wish to be alerted of expiration. For domains that are registered with Sitelutions, we do not provide this option -- we alert you and warn you of the impending domain's expiration.

Domain Expiration Date

All second-level domains, such as "something.com" expire at some point.

Sitelutions allows you to provide the expiration date for domains that you add which are registered at other registrars. We do this for your convenience. We also provide you with an optional alert, reminding you of domain expiration.

For domains registered with Sitelutions Registrar, we automatically maintain the expiration date, and automatically renew the domain name (if your settings indicate that we should do so) before its' expiration.

Domain Hosts Link

The Domain Control Center provides a link which allows you to edit theundefinednbsp;hostsundefinednbsp;or subdomains (such as "www") of each domain name you've added to the system. After clicking the link, you'll enter the URL undefinedamp; DNS Control center, which, when entered this way, will only display host names for appropriate domain name.

Once in the URL undefinedamp; DNS Control Center, you'll be able to control configure DNS or redirection for the proper domain name

Domain Name

A Domain Name is a name that comes before a dot, followed by a Top-Level Domain (TLD). An example of a domain name is Yahoo.com, where "com" is the top-level domain, and 'Yahoo.com' is the full domain name.

Domain names can be registered inexpensively with Sitelutions Registrar, one of the least expensive registrars around.

Every domain name can have several DNS resource records which provide DNS resolvers with information on how to access domain names and host names.

Domain Pending Transfer Here

This indicates that a given domain name is pending transfer to Sitelutions. The domain's status will be updated automatically. It is likely thatundefinednbsp;YOUundefinednbsp;as the registrant will have to respond to an e-mail from your former registrar confirming that you would really like to transfer the domain name.

At most, it should take us one week to determine whether or not a transfer was successful. In either event, we will notify you by e-mail.

Domain Registrar

A Registrar is a company that allows you to get your own domain name, which you can use for your own web site, e-mail, and other purposes.

Sitelutions Registrar is one of the least expensive domain registrars around, providing registration of .com, .net., .org, .biz, and .info Top-Level Domains

Dynamic DNS

A dynamic DNS (domain name system) service is allows users connecting to the Internet with a dynamic IP address (an IP address that is changed periodically by the user's Internet Service Provider) to be able to use applications that require a static IP address.

Using a dynamic DNS service works as if there was an old-fashioned telephone message service at your computer's disposal. When a user registers with a DNS service and connects to the Internet with a dynamic IP address, the user's computer contacts the DNS service and lets them know what dynamic IP address it has been assigned from the pool; the service works with the DNS server to forward the correct address to the requesting computer. (Think of calling the message service and saying "Hi. I can be reached at 10.0.45.52 right now. Please tell anyone who tries to reach me to call that number.) Using a dynamic DNS service to arrange for computers to find you even though you are using a dynamic IP address is the next-best thing to having a static IP.

Encrypted Credit Card Data

At Sitelutions, we take security and our customers' privacy very seriously. That's why we use strong encryption for any credit card information submitted to us.

To make the long story short, even if someone were to hack into our web servers and database server and view all information stored, there is no way they could decrypted your credit card information. We use a public-key infrastructure for encryption -- the private key is stored on a remote machine with no direct access to the internet.

In short, you can rest assured that your data is safe with us. To put our high level of security into perspective, chances of your credit card information being stolen is much higher when using your card to pay at a store or restaurant than it is when paying us using your card.

Expired - Redemption Period

Sitelutions warns you multiple times before your domain expires, and sends multiple messages to you reminding you to renew the domain. For domains that are not renewed, Sitelutions holds the domain for a period of 29 days after expiration. During this period, you may renew the domain at no extra cost (just pay regular renewal fees)! After this period passes, Sitelutions must pay the root registry a fee to reinstate the domain. We must pass this along to our customers. This fee is USD $300 (this includes a $250 redemption period extension, $15 full-price renewal, and $35 processing fee), and this fee is non-negotiable and cannot be waived, as we are simply passing along our fees to our customers. If you would like to pay this fee to reinstate your domain, please contact billing@sitelutions.com. If you would rather not pay that fee, you must wait a total of 90-120 days from the expiration date of the domain to allow it to fully expire, and then simply re-register the domain at the typical market price. Unfortunately, in doing so, you may risk losing the domain to someone else who may be interested in registering it.

Fully-Qualified Domain Name

A domain name that extends all the way back to root. Often written as FQDN.

www.yahoo.com. is an FQDN.

A common error is to leave the "." at the end off.

www.yahoo.com is NOT an FQDN, by leaving out the last "." Root is not included.

An FQDN is required any time you reference a domain name outside a zone, optional when referencing names inside the zone.

CNAME records, NS records, and MX records might refer to names outside the zone, they often require an FQDN

Note: If you put an unqualified domain name in any resource record, the name of the zone the record is in is appended, complete with the dot, to form a fully qualified domain name.

So if an MX record in example.com, pointing to Testing.example.com does not include the final "." it will be appended as Testing.example.com.example.com.

However, if the MX record in the example had merely pointed to "Testing", the auto-append would have created Testing.example.com.

Host Name

By 'Host Name', we mean subdomain, or third-level domain. For example, in the name 'www.yahoo.com', 'www' is the host name while 'yahoo.com' is the domain name.

IP Address

IP Address stands for "Internet Protocol" Address. Much like a phone number provides a way of connecting to other telephones in the world, and IP address provides a way of connecting to other computers.

When you enter a URL into your browser, your computer must look up the IP address of this server, in the same way that you have to look up someone's telephone number before dialing them.

Typically, your Internet Service Provider will provide DNS Server addresses (also known as DNS Resolvers). DNS resolvers must "resolve" the host name or Domain Name into an IP Address. Once the IP address is determined by the resolver, it notifies your computer of the IP address and your computer is able to contact the appropriate web site or server. This all typically happens in well under one second.

The format of an IP address is XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX -- four octets separated by dots. Each octet must be less than 255.

A sample IP address is '192.168.0.1'.

MX Preference

All MX Records have MX preferences. The MX preference specifies the priority that a remote mail server should give to a receiving mail server. Remote mail servers attempt to deliver mail to the server specified by the MX record with the LOWEST MX preference. A lower MX preference indicates a higher priority. For example, a typical setup would be the following:

You have two MX records for your-domain.com:

The first points to primaryMail.your-domain.com with an MX preference of 0.
The second points to backupMail.your-domain.com with an MX preference of 5.

As long as the MX preference for the backup mail server is higher than that of the primary, remote mail servers will attempt to deliver mail for your domain first to primaryMail.your-domain.com. If that server is not accessible or is not running an SMTP server on port 25, the remote mail server will then try to delivery mail to backupMail.your-domain.com. The backup server will then typically store your mail until your primary mail server comes back up. It will then be delivered.

MX Record

An MX Record is a type of DNS Record that controls where mail for a given host name or domain name is delivered to.

If you wish to receive mail at your domain name or host name, at least one MX record is necessary.

A mail exchanger (MX) is a server setup to accept mail for your domain name and either holds it for delivering to your users or passes it to another mail server. To receive internet mail, your mail server should be SMTP compliant and run on port 25. For UNIX variants, two popular servers are qmail and sendmail.

The MX record tells other mail servers where mail for your domain should go. An MX record should contain a fully-qualified domain name or a host name, a Time-To-Live (TTL), and something called an "MX Preference."

Preference settings tell other mail servers which server to try to deliver mail to first. The MX record with the lowest preference setting is the first server that is tried. When the primary server is not available, mail deliveries will go to the next lowest preference MX record. Higher preference mail servers should be set up to forward received mail to the lowest preference MX record.

NS Record

'NS Record' stands for Name Server Record.

An NS record declares that a given zone is served by a given name server. By default, when you add your domain name to Sitelutions, we set up NS records for your domain which tells other resolvers that our name servers are authoritative for your domain names. You can delete our default NS records and add your own.

Adding your own NS records will redirect resolvers to other sites.

This method is not advised since it is inefficient, slower, and it needlessly uses up our bandwidth!. Instead, change your Registrar Name Server Configuration..

Pending Domain Expiration To-Be-Determined

For domains that are pending transfer to Sitelutions, the expiration date of the domain is dependant on when the domain transfer is processed. When transferring a domain to Sitelutions, we extend your registration period by one year!

Therefore we wait for the date that the transfer is processed. Only then will you be able to view the new expiration date of your domain name. Our system will automatically update the expiration date that you see listed for your domain name in the Domain Control Center once transfer has been completed.

Pending Domain Transfer Failed

This indicates that a domain that you attempted to transfer to our registrar did not complete transfer for one of several reasons. The most common reasons are:

Contact information at the current registrar is incorrect, so confirmations were not sent to you.
The domain is locked at the current registrar -- you must unlock it in order to complete transfer.
The domain has not been registered for at least 60 days at the current registrar -- ICANN regulations prevent domains from transferring unless they have been registered for 60 days or longer.
You did not respond to our transfer confirmation or the transfer confirmation sent by your current registrar

Based on our risk-free transfer policy, we allow you to re-initiate the transfer for up to 120 days after the last transfer request. We ask that you correct any previous problems which may have caused the transfer to fail.

For more information on why the transfer failed,undefinednbsp;click the domain name in the Domain Control Center.

Registrar Name Server Configuration

Every Domain Registrar provides its customers with a way to provide the registrar with the nameservers that are authoritative for a given registered domain name.

When you register a domain name with any registrar, you must provide the registrar with the the nameserver information provided by your ISP or hosting service. When registering a domain name with Sitelutions, if you elect to use our nameservers you don't need to enter any additional information -- we take care of that for you.

Round-Robin DNS

Round robin DNS is a method of managing server congestion by distributing connection loads across multiple servers (containing identical content). Round robin works on a rotating basis in that one server IP address is handed out, then moves to the back of the list; the next server IP address is handed out, then it moves to the end of the list; and so on, depending on the number of servers being used. This works in a looping fashion. Let's say a company has one domain name and three identical home pages residing on three servers with three different IP addresses. When one user accesses the home page it will be sent to the first IP address. The second user who accesses the home page will be sent to the next IP address, and the third user will be sent to the third IP address. In each case, once the IP address is given out, it goes to the end of the list. The fourth user, therefore, will be sent to the first IP address and so forth. Round robin is different than load balancing. Load balancing distributes connection loads across multiple servers, giving preference to those servers with the least amount of congestion. In round robin's case, server distribution remains on a rigid one IP address to one user rotating basis.

Sitelutions Space

Sitelutions Space™ provides a wide array of hosting features, speed (high bandwidth), and reliability to host your web site. Combining this with Sitelutions' extremely low prices, Sitelutions Space™ is an excellent value!

Sitelutions Space™ allows you as a user to completely control every aspect of your web site via an easy-to-use, secure web interface! It also provides e-mail account configuration, web mail, POP3, and IMAP services!

Sitelutions Space Mail Record

Sitelutions offers Sitelutions Space TM Mail DNS records, which provide an easy way to configure mail delivery for your domain name, so that it is routed to your Sitelutions Space TM account.

Put simply, Sitelutions Space TM Mail DNS records are actually MX Records that we automatically maintain in order to keep them pointing to the Sitelutions Space TM Server that your account is located on. Therefore, if we ever change data centers or if our IP block ever changes, you need not worry about it -- mail will still be delivered to your account.

Sitelutions Space Primary Host/Domain

For each Sitelutions Space account that you have, you need to configure a primary domain or host name. Why? Your Sitelutions Space account is located on a Sitelutions Space server that is separate from our main web server. this server needs to be specially configured to accept connections for your site. During account setup, we ask you to choose the primary domain or host name that you'd like to associate with the account. Once you choose it, we automatically configure DNS for this name as well as "www.this-name" so that each points to your Sitelutions Space account In addition, we configure the appropriate Sitelutions Space server to accept connections for your site.

WARNING: Any other existing DNS records for the name that you choose (as well as that name prefixed by "www" will be overwritten by new DNS records. You may have to manually reconfigure MX records if you wish for mail to be routed elsewhere.

So what makes the host/domain I select "primary"?
Good question, as many of the Sitelutions Space packages we provide offer the ability to add multiple domain names to a single account. In short, the primary name associated with each account will be easier to work with when developing your site. For example, Sitelutions Space will, by default configure forums, chat boards, and other built-in features to work on the primary domain name. In some cases, you may not have the option to move these advanced features to an addon domain associated with the account.

Sitelutions Space Record

Sitelutions offers Sitelutions Space TM DNS records, which provide an easy way to configure your domain name to point to your Sitelutions Space TM account.

Put simply, Sitelutions Space TM DNS records are actually A Records that we automatically maintain in order to keep them pointing to the Sitelutions Space TM Server that your account is located on. Therefore, if we ever change data centers or if our IP block ever changes, you need not worry about it.

Sitelutions Space Setup - More Domain Choices Option

When setting up a new Sitelutions Space account, you must choose a primary host/domain option. By default, we display any domain names that you own, optionally prefixed by "www."

We offer a more choices option for users that do not wish to setup a domain name as the primary name for the account, but would rather use one of the free Sitelutions subdomains that they have setup. If you click "more choices," we display all free Sitelutions subdomains that you have setup, optionally prefixed by "www."

It doesn't matter whether you choose a true domain name, such as "something.com" or if you choose a subdomain, such as "something.ontheweb.us." Of course, we recommend registering a site through Sitelutions Registrar since domain names have a more professional appearance than subdomains.

Time-To-Live (TTL)

A record's time-to-live (TTL) is the amount of time that a DNS record will be cached by DNS Resolvers on the Internet.

TTL is specified in seconds. When a DNS Resolver retrieves information on your domain name from our DNS servers, it caches that information for the specified TTL. After the TTL has been cached for that amount of time, it expires, and the DNS resolver once again needs to contact our DNS server to get DNS information on your domain.

A TTL of 600 (equal to ten minutes) is sufficient for most sites

What TTL should you use? Please continue reading...

Sitelutions says: Use a high TTL! Sitelutions encourages our users that do not plan to change their DNS Configurations very often to use a high TTL, such as '86400', which means 86,400 seconds, or one day (24 x 60 * 60). Why is it good to use a high TTL? For one, it reduces load on our servers, reduces our bandwidth costs, and enables us to offer higher quality services to our users. Second of all, it typically improves DNS lookup speed, at least slightly, when users access your sites. Why? Because instead of hitting our server each time, they can often rely on cached DNS records held by the DNS Resolver of their ISP.

But what if I use Dynamic DNS, or update my DNS information often? Depending on how much site downtime you believe is bearable, set your TTL accordingly. For example, for most small personal sites, even those using our Dynamic DNS services, a minute or two of downtime isn't so terrible. So, set your TTL for 60 or 120. If your IP address changes very regularly and you cannot live with even one minute of downtime, set your TTL for something more like 10 seconds or 5 seconds. Note that while this will help those who access your site to get the most up-to-date DNS information and minimize downtime, it will also put a great deal more load on our servers.

Top-Level Domain

A top-level domain, or "TLD" is refers to the suffix attached to domain names. Top-level domains typically have some business meaning, or contain a country code.

Examples of US Top-Level domain names are:

com
net
org
info
biz
us

Examples of other top-level domain names are:
co.uk (for UK-based companies)

ca (Canada)
za (South Africa)
to (Tonga)

To register domain names under a given top-level domain, you must use a Domain Registrar.

TXT Record

'TXT Record' stands for Text Record. A text record has no technical importance; it is strictly informational and not functional. Text records are used to provide up to 255 characters of text, hopefully about the zone. Multiple TXT records are permitted but their order is not necessarily retained.

URL and DNS Advanced Configuration

The [Advanced Config] option in the URL & DNS Control Center allows you to access to every aspect of DNS configuration. Less technical users might want to use the DNS Wizard and the DNS Mail Wizard.

The Advanced Configuration tool allows you to create, modify, and manage the following types of records:
URL Redirection Records

A Records

Sitelutions SpaceTM Records

CNAME Records
MX Records

Sitelutions SpaceTM Mail Records

NS Records
TXT Records
AAAA Records

The Advanced Configuration tool also allows you to delete specific DNS entries.

URL and DNS Control Center

The URL & DNS Control Center allows you to view and control DNS settings for your domain names. It also allows you to add free host names (subdomains) within your domain name or one of our free domain names.

The URL & DNS CC lists all of your domain names. For each domain, it lists hosts names that are currently configured. It also allows you to add host names, such as "www" for your domain name. When you add a host name, DNS CNAME Records are automatically configured to park the host name to our servers.

After adding a host name, you can click on [DNS Wizard] or [Advanced Config] to control where the host name points to. To configure mail, either click [DNS Mail Wizard] or the [Advanced Config] link.

URL Redirect Record

These records are a type of record that you may create by using the Advanced Configuration link on the host name of your choice within the URL undefinedamp; DNS Control Center.

These records are used to redirect a given URL to another web address (usually your current web site). URL Redirect Records provide an easy way to give your current site (which may be hosted at a free provider, or using your current ISP) a better web address without having to move the site.

Behind the scenes, Sitelutions manages DNS A Records to point your host/domain name to our redundant servers. When your URL is "hit," our servers detect that the hit is coming into your site, looks up where to send the user to, and instantly redirects the user. This is all done transparently and instantly.

IMPORTANT: A Records take priority -- if you create A records within our system, any active redirect records will be ignored. You must remove active A records if you plan to use redirection.

Web Redirection

Also known as "URL Redirection," web redirection is a service that we offer which allows us to provide better web addresses to existing sites with minimal work. Using web redirecton, we can "point" a new domain name (such as "something.com") to an existing web site residing on any ISP's servers (AOL, MSN, or a free web host, such as Geocities).

Effectively, when someone goes to yourname.com (or a free name provided by us, such as something.ontheweb.us), we will see that the user is trying to go to your site and redirect them to your site.

Optionally, when redirecting, we can hide the original URL of your site, so the user doesn't see your original URL.undefinednbsp; See also URL Redirect Record

Why are there no hosts with www listed?

The Sitelutions Space addon configuration tool does not list hosts containing "www" because the software upon which our Sitelutions Space system is built-upon automatically includes an implied "www" before every host you add. Therefore, if you add "domain.com", it also configures "www.domain.com." If you add "Bob.Domain.com", it automatically configures "www.Bob.Domain.com." The addon configuration tool will configure DNS for both the host that you add and "www.the-host-you-add."

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Sitelutions Glossary of Terms