The basic in setting up a website is having both a domin name and a web server (web host) functioning together as a single entity.
A domain name is what you want visitors to identify your site with (eg. what-is-asm.com), while a web host is a physical location (a web server) where you place all your web site's contents so it can be accessed openly and publicly by just anybody.
The tie that brings these two togetger is the Domain Name Server (DNS)...
Domain Names
You have the right (unless otherwise ruled by law) to the domain name which you register and pay for with Internic. You will normally do this through a Domain registrar. This process is easy enough to do it yourself, or you can appoint somebody or a company to manage it for you.
The registration must be paid for yearly (without miss) or you'll find that someone else will take over the name from your registrar and convert the goodwill that you have developed since starting the domain to some other use.
Currently a good price to pay for your domain registration and its related managebility for a dot com domain should be under US$10 per year. Paying more than that is (in our opinion) a waste of fund and paying less would probably denies you complete control which you have the right to exercise over your own domain name(s). Domain registration fees can be paid for up to 10 years in advance.
Your domain names should be registered to you, as the owner, and not to the Domain Registrar, the company you employ or anybody else. You can, however, assign the Technical and Billing responsibilities of the domains that you own to other contracted parties.
Domain Name Sever (DNS)
The core of a Domain Name Server (it is a server of course) is a database that holds the record of all registered domains and its relationship to an IP (internet protocal) address where the contents of the domain is stored and accessed from.
As the registered owner of the domains that you own, it is your responsibilty to inform or comunicate to your Domain Registrar the location (i.e. the IP address) of your server to which each domain name should point to.
Rest be assured that only one domain name each can exist in the internet and each domain name can only be pointed to a unique IP address. IP adresses, however, can be shared among a number of domain names.
Web Server (Web Host)
Unless you can really afford the expense and cost of setting up and maintaining your own server, you probably just want to start off by renting a shared server space costing as low as US$3 per month or less to initially set up your website.
Sign up for the web account with the domain name you are going to use, and in return you'll be informed with adresses and codes that you will need to access and maintain your website, and in particular, the IP address where this account will be hosted.
Convey the location (IP address) of your web host back to the DNS at your domain registrar and once the protocals has been resolved (it may take up to 72 hours) your website should then be addressable by typing in your domain address (e.g. http://www.what-is-asm.com) on your browsers location bar.
Which Way Around?
Start with domain registration, then park the domain somewhere because you yet to acquire your web host space. Domain parking is an additional (mostly free) service provided for by your domain registrar. It can be used to temporarily point to your website and can sometimes be used for as long as your are registered with the Domain registrar.
Once you have acquired your web host space, follow the procedure as explained above and you're set.
A Domain Registrar which we are associated with is www.GoDaddy.com .
In comparism look up both StartLogic and iPowerWeb as your potential web hosts. Study their service packages, compare costs, read the fine prints, and decide which way you want to jump.
