The Internet is a global network of computer networks that are all configured to communicate using the same basic languages, or protocols. The key to its success is that it's highly distributed. There is no place, or even center, of the Internet -- although there are several very important routes that you can take through the Internet, which are called backbones.

Internet data travels over the existing public telecommunications network. Unlike phone calls or older types of computer networks, a message sent through the Internet doesn't travel as a single piece. Instead, it's broken up into packets that are individually routed to their destination and reassembled when they get there. It's very similar to how transporting probably works on Star Trek. This flexible routing ability is what makes the Internet so reliable. If you haven't been in a cave for the last decade, you're probably also aware that the Internet was originally designed to be able to survive almost anything. Even if the major Internet backbones were to disappear tomorrow, data would still find its way around the Internet -- probably somewhat slower, though.

When we use the Internet, we're actually using Internet applications. The most popular of these are e-mail and the Web.

And Your Point Is?

The reason for this brief detour into yet another explanation of the Internet and the Web (which you clearly understand well enough, since you're using it right now), is that you need to make your new Web site a permanent fixture on it and you'll find out how to do that now.

Any computer that can use the basic Internet protocols can connect to the Internet and become a part of it very easily. One way to publish your site is to install the necessary software on your home computer, leave it connected to the Internet, and tell the world your Internet address (called an IP address).

This is not the best way to publish your Web site, however, for a number of reasons, including:

• Your ISP (Internet service provider) probably frowns on this, if it even allows it.
• Unless you're using broadband service, such as DSL or a cable modem, your connection to the Internet is likely too slow to provide a decent browsing experience for your visitors.
• If you use a modem and a phone line to connect to the Internet, the line is always in use.
• There are security hazards with opening your computer up to the Internet. By advertising your Web site to the world, you open yourself to potential hacking of your computer. If you're not trained to secure a Web server, you should leave it to the professionals.

For these reasons (and several others), most people choose to outsource the hosting of their Web site. Often, the easiest way to outsource Web hosting is to use the same company that provides you with access to the Internet, your ISP.

So how do you find a suitable ISP? Find out in the next section.

Not all computers on the Internet are created equally. Some of their connections are faster, making it possible for these systems to handle a large amount of traffic, and to provide a gateway to the Internet for computers with slower connections. An ISP has a very fast connection to the Internet and is constantly connected to it.

So, what is an ISP and what do they do? Basically, ISPs have big, fast computers that are equipped to store e-mail and Web pages, and even route Internet traffic from one place to another. These computers are called servers. Figure 4-1 shows a birds-eye view of a portion of the Internet. Notice that the ISP acts as a gateway to enable you to connect to the Internet. ISPs also serve as access points for other computers to connect to you -- either by routing e-mail to your computer, or by allowing other people to view your Web site.

Figure 4-1: A birds-eye view of a portion of the Internet.

ISPs come in many sizes: AOL is an ISP, and so are Road Runner, AT&T Yahoo!, Comcast, Earthlink, and many others. Each offers different services and charges different prices, but all will get you or your content onto the Internet.

Most ISPs also offer a service called Web hosting. When you sign up for Web hosting, you get access to the ISP's Web server, enabling you to transfer the Web pages you've designed (including all of your GIF, JPEG, and HTML files) to your ISP's faster machine. If you look again at Figure 4-1, you can see how it works. You're sitting at one of the computers at the top of the picture. You design your Web pages from the comfort of your own home. When your design is finished, you transfer your creation to the powerful hosting computer (server) at your ISP. It's from this location that anyone else with a connection to the Internet can browse your content. It's simple, really.

The first thing you have to do is find the ISP that's right for you. The following sections address questions you should consider

Which Services Does the ISP Offer?

Does the ISP offer the services you need today -- and in the future? Let's say you start with a simple informational Web site. Most ISPs can do this at low cost -- all it takes is a small amount of server space. But let's say that you're thinking about selling some stuff over the Internet during the next year. This is known as e-commerce. Be sure your ISP offers the features you need. For instance, some ISPs offer e-commerce packages that include a secure server, shopping carts, and credit card processing. Although you could certainly change ISPs as your needs grow, it's usually best to find and stick with one you like, and whose services can grow along with your needs.

Yahoo! Merchant Solutions offers several all-in-one e-commerce packages for individuals and businesses. If you're more of a do-it-yourselfer, explore the PayPal Merchant Services Web pages to get information about incorporating PayPal Buy Now buttons and other shopping cart tools into your Web site.

How Many Hops Away from a Backbone Is Your ISP?

Like you, most ISPs purchase their Internet connections from another company. The difference, of course, is that they purchase much, much faster Internet connections. If your ISP's Internet connection comes directly from one or more backbones, it's said to be one hop from the backbone. Having an ISP that's connected directly to an Internet backbone reduces the total number of hops that data needs to make to get to your computer, which increases the speed of your Internet connection and the speed at which your Web site will download for other people.

How Much Do You Want to Pay?

There are thousands of ISPs out there. They offer varying levels of service, features, and support for varying price ranges. Some ISP services are even free. Once you determine which services you need today, and which ones you might need in the future, visit several Web sites to learn about ISP pricing. Find out what the market says the service you need is worth, and you'll probably find some bargains, especially if you do your homework before you buy.

Which Level of Support Do You Need?

It is not be a good idea to sign up with an ISP based on price alone, especially if that ISP has a reputation for poor service. Spend time at the ISP's Web site. What kind of support does it offer? Is there an 800 number you can call if you run into problems? Is there a special e-mail address for support? Does the ISP promise a response within 4 hours, 8 hours, 1 day, or 2 days? Ask your friends or business associates which ISPs they've used, and how they felt about the support they received.

Which Extras Does the ISP Offer?

Some ISPs offer unlimited e-mail addresses. Some offer pre-built functionality to handle things such as auctions, chat, blogs, and message boards. Make a list of what you want and try to find an ISP that offers these options for little or no extra charge.

Do your homework. ISPs change their offerings, new ISPs appear, and pricing is constantly changing due to market demands, so spend a little extra time understanding what you want and what's available in your area before you make any decisions. Although it's easy to transfer a few simple Web pages and graphics files from one ISP to the next, transferring a larger site can be a hassle and might cost you money you don't need to waste. Next, get some tips for doing the required homework to find the right ISP.

So where can you go to get information about which ISP you should use? The Web, of course:

• The List contains a massive list of ISPs around the world. It's a particularly great resource if you want to choose an ISP that's headquartered in your area. You can search by area code, state, or country, and find lots of pricing information. You should, however, always verify prices with each ISP you're considering.
• WebHosters.com is an information-rich site with lots of information on different hosting companies.
• HostReview.com is another information-rich site providing details on various hosting companies.

Search your local yellow pages and ask around to find out which ISP your friends and family use, as well. There are a lot of local ISPs who do as good a job as the national services for the same price or less.

Shop the Specs

At this stage in your Web design career, you're not actually going to understand all of the features you see described on ISP sites. At a minimum, you're going to want the following features:

• A minimum of 20 MB (megabytes) of disk space: You want a large chunk of space to store your images, HTML files, and other content. The more, the better. Even if you're just getting started and your Web pages barely use a fraction of that space, if the price for 20 MB of disk space is the same as the price for 5 MB, go with more space.
• One GB of data transfers per month: One GB is one billion bytes. Wow! Data transfer means the movement of bytes to and from your Web site. When a visitor downloads a page (and any associated images or multimedia files), the amount of data transferred is added to your tally for the month. Some Web hosting companies charge you for data transfers exceeding a certain number of MB.
• FTP access to your account: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. You'll learn about FTP in-depth later in this lesson. For now, it's sufficient to say you need this to move (upload) your content from your PC or Mac to the hosting computer.
• E-mail: Make sure your account with an ISP includes e-mail, and that you can pick up your mail from the ISP's mail server directly. In addition, you want as many e-mail addresses as possible. You've probably noticed that many sites use an info@myWebsite.com address, along with others for sales, jobs, etc. Of course, you'll want an address for each person associated with your site, too.

You should also have the ability to add interactive features to your site, and a toll-free, 24/7 tech support number and e-mail address. Make sure all this information is easy to find on your ISP's site.

Once you determine which ISP to contract with, it's time to decide on the name of your site. In the next section, you'll learn how to find a good name and purchase an appropriate domain.

If you plan to do any business on the Web, you need your own domain. Many personal Web sites sport URLs like this:

http://www.isp.com/mysite/home.html

Trips right off the tongue, doesn't it?

If your Web URL is going to be memorable and easy to include in printed material, it should look more like this:

http://www.wonderfulkites.com

The name you choose for your Web site is very important. It says a lot about who you are and what you do. What you call your Web site depends on several things:

• Your audience
• What information you want to convey, or what you sell
• Which domain names are available

To get the domain name you want for your site, you must first register it, and then let your ISP know that the domain is yours. Their techies do a little technical magic and, just like that, your site is live. Your job is to add content.

Determine Your Audience and Market

You can register as many domains as you have money to pay for, assuming that someone else has not claimed them. This means that you're going to have to spend considerable time thinking of names, and then checking to see whether they're already in use.

The first step in thinking up a name is to decide who your audience is. Is it the teen market? The business market? The sports market? After you know whom you want to reach, think about exactly what you want to market. For example, let's say you're in the sporting goods business and know your audience is sports fanatics. Let's also say you specialize in volleyballs. The next step is to come up one or more names that "sell" directly to that market. You have several choices:

• Come up with a name, such as www.volleyballs.com, that's an exact match to your market. The value of this approach is that your domain name is the same name as the market. It's easy to remember and, more than likely, the first word someone will type into a search engine when searching for volleyballs.

Unfortunately, given the proliferation of Web sites, most simple and easy-to-remember domain names are no longer available.

• Choose a domain name that's similar to the name of your company, but that complies with the rules for domain names. For example, if your company is ABC Volleyballs, Inc., you might register abcvolleyballs.com to use for your site.
• Get radical. Try a name that's so unusual sounding that it gets noticed right away. For example, www.monster.com does not sell monsters -- it's a job search service. The www.google.com Web site is a search engine, and www.amazon.com is based in Seattle, which is nowhere near Brazil.

Whether you go conservative or highly creative, there are a few hard and fast rules you need to follow when choosing a domain name.

Know the Domain Name Rules

There are certain restrictions on which characters and how many characters can be in a domain name. In addition, certain types of domains have restrictions or recommendations (rules that aren't mandatory) on who can register them. Here are the most common rules:

• Use only letters, numbers, or hyphens (-)
• The URL cannot begin or end with a hyphen
• It must have less than 63 characters, not including .com, .net, and .org
• .com domains are for commercial and personal sites
• .net domains are recommended for companies involved in Internet infrastructure (such as ISPs)
• .org domains are recommended for not-for-profit organizations

Other domain types include .gov (government), .edu (education), and a plethora of foreign country abbreviations (uk, .jp, .au, and .ca). To register some of these types of domains (such as .gov and .edu), you have to actually prove that you're an educational or governmental institution. For .net, .com, .org, and the newer domains (such as .biz, .info, and .name), you only need to pay the fee to register.

Make a list of potential domain name candidates and ask your friends or family their opinions on each. When you get it narrowed down to two or three top choices, you're ready to figure out if they're available.

Find Your Perfect Domain

The best way to search for a great name for your Web site is to spend a few minutes searching one of the domain registry sites to make sure your great name hasn't already been taken.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is charged with collecting fees and keeping track of who owns what domain on the Internet. One of ICANN's functions is to accredit domain name registrars, but there are many places where you can register that all-important name. Network Solutions, shown in Figure 4-2, is a good first place to go to find out which domain names are available. The site provides a nifty search tool -- Find A Domain -- that takes some of the pain out of searching for an available and appropriate name.

However, it pays to shop around, as Network Solutions is not the least expensive option available for domain registration.

Figure 4-2: NetworkSolutions.com is one of the ICANN accredited registrars.

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Let's give it a try. Go to the Network Solutions Web site and type wonderfulkites in the Find a Domain text box. Notice the check boxes for selecting the type of domain you want. You can check as many of these as you like. There's no law or rule preventing commercial use of .org or the use of .tv by a Web site that isn't based in Tuvalu.

Make sure .com is checked, at a minimum, and then click Search. The result appears in Figure 4-3, and you're in luck! This name is available in a number of domains, including .com, .net, and .biz. If you had found your domain name to be taken, you just search for your second choice, and then your third, and so on, until you find a name that's available.

Figure 4-3: Use Network Solutions to determine if your desired domain name is available.

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If you're stubborn and you want your name and you want it bad, you can try tracking down the current owner of the domain name and find out if the name is for sale. Many Internet domain names are even auctioned. Sometimes, if you have a great name, people come right to you.

To find out who owns a particular name, use the Internet WHOIS service. You can surf to this Web site directly from the Network Solutions site -- a link to WHOIS appears on the bottom navigation bar. Enter the entire domain name, including the "www" portion -- for example, www.kites.com. You get the name and address of the owner and the rest is just business as usual.

If you're stumped as to which domain to register, or if you're just bored, go to DeletedDomains.com, where they keep track of all the domain names that people once registered but have allowed to expire.

Once you have a domain selected and registered, you'll want to upload your Web pages to the site. In the next section, you'll learn how to use FTP to populate your new site.

When you sign up with an ISP, you're given access to a chunk of disk space on their server, where you can store your images, HTML, and other files. Your next task is to get your site content from your PC or Mac to the server.

Some ISPs create easy-to-use procedures to assist inexperienced Web site owners with uploading stuff to the Web. We sometimes find that, in spite of their best intentions, these easy-to-use utilities are anything but. Fortunately, the hard way is actually not that hard. Using FTP software, you can get your stuff uploaded to a Web server in no time at all.

A free, easy-to-use Windows-based utility called SmartFTP is shown in Figure 4-4. Mac users can find similar functionality by using Fetch.

Figure 4-4: SmartFTP is a free Windows FTP client.

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If you don't already have an FTP client, download SmartFTP or Fetch now.

Get Started

Before you can set up access to your Web files on an ISP's server, you need to obtain some information from the company hosting your site. You'll need to know the address of the server you'll use, the directory into which your files will go, and a user name and password you can use to connect to the server. This information is usually provided when your account is activated. If you don't have it, call your ISP's tech support department or visit the ISP's Web site. You're looking for information about FTP access to your Web site files.

When you have this information, type it in to the appropriate boxes in the FTP client software, including your user name and password, and it'll connect you automatically. Now you're ready to upload.

To upload a file to your Web site using SmartFTP:

1. In the Folders pane in the top part of the SmartFTP window, select the FTP server folder you want to transfer files to.
2. In the Transfer Queue pane at the bottom of the window, click the Open button. Select All Files from the files of Type drop-down list, select your Web site files, and then click Open. Click the Start button. Your files are copied to the server.

As your files transfer, SmartFTP displays their status.

3. After you've finished uploading, select File > Disconnect to log off your Web site, and then select File > Exit to close SmartFTP.

It's usually a good idea to upload the files, keep your session active, and open your Web browser to see if you get what you expected. This way you can quickly make any needed changes, re-upload the changed file, and check to see that everything looks okay.

Test Your Web Site

After you've uploaded your site to the server, expect errors. Nobody creates her first Web site in one shot. Common problems you might find during testing are:

• Missing images: You may have forgotten to upload the image, or linked it incorrectly in HTML or the Web page editor.
• Your text is formatted incorrectly: You may have made a mistake in coding or formatting your Web page.
• The spacing of text or objects on the page is wrong: You may have misaligned something or left out a paragraph or line break.
• Hyperlinks don't work: A link may be wrong, or you may have neglected to upload the page you linked to.

Before you go live, you should fully test each page of your Web site. To do this, first test it on your computer by viewing the pages on your hard disk (locally) in a Web browser. Better yet, view it in a variety of browsers to ensure everything you've created is compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Browser, and Mozilla Firefox. Once you know everything looks good on your computer, upload all files to your Web site and then test, test, and test again.

Now That You Know the Basics

In this lesson, you learned about the workings of the Internet and the Web, you got some tips on registering domain names, and you learned how to upload your Web site files to a server. At this point, you should have a functioning site. Congratulations! Pat yourself on the back. If you're still not quite there, take some time to visit the Message Board and get some tips from your instructor and classmates.

If you think you've got the material down pat, take a stab at the quiz, exercise your new skills with the end-of-lesson assignment, and visit the Message Board to show off your site.

When you're ready, proceed to Lesson 5 to learn different ways of integrating multimedia into your Web site.