A virtual host or virtual domain is a Web site that is accessed as if it were on its own server and not part of another person's server. A virtual domain URL would be http://www.xyz.com. Even though you are using our server, it does not look like you are. Someone not using a virtual domain would have a URL of http://www.humboldt1.com/~xyz.

We also offer hosting of pseudo-domains. A pseudo-domain is a virtual domain name followed by a slash and another word, known as a symbolic link. A pseudo-domain URL would be http://www.xyz.com/something. The big differences between a virtual domain and a pseudo-domain are the price and the web address (URL). Because we don't have to reconfigure our web server to host pseudo-domains, pseudo-domains are considerably cheaper than virtual domains. A virtual domain address is shorter and easier to remember than a pseudo-domain address. To some folks, a virtual domain address looks more professional than a pseudo-domain address.

There are other "domain name registrars" aside from Network Solutions. We continue to use NSI exclusively because they've been around the longest and their service is usually pretty good. Another popular domain name registrar is Register.Com

Anyone can register a domain name with Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) by filling out the online registration form. NSI charges $35.00 per year for domain names with the first two years up front (for a total of $70.00 to register your domain with NSI). If you would rather have us register the domain name, we will charge you $25 in addition to NSI's fee.

More information about domain name registration, including instructions to get you started, can be found at www.networksolutions.com In order to register a domain name with Network Solutions, you will need to know the following information about our server:

• The Primary Server Host Name is NS1.HUMBOLDT1.COM
• The Primary Server Host Address is 206.13.45.1
• The Secondary Server Host Name is NS1.PBI.NET
• The Secondary Server Host Address is 206.13.28.11

Registering Domains Other Than .COM, .NET, and .ORG

Network Solutions and most registrars can only register domains for the .COM, .NET, and .ORG top-level domains. For other domain suffixes, you'll have to visit the appropriate registrar:

For instance, Government-Wide Registration Service handles registration of .GOV domains. If you're interested in setting up a .GOV domain, visit www.nic.gov for more details.

Registration for domains ending in .US is handled by the United States Domain Registry at www.nic.us

Registration for other two-letter country-based domain suffixes is handled on a per-country basis. For a complete list of the registrars for these "country-code top-level domains" (CCTLDs) visit The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)

Hosting Options

We currently offer two plans for supporting virtual hosts. Both of these plans require that you register your proposed domain name with Network Solutions or another domain name registrar. Please read the section about registering your domain name.

If you would like us to host a domain name, but would not like any World Wide Web links set up (for example, you want to receive e-mail at a domain name, but you don't have a Web page), this is the same as a pseudo-domain and the cost is a one-time setup charge of $25. There is no monthly maintenance fee for this service.

Unlimited Email Aliases: -- Unlimited email aliases are available to customers with virtual domains. This means that you can have different addresses @yourdomain.com, and you can have those aliases forwarded to different email boxes. For example, you may choose to have info@yourdomain.com go to your dial-up email account, while having support@yourdomain.com go to your VD mail account. You may also choose to have a catch-all, meaning that anyaddress@yourdomain.com will automatically be sent to the mailbox you specify.

Access and Error Logs: -- Error logs provide virtual domain owners with a valuable troubleshooting tool. For example, if you have an order form on your site that is not working properly, the error logs for your domain will tell you exactly what happened and why the requested action did not complete. You can use access logs to see who is visiting your site. When you contact us to set you up with logfile access, we will create a FTP login name and password to access your logs. To access the error file once it is set up, you log into your virtual domain with an FTP program and your new username and passwd and then FTP the error log file, or the access log file, to your computer.

Web Statistics: -- Humboldt Internet runs a program which analyzes your domain's access log and generates a report. This report contains a large amount of information regarding visitors to your site, such as which pages are viewed the most often, how many times a page is viewed, where your visitors are coming from, and how long they stay. Your web statistics will update every Monday, so starting the first Monday after the domain is added, you can view your domain's stats by going to http://yourdomain.com/stats in your web browser. We will keep 2 months of reports in your stats directory. If you would like to keep the older reports you can download them and save them on your computer.

Server Side Includes: -- Server Side Includes are a modern design tool used by many professinal web designers to create dynamic web pages.

FrontPage Extensions: -- If you use Microsoft FrontPage to design your web site, you may be interested in FrontPage extensions.

Majordomo Mailing Lists: -- Customers with virtual domains can now use Majordomo, a program that allows you to set up your own mailing list service. If you are interested in setting this up, please email support@humboldt1.com your request with the name of the list, a password of your choosing, and the email address of the person who will be the list supervisor. Please keep in mind when choosing a list name to follow normal guidelines for choosing logins; list names should be 3-8 letters and all in lowercase. The same guidelines apply to passwords. Also, the list name you choose may not be the same as your email address. If you already have a Majordomo mailing list and need instructions on its use, check the Tutorials section of our website.