Technical Stuff
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We take pride in our commitment to providing the highest
quality, most flexible, and most competitive Web Hosting Services available.
When you place your website on our machines you can be assured that people
around the world will have consistent, reliable access to your website
24 hours a day.
This is a test...
Our computers are Pentium II Dual Pro 400 and 450 machines
running Apache over Linux. You will be able to access and manage your website
on our machines using Telnet and FTP or Fetch. With our
PlusMail Web Control you can even perform some management functions using
your web browser. Our servers are connected to the Internet backbone
over Multiple T3 Connections, each of which has a capacity of 45 MBPS (million
bits per second).
What’s Your Level?
Okay…if you read the above paragraph and understood every
word of it then you qualify as an advanced user. You will probably
only need to use this manual as a reference tool to look up specific information.
If you cannot find the information you are looking for here, please feel
free to contact us at support.
If you read the paragraph and understood some of
it but not all, then you will probably want to take a little time to review
a few things before diving in. You will find the comprehensive
Index a useful tool for tracking down the information you need, when you
need it.
Finally, if you read the paragraph and found it to be
total gibberish, then it is strongly recommended that you take the time
to read the explanations and instructions in this manual before you begin
a new task that you are unfamiliar with. If you are completely unfamiliar
with Telnet and FTP, and have no desire to learn about them, you might
want to go directly to the PlusMail Web Control section. The PlusMail
Web Control will let you control virtually every aspect of your web presence
from your web browser.
If you need to perform tasks that require you to use FTP
or Telnet, or if you would just like the general knowledge of what they
are, then you should read the section titled The
Novice WebMaster. It will give you a basic, but clear idea of what
you will be dealing with, and take some of the mystery and confusion out
of it all.
We have made every effort to cover all the bases in this
manual, and make it as complete and informative as possible. However, please
keep in mind that if you cannot find the answers you are looking for here,
you should feel free to contact us at support.
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The Novice WebMaster
Ftp? Telnet?
Unix? Linux?!!! HUH!?
Chances are pretty good that you access the Internet
using a browser program. Chances are also pretty good that you use some
version of Netscape, Internet Explorer, or something very similar
to those two biggies. You may be wondering why I mention this cause,
gee, is there any other way to access the Internet?? You gotta have a browser…right??
Well…no. You don’t. In fact, the gigantic, feature laden browser programs
most commonly used today are just one type of program that you can use
to surf the net. Granted, they provide the most visually appealing view
of the Internet, and they are the most fun and entertaining to use with
their image and sound capabilities. They are, in fact, largely responsible
for turning the Internet into a place where people from all walks of life
around the world now go to play, work, shop and learn.
Browsers are not the only programs you can use to access
the Internet, they are certainly not the first, and, depending on what
your needs and tasks may be, they are not always the best program to use
either. After all…your email program is great for email. But it isn’t
necessarily the best tool to use if you want to write a book. Your
browser is great for viewing the Internet, but it is not always the best
tool to use for managing a website. For that, you will want something
simple, fast, and basic that will let you upload, download, and access
files on your site quickly, easily and with a minimum of fuss and frills.
Telnet and FTP are the two tools that fulfill these needs best.
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Telnet
Telnet is a program that emulates a computer terminal,
allowing you to view information on site rather than downloading it to
your personal computer for viewing. This is extremely useful if you need
to view large amounts of information, such as all the files and folders
on a web site, or a library catalog for example. Imagine how long it would
take for you to download a web page containing the entire catalog of book
titles from just a city library! With Telnet, you are able to actually
view the information on the library site, eliminating the download time.
Telnet is not graphics capable, does not play sound files
and is not one tiny bit entertaining. But it is the best tool to use for
certain tasks. You will have a white screen with black text, much
like the old DOS screen only in reverse. And, again like DOS, you
will need to type in your commands. If you use Windows you will have
a Telnet program already on your system. Go to Start, Programs, Run, and
type the word "telnet" (no quotes) into the window.
FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. Like the name
implies, it’s main purpose is to make transferring files from one computer
to another as fast and easy as possible. And it is very good at it’s job!
Unlike Telnet, FTP is not a program. It is instead a "protocol"
just like http is a protocol. Your browser program uses the http (Hyper
Text Transfer Protocol) for viewing, reading, and translating HTML into
the bright and colorful interactive web pages you see on your computer
screen. In order to use FTP you will need a program such as WS-FTP
for Windows, or Fetch for Macintosh users.
Visually, you will not see either the imagery of a browser,
or the blank white screen and black text of Telnet. Instead, if you are
using WS_FTP, you will see two panels, each with folders (also called
directories) and files displayed. One panel will contain the folders and
files on your computer. The other panel will contain the folders and files
on the site you are logged into. If you are using Fetch, you will see something
a bit different.
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Linux and Unix
An OS, or "operating system" is the program you use to
operate and run your computer. By far the three most universally used and
recognized by the average lay surfer are Windows in any version from 3.x
to Win 98, NT, and Macintosh. Linux, and Unix are both operating systems
as well. They don’t have, or support, all of the bells and whistles of
the more popular operating systems, but that’s not what they are meant
for. These two operating systems are for serious stuff…for fast and
dynamic data transfer…for allowing one computer to talk to others quickly
and smoothly. Not for personal entertainment. This is why server
computers and many other types of businesses use Unix and/or Linux operating
systems. They aren’t pretty, but they are smart, they are stable, and they
are fast.
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Appendix: Helpful Links
The following are sites on the Internet which we
have found to be helpful:
The Web Developer's
Virtual Library
A great resource for all things HTML.
The CGI
Resource Index
A vast selection of CGI Scripts (free and for pay).
Directory
Guide
A guide to many of the directories on the Internet.
Position
Agent
Find out how your page ranks in search engines
and find out to to
move your site up in the listings.
Submit-It
Submit your site to multiple search engines at
one time.
HotBot
Our favorite hip search engine.
Black
Coffee
Applications, resources, and source code for Java
users and developers.
Gifpile
A huge selection of artwork for your webpages.