Demystifying Hosting and Domains - 2013 WordCamp Phoenix

If you plan on having a self-hosted WordPress site, you will need to have your own domain name and hosting. A good domain name helps a visitor to find your content, while web hosting provides the necessary hardware that your website needs to run on the Internet. Both are necessary and represent some very important decisions that you will need to make when determining to have a website. This session will cover the basics of domain names, registration and configuration, the typical types of hosting that you can select from, the questions you need to ask a potential host when setting up your new site, and finally, how to point your domain name to your hosting provider of choice.

Transcript

1. Demystifying Hosting and Domains Suzette Franck @mt_Suzette WordPress Evangelist Lead Media Temple January 18, 2013 WordCamp PHX 2013
2. Who am I ‣ Suzette Franck WordPress Evangelist Lead at Media Temple ‣ Twitter: @mt_Suzette ‣ Slides: https://speakerdeck.com/ suzettefranck
3. Domain Name Basics
4. IP Addresses An Internet Protocol (IP) Address is a unique number assigned to a network device so that other devices on the Internet can communicate with it. 74.125.224.72 ✓ Try It! http://whatismyip.com
5. Domain Names Domain Names were invented to make it easier to get around on the Internet 74.125.224.72 = google.com ✓Try It! Go to http://74.125.224.72
6. (DNS) Domain Name System Name to IP = Domain Resolution
7. What’s In A Name? Top Level Domain .com .org .net .edu .gov mail.google.com TLD Subdomain SLD Second Level Domain
8. Domain Registrars A registrar is an authority that can assign domain names directly under one or more top-level domains and register them with InterNIC, a service of ICANN, which enforces uniqueness of domain names across the Internet. + Most Hosting Companies
9. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers http://www.icann.org
10. (SOA) - Start of Authority Domain Registrar has SOA which has core information about your website: ★Hosting Information ★Contact Information ★How long Information is good for (TTL)
11. (TTL) Time To Live Tells ISP how long to save or “cache” DNS information before checking for new information Phonebook = 1 Year
12. (ISP) Internet Service Provider An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is an organization that provides access to the Internet.
13. Domain Summary • Domain Name = IP • Domain Registrars = Keeper of Domain Names (SOA) • ISPs cache DNS Info according to TTL
14. Create Your New Identity ? WWW. .COM ✓Try It! http://www.internic.net/whois.html Research is Key!
15. Hosting Basics
16. Hosting Companies You put web page files on their servers They make it available on Internet
17. Nameservers NS1.DOMAINAME.COM (PRIMARY) NS2.DOMAINNAME.COM (SECONDARY)
18. Types of Hosting Type Expense Access Ward 3rd Party 0 0 Dorm Shared $ + Condo Dedicated Virtual/ Dedicated Private $$ ++ House Dedicated $$$ +++
19. 3rd Party Hosting Good For: Beginners, Bloggers ➡FREE ➡Easy To Use ➡Their Rules ➡Limited Customization
20. Shared Hosting Good For: Small Websites ➡Cost Effective ➡Host Manages Server ➡Performance ➡No Root Access
21. Dedicated Virtual / Dedicated Private Server (VPS) Good For: E-Commerce, Dynamic Sites, Business Sites ➡Root Access ➡Your Responsibility
22. Dedicated Good For: High Traffic Business Sites ➡Yours Alone ➡Fast ➡Expensive $200/mo ➡You Are Responsible
23. v5.2.4+ v5.0+ Server Requirements
24. Hosting Considerations Storage Space Bandwidth/Transfer No. of Domains No. of Databases Email Requirements Acceptable Use Support Method Scalability
25. Putting It All Together You tell your Registrar where your site is hosted - but HOW?
26. Two Ways To Tell Registrar 1. Edit Nameservers at Registrar (easiest) 2. Edit DNS Records at Registrar • A Records (website & subdomains) • CNAMES (subdomains) • MX Records (mail)
27. Nameservers Domain Details Screen ... Look for Nameservers
28. Set Nameservers
29. DNS Records (A) Host Name to IP (CNAME) Canonical Name Name (subdomain) to a Name (MX) Mail Exchanger Email to Name or IP
30. Zone File
31. Zone File
32. Zone File $TTL 43200 @! IN! SOA! ns.webair.net.! webmaster.180security.com. ( ! ! ! 2012040101! ; Serial ! ! ! 10800! ! ; Refresh ! ! ! 3600! ! ; Retry ! ! ! 604800! ! ; Expire ! ! ! 43200! )! ; Minimum ! IN!NS!ns.webair.net. ! IN!NS!ns2.webair.net. ! IN!MX!10 filter.180security.com. ! IN!A! 209.200.16.162 ns1! IN! A! 216.130.161.1 ns2! IN! A! 216.130.161.6 www! IN! A! 209.200.16.162 ftp! IN! A! 209.200.16.162 mail! IN! A! 216.130.191.1 filter! IN! A! 216.130.191.236
33. DNS Propagation Automated process of updating all the DNS Records as they exist everywhere on the Internet
34. How To Avoid DNS Propagation Delay TIP: Edit the DNS 3 days before actual go-live date, set TTL (Time To Live) to 5 minutes or 300 seconds
35. Summary • Hosting Company gives you DNS Info • You update DNS at your Domain Registrar • DNS Propagation takes time!
36. Suzette Franck sfranck@mediatemple.net Questions? @mt_Suzette