Blog Domains 101 - Domain Basics
February 3, 2008 · Print This Article
I’m supposed to create another blog focusing on techno craps and digital tutorials but the current cold weather is always shooing me to go to bed and slack of under the mattresses. However, there’s an urgent issue that I so wanted to discuss which I believe, could not wait for the next spring season.
Days ago, a blogging friend guised under code name BURAOT ask me about domains and all things related to it. He has finally decided to take blogging to a higher level by joining the domaining cyber-minions. As you know BURAOT, who happened to be our Hopia of the Month for February, is currently running atleast 4 blogs through the mercy of free Blogger and Wordpress accounts. However, our friend here is deciding whether he would acquire for each of his four blogs a separate domain or register a single domain and create subdomains for the remaining others.
The feeling-internet-mogul-and-cyber-consultant me responded in a different manner but what you will be reading below is a smarter but simpler way of explaining the techies in the not-so-techies way.
Blog Domains 101 – Domains Basics
101.1 Definition of terms.
1. Domain – is those URLs that a web user would type in web browsers to get to a specific web site. For example, http://www.kotsengkuba.com or http://www.serialblogr.com (kailangan pa bang i-memorize ‘yan?). In the Real State world, domain is like the house address complete with the house number, street name, town, city, et cetera, etc.
2. Hosting – is the virtual (or physical) drives that accommodates domains enabling them to be browsed in the world wide web. This is where the pointers (a.k.a. domains) point to whenever a user key-in the URLs in web brosers. Domains will not work without these because there will be no place to point them to. It’s like the land title or certificate of deed. In a single hosting account, several domains can be registered with depending on the package offered by your hosting provider. Just like in a normal lot, you can build as many houses as you want for as long as your lot space can accommodate.
3. Web Space – is the capacity or allocated disk space in your hosting accounts to store web pages, web elements and other files necessary for your domains to work. Again, in the Real State work, if your lot is measured in square meters, web spaces are measured in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, and terabytes. I haven’t heard of petabytes so far, have you?
4. Sub-domains – are just nick-names you may assign to certain folder of your domains to make them look a little cuter. For example, the “images” folder in my site http://www.kotsengkuba.com would be normally accessed by keying in to a browser http://www.kotsengkuba.com/images but to make it a little cuter, I could assign a sub-domain http://images.kotsengkuba.com and point it to that “images” folder. Keying in both URLs will arrive into the same “images” folder location. Of course I could also point it using a different sub-domains such as peculiar.kotsengkuba.com or digital.kotsengkuba.com. It’s all the same as long as it is pointing to the right location. “A sub-domain by any other name, propagates as sweet.” It all depends on your creativity, imagination or the lack of both.
If that wasn’t clear enough and you still want a Real State analogy, sub-domains can be analogous to your house’s kitchen, lavatory, bedroom, attic and the likes.
101.2 Practical applications
Now back to BURAOT’s million-dollar question: To domains, or to sub-domains? That is the question.
And here’s my billion-dollar answer: Both!
BURAOT should register a single domain account, probably comes with a free domain for one of his main blogs, and create a sub-domain for the other blog of a similar genre. Then, he registers another domain for the other two blogs (a domain and a sub-domain).
But of course, BURAOT could always purchase multiple domains and multiple hosting for as long as he wants.
101.3 Kotsengkuba recommendations.
My previous hosting experience with Netfirms has been really bad so I won’t recommend them to BURAOT. I’ll recommend DREAMHOST instead. Why, because they have been hosting my sites for sometime now and I would say things are going out fine. Also, there have been pretty much good reviews about their service so I can be rest assured and sleep soundly knowing that I may wake up the next day with my domains still in proper order. Also, for starters, you could avail of a $90 OFF on your hosting if you will use my promo code: NAC90 (blatant advertising, huh!?).
And in order to save a little on your second, third, and so fourth, and so on domains, I recommend you register them with Netfirms. I say that because Netfirms domains only cost $5.95 as compared to that of Dreamhost at $9.95 per year. BUT MAKE SURE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE HOSTING THOSE DOMAINS WITH NETFIRMS.
And how would that be possible? Through DNS configurations of course, which is what I will be discussing next.
If you liked "Blog Domains 101 - Domain Basics", you may also be interested in these articles:
dear kuya eddie,
salamat po sa mga impormasyong naidulot ninyo sa akin. ang mga ito ay nagbigay ng dagdag kaalaman sa aking low-tech na cpu. kinailangan ko pang magpakabit ng external na memory para ito ma-access. ito po ay sa pamamagitan ng external drives na isinalpak ninyo at ni ate helen (ambo).
sa ngayon po ay patuloy kong minumuni-muni ang magiging pangalan ng aking mga anak na malapit nang lumabas. harinawa ay bago mag valentayms.
at sempre pag nag ribbon-cutting ay imbitado po kayo bilang isa sa mga ninong. magpapamudmod po ako ng lobo na me tatak na trust.
salamat po uli ng marami.
nagmamahal,
BURAOT