Common Questions about the Internet, Websites & Web Hosting:

What is the Internet?
What is a Website?
What is Internet Hosting? 		What services do we offer?
How is a Website Built?
What Software is available?

What is the Internet?  When asked, most folks think of the Internet as www.something.com.  Others may think eMail.  Still others think software (download or upload, take your pick).  The Internet is all that, and more.  However, for most of us the Internet is simply synonymous with the World Wide Web.  The "Web" is the large visible part of the Internet, and we aren't going to split hairs here.  Suffice it to say, with the Web, you also get eMail, news and file transfers (FTP). And the Web is made up of millions of websites, almost all available at your fingertips using your web browser.

What is a website?  In a nutshell, a website is a collection of files you can view using your browser - the software you are using now to read this.  These files are nothing more than text documents written using a programming language called HyperText Markup Language (html).  Because of the html instructions written in these files, each file in a website can be displayed as a "web page" by your browser.  You don't see the code, just the results.  Web pages can be made to tell your browser to display graphics, tables, text and even movies on your computer screen (and play sounds, too).  You can also "link" web pages: create a button on the screen that when you click on it, your browser will show a different web page (or a different location of the same page) on your screen.  Web pages can also use other programming formats to add "special effects" features, such as JavaScript and Flash code. Taken together, all of these files become a website.

What is Website Hosting?  Simply, this is using a computer to store the files of your website in a way that any other computer on the Internet can access and view them.  Making these html and associated files available and permitting these other computers access to the files is what we call "Hosting".  This requires the computer(s) holding your files to be connected to the Internet every minute of every day, along with all of the maintenance and monitoring to keep the system running.  Most folks wouldn't be able to keep their computer on and connected to their ISP all day and all night, every day.  So, to provide the world access to your website, that website needs to be uploaded and made available (or "served") by computers with constant access to the web.  And, as you can imagine, that requires a pretty robust computing system.

What do you need to get on the web?:

Three things: a Domain Name, a Web Site, and a Web Host.  We can help.


  • Use our Registration page to see if your desired Domain Name is available and buy it,
  • Contact us for the names of qualified web site designers,
  • and consider us to serve your website to the world. We have more information below.

RDUonline offers web hosting based on your needs:

  • HTTP hosting gives you the ability to show your website to the world with your Domain -- www.yourname.com (.net, .org, etc.)  These websites can range from family photos to company introductions, advertising & information distribution all the way up to SSL security, databases, banner advertising & eCommerce.   Shared domains (www.RDUonline.com/~yourdomain) are also available. (We'll even help you obtain your web domain -- visit our Features page for more info)
  • POP mail hosting gives you eMail: a personal account for each employee or member of the family.  eMail forwarding and eMail aliasing is also available, along with web-based eMail for convenient eMail access from anywhere in the world. You have complete control over creating accounts and changing passwords whenever you want via your own secure website pages.
  • FTP let's you share files from your own directory, through your browser or by your favorite ftp application publicly or privately.

For more details on our features, visit our Hosting Features page.

How do you get a website built?

You have two choices:

  1. Build it yourself, then upload (copy the files via ftp) to our servers.  We will set up your account and provide you with the necessary ID and password for you to maintain your own site.
  2. Have a web-savvy graphic designer familiar with developing for the web design the site with your guidance, and they will upload the site for you.

Depending on your needs, your website may require anywhere from a couple of hours of work to continuous updates and site management.  It really depends upon your requirements, your kind of business, and what you want from your web presence.  Here's a reference for html tags: html Vocabulary.

We work closely with a number of design firms in the Triangle area for site development.  Their services range from strictly site design to both design and site management to full marketing management (web site, business stationery, marketing materials, media ad campaigns, etc.) for your company.  We would be happy to discuss your ideas and introduce you to firms well-suited to your requirements. We suggest that you think about what you wish to accomplish with your site before you sit down with a designer. To help you gather your thoughts, we've listed a few items to consider here.

Learn more about our services on our Features page.  What about your other computing needs?  We can recommend firms for both Mac and PC assistance in the Triangle.

Our current customers may enter the private WebNotes site for account administration instructions.  Tour the rest of our website to learn more about us.

Compatible software for using the web:

(Publishing company name available by selecting link, m=mac, l=linux, p=palm,w=windows, b=BeOS)

Browsers:

eMail (clients):

HTML editors:

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Image and Graphics Tools

News Reader Tools

A lot of our dynamic content is generated using our Modular Gateway Interface server tools.MGI is a tag-based dynamic server which permits robust interactive site creation without the headaches associated with ASP, Cold Fusion or PHP. With an internal database, MGI provides developers the tools to create high-end sites quickly and efficiently. We've even provided a BBEdit Glossary of the MGI tag library here as a free download. This glossary requires the commercial version of BBEdit for full access. Additional information about MGI is available to our customers and designers within our private WebNotes reference library. Note: only existing customers have access to the WebNotes reference area.

The software you use of the web will depend on your needs, your tastes and your computer.  Most of the software listed above is available for both Macs and Windows-based PCs.  Surfing webpages requires using a web browser.  Using eMail requires an eMail package.  Creating web pages and web sites requires an html or text editor.  Moving files from one computer to another on the web requires software able to speak FTP.

Many software packages come with more than one feature built-in, but sometimes these "kitchen sink" packages with lots of features don't perform as well as dedicated one-job packages -- it's wise to do some careful research prior to purchasing.  And, if you are only surfing the web, you don't need a web editor.  If you are a designer, you may need more than one browser so you can view your creative work using the same software your audience might use -- and pages viewed in one browser can look much different than in another.


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