General Virtual Domain Information
What is a Virtual Domain?
A Virtual Domain allows your URL to be http://www.yourcompany.com. The purpose of obtaining a V.D. is to give your site a shorter URL, or Web address. This has many advantages- to give your site the appearance of having it's own server, and thus a larger presence on the Web; to make it easier for people to remember your Web location; to allow your URL to fit on a business card; and to attach your company name to its Web name.
More technically, in reserving a Virtual Domain name one is registering with InterNIC's database, the Domain Name Server. Upon DNS registration one has reserved this URL forever (though policy may change).
Simply put, Computer Pal, Inc. has reserved many I.P. numbers . A company pays rent to the Computer Pal, Inc. for use of this number and for attaching the reserved Domain Name to this address. A company's I.P. # will change when changing providers, but the name can and should remain the same. The I.P. Number points to the Domain Name.
Note: it is very important to realize that the portion yourcompany is the Domain Name. Not www.yourcompany.com. The www. is a common Server name pre-fix on the Web, this is different! The .com is for commercial entities, which most companies fall into. (Many people ask for .net and sometimes this can be obtained. However, this is between you & InterNic- with the possibility that InterNic will reject the request three weeks later! The guidelines are explicit in the DNS form. Read it.)
What flexibility do I have with DNS names (my URL)?
Typically, there is no problem with registering http://yourcompany.com -vs- http://www.yourcompany.com. In fact, Computer Pal, Inc. makes sure that both are taken care of during DNS registration- a proper set-up. This is considered true Virtual Domain. This does not 100% guarantee the name is not taken. The reason for this is that, though DNS lists pending names in its database upon receipt of the registration form, there is a backlog of putting these in the database. So, you can search all but the forms waiting to be put in the pending file- a backlog of the backlog, if you will. This chance of duplicating another name is slight, but real. As with everything on the Web, the backlog is growing exponentially and is currently at upwards of three weeks to completely register.
How do
I use my existing Domain Name with Computer Pal, Inc.'s service?
Many businesses already have registered Names attached or
not-attached to a particular I.P. Number (or another Webspace
Provider). The process of changing your InterNIC record to point
to our servers is outlined in your setup email. This change is
carried out by the customer. Computer Pal, Inc. can not be
involved in this process.
What is your policy on Customer Support?
Our policy is unlimited customer support via e-mail or telephone 24 hours a day.
The purpose of 'limiting' Customer Support is to reduce our costs, and thus the costs to the customer(s). It is our hope that through the combinations of the FAQ, and E-Mail that all questions can be answered. It is also hoped that you will find our staff knowledgeable and friendly, with a variety of experiences with "business on the Web".
What can I, and what can I not, do with my Webspace?
The following rules are not negotiable-
1) Obscene or
pornographic anything;
2) Illegal activities in the United States;
3) Threatening or slanderous material;
4) Any material deemed by Computer Pal, Inc. to be
degrading to our Network and/or our other customers.
Now, one would think that this is self-explanatory. However, we get questions everyday for us to clarify this list and explain why this is our policy. Second things first, why?- because we can! Just as some places of business require Shirt & Shoes or a dress code to enter their store, so does Computer Pal, Inc.. There is no difference.
Quite frankly, with all of the unknowns out there, including Newt, and that Michigan kid who threatened that classmate, and the kid who ran-away to California, etc., the eyes of the Man are looking at the Net. This is especially true for the infrastructure organizations (like us) that allow Joe Blow a place to put his stuff on the Web (this is what university systems are for!). So, in the near future there will be a clamp-down of some sort, and a corresponding backlash by the Web Police (though I doubt it's possible, anybody know of someone cracking the Cyber-Nanny yet?). Point is, one bad egg could shut-down our Server. We have immense responsibilities to our other businesses who's livelihood may depend on Computer Pal, Inc..
Traffic is another concern. Anyone who spends 1 surfing minute on the Web knows that the easiest way to generate Web traffic is to just say you have binaries at your site- not even actually have them! Unfortunately, many sites have shut-down because of some Jerky doing this. [This degrades the Web- if you're gonna put a Site up then label it correctly! Imagine if all Sites did this- it would eliminate the Search feature of the Web entirely]. Again, keep in mind that you are not alone on our Servers, you're in an office park. No business would have employees running naked, shooting pistols off, and stuff 1000 people in a 1000 sqft office space without the Landlord and surrounding businesses evicting you. Computer Pal, Inc. will evict you. We will not tolerate any material that may jeopardize the service to our customers.
Enough said. That was the Long explanation. The Short of it is that Computer Pal, Inc.'s owner simply doesn't want this stuff on His Servers.
Parked Domains are pointers only.
They point to the root directory of an existing web site you have with us or to the Computer Pal, Inc. homepage (If you are just registering a domain prior to its actual use). They allow you to point additional domain names to your already existing domain. For example:
domainname.com
domainname.net
domainname.org
can all point to the same place, preventing others from capitalizing on your unique domain name. They DO NOT point to sub-directories of existing accounts. We do not allow this to preserve the integrity of our servers and our other clients. We also do not allow any software or technique that is designed to bypass this policy. Using an index.cgi to read the request headers and redirect to a subdirectory or having an outside host point a domain name to a subdirectory is likewise, prohibited.
