You may have heard someone talking about a Web Server, domain names, or things like that. Usually these kinds of things are better left in the realm of the technical geek, but if you’re thinking about your web presence, it is worth knowing a little about the services you might need.
Geeks will talk about servers a lot, servers are what makes the Internet do the things we need. Servers run things like web sites, email boxes, instant messenger services… all sorts of things. For each kind of service, there is a… (wait for it)… Server! The page you’re reading right now is sitting on a web server, probably somewhere in California (where the server is doesn’t really matter, as long as it gets power and is nice and cool).
Websites have “Domain Names”, which you may have noticed at the top of your browser (my domain name is “jeremysisson.com”). Your computer looks up the domain name through a “Domain Name Server”, which tells it where to look for the web server, which then sends your computer the web page. Ta da!
The domain name is also important because we can send and receive email with it. Email uses the same system for finding the email server that your browser does. This is why we usually say “yourname AT domainname.com”.
This may be more info than you need, but it can be good to know. These details are part of the foundation of your web presence.
Tags: Tech Stuff, Web Presence
Created on Thursday, March 19th, 2009
