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IP Addresses
DNS Servers
Domain Registrars
WHOIS Records
InterNIC
Altering a domain
Domain troubleshooting

Perhaps the most important , and occasionally most troublesome aspect of running a web site, is the issue of the Domain Name System [DNS]. DNS is the method through which a web site can be located, without knowing where it is physically located on the internet.

IP ADDRESSES

In actuality, the true address of a web site is its Internet Protocol, or [IP] address. This is a numeric address that indicates where the computer is physically connected to the internet.

IP addresses are numerical addresses - four numbers separated by dots:
e.g.: 216.10.10.10

When your account is activated, you will be notified of your site's IP address in the introductory email.- Make note of it!

This IP address is, for all intents and purposes, the permanent address of your site while it is hosted at LSYF/YOA. Should your IP address need to be changed [e.g. if your site is moved to a different LSYF/YOA server machine] you'll be notified at the time.

Your IP address is synonymous for your domain name. In most internet applications, the IP address can be used in place of the domain name.
e.g. when configuring your email client, when asked for the mail server, you may enter the IP address instead of 'mail.yourdomain.com'

In the first week or so after a new account activation, you will need to use your IP address instead of your domain name, as the DNS may not yet correctly point to your LSYF/YOA site.

DNS SERVERS

Domain names are much easier to remember than IP address, but they give no indication as to how to find the site on the internet. This is done by the DNS system, which resolves domain names into their 'real' address - the IP address..

When a web browser connects to 'www.yourdomain.com', a message is sent to your local DNS server [usually at you internet service provider if you are at home, dialed into the internet] which sends back the IP address of the domain. The browser uses this IP address to connect to the web server and receive the pages. This is called resolving the address.

The benefits of the DNS system are apparent- domain names are easy to remember, and we can change where a domain name goes to by changing the IP address that the DNS servers point it to - a web site may move to a different computer halfway across the world, yet it will still be reachable by its domain name, so long as the DNS system is updated with the new IP address.

Problems arise with this system because of the issue of synchronization. Every ISP has its own DNS server - what if one ISP's DNS server points your domain to a different IP address than the other? People on different ISP's, looking for www.yourdomain.com could be sent to different sites, and may not be able to connect to your web site at all.

Clearly there must be a system to ensure than DNS servers everywhere have access to the same, consistent information about the IP addresses of web sites and internet domains. This is why we have the system of authoritative name servers and master servers

Authoritative DNS Servers: every domain must have two DNS servers to act as their Authority or Primary . These are the servers that hold the most correct and up to date information regarding the domain's IP addresses. Usually these DNS servers are operated by the owners of the domain in question [or their hosting provider, as is the case with LSYF/YOA customers]. Other DNS servers across the internet will trust the authoritative name servers to provide the correct address for a host or domain on the net.

Master DNS servers: the next part of the DNS system, are the thirteen master DNS servers that hold the 'top level' information for the entire internet's DNS system. These thirteen systems, operated by a gathering of private companies, academic institutions and military laboratories, have the job of propagating IP address information from each domain's authoritative DNS servers, to other DNS servers across the planet.

Lets take a look at how your browser receives the IP address of a web site you wish to view:
here's a common example - www.microsoft.com

    • You enter 'www.microsoft.com' in Your browser's address bar
      • your browser sends a message to your ISP's DNS server.

       

    • The server looks in its records to see if it has the address for www.microsoft.com
      • Seeing that it does not have the IP address for microsoft.com, it must ask a master server for the address.

       

    • microsoft.com is part of the .com top-level domain [TLD], so it asks one of the master servers responsible for the .com TLD the master server has a list of all known .com domains, and the authoritative servers for each domain
      • The master servers connects to the IP address 131.107.1.240, the authoritative server for microsoft.com, and receives the IP address for www.microsoft.com

       

    • The master server passes back this address to your ISP's DNS server, which passes the address back to your browser, Your browser connects to the IP address and receives the web pages from www.microsoft.com
      • The ISP's DNS server holds the address of www.microsoft.com in its DNS Cache. The next time someone on the same ISP wants to connect to microsoft.com, it will have the address stored locally, and can resolve it much more quickly.

       

    • Depending on how the ISP has configured their DNS server, the address may be stored in cache for a few hours, or several days. This is important to know, because, should the address of microsoft.com [or any other domain] change in that time, the DNS server will not ask the master servers for the address again, until the cache has expired.

DOMAIN REGISTRARS

There is a piece missing from the system just described however. The master servers have a list of all known domains and their authoritative servers; but where does this list come from? how is it kept up to date? The answer is the Domain Registrar.

Every Top Level Domain, such as .com .org .net .edu - has its own domain registrar; a beaurocratic body designated to maintain information about internet domains. These records include information about the owner of the domain name, contact information for the system administrator, and the addresses of authoritative name servers for the domain. These records do not contain the actual IP address of the domain, as this may change over time, and it is the job of the authoritative name server to provide current addresses for a domain.

There are currently several domain registrars which can service you. Lighthouse Sanctuary Youth Foundation, Inc. uses Bulk Register.  However you are welcome to use any domain registrar you choose if you feel that you do not want your domain registered throughLighthouse Sanctuary Youth Foundation, Inc.  Here is a list of Domain Registrars.

Other top-level Domains have their own Registrar authorities. In Europe, TLD's so such as .uk .de .no .ie .fr and other country code TLD's are operated by RIPE

Domain Registrars register your ownership of a domain and its authoritative name servers, with the Master DNS servers, for a yearly fee. They also maintain the database of authoritative name servers for each domain in the TLD's they control.

WHOIS RECORDS

This database is commonly called the WHOIS database, and parts of it are publicly accessible over the internet. It is named after the tool used to access the database over the internet

There are several whois client applications available for all operating systems, but today the easiest version is to use a web-based whois query tool.

http://youthofamerica.net/Whois.htm

InterNIC - http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois/

RIPE - http://www.ripe.net/db/whois.html

InterNIC

AllLighthouse Sanctuary Youth Foundation, Inc. registered domains are registered through Bulk Register.  The first year is paid. Any renewals, however, will need to be paid by the customer.  For the purposes of informing the customer about domain information, we will use Network Solutions in this document. However, your choices are not limited to Network Solutions in any way.  Over the past few years many domain registrars have begun to service the industry.

It is important to understand what InterNic is and how it is operated, particularly as they are a third party in your business relationship with LSYF/YOA.

The InterNIC is a government founded body, incepted to maintain a registry of domain records on the internet. At present, a company called Network Solutions Inc, is the current contracted maintainer of the InterNIC.

It is becoming more important to note the difference between the InterNIC [the registry] and Network Solutions [The contracted operator of InterNIC] as five more companies have been awarded contracts to operate parts of the InterNIC in recent months.

Network Solutions licenses domain names on a two year basis. Your $35 pays for their costs to maintain the database of domain names, their owners, and the authority DNS servers for each domain.

Its important to note that LSYF/YOA has no special standing nor control over Network Solutions. We provide only web hosting services, and an IP address to connect to. If our hardware is operational, and your site is reachable by its IP address, then except for rare oversights on our part; problems related to your domain name itself are a matter to take up with Network Solutions, as your contract for ownership of your domain name is rarely something LSYF/YOA has any direct influence over.

The most common interaction with InterNic is the retrieval of information concerning the owner, status and DNS servers of a domain; the WHOIS system. Let's look at a typical InterNIC WHOIS record - we'll use LSYF/YOA's to begin with

Lighthouse Sanctuary Youth Foundation,
Inc 1426 Web Gin House Rd
Lawrenceville, GA 30045

US Domain Name: YOUTHOFAMERICA.NET

Administrative Contact: Denise Minnix sanctify@YOUTHOFAMERICA.COM youthofamerica.net 1426 Web Gin House Rd Lawrenceville, GA 30045 US Phone- 7707366890 Fax- 7707366890

Technical Contact: Rocky Scarfone itsfree@YOUTHOFAMERICA.NET youthofamerica.net 1426 web gin house rd lawrenceville, GA 30045 US Phone- 770.736.6890 Fax- 770.736.6890

Billing Contact: Denise Minnix sanctify@YOUTHOFAMERICA.COM youthofamerica.net 1426 Web Gin House Rd Lawrenceville, GA 30045 US Phone- 7707366890 Fax- 7707366890

Record updated on 2001-08-23 12:18:15.

Record created on 1998-09-18.

Record expires on 2002-09-17.

Database last updated on 2001-09-04 16:44:23 EST.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS.YOUTHOFAMERICA.NET 216.221.162.97 NS2.YOUTHOFAMERICA.NET 216.221.162.147

Let's take a look at what these entries mean.

Registrant: This is the main contact address for the owner of the domain

Administrative Contact: Usually lists contact info for someone authorized to make legal/financial decisions for a domain

Technical/Zone Contacts: Usually lists contact info for someone capable of addressing technical issues for the machines within the domain

Billing Contact: Contact info for the person/department where yearly charges for the domain will be billed to.

It is important to note here the importance of these contact addresses as it relates to making changes to a WHOIS record:

In order to alter a record - changing the authoritative domain servers, the technical contact, etc., requires the action of two people listed in the contacts for the domain in question. The exception to this is when a person is listed twice [e.g. as the administrative and billing contacts], in this instance, that person has authority to make any changes required to the domain.

However as there are only three contacts in a domain record, if one person is listed twice, it means they are the only person with any authority to make changes to a domain.

Remember: if you are listed twice in your domain record then only you can make alterations to your domain!

The other item of note in these records, are the numbers in brackets besides the name of a domain contact. These numbers are known as 'NIC handles' , and they provide a quick way to look up information on an individual contact without knowing all their details. For example, when transferring a domain to use LSYF/YOA's servers, you may wish to change the Technical contact to reflect your change in hosting. Instead of typing out all these details manually, you may use our NIC handle directly. It is also worth the time to look up and make note of your own NIC handle for any dealings you may have with Network Solutions.

OBTAINING OR MODIFYING A DOMAIN WITH INTERNIC

Over the course of your ownership of a domain, circumstances may require you to modify your domain record to keep it current and functional. The following is a quick checklist for getting quick results in these matters.

New Domains with LSYF/YOA

- .com .net .org domains

As part of your sign-up, we can automatically register a new domain as you require. The process is automatic, as long as the domain is available and valid, and you indicate you require the service.

All that is required of you in this case is patience, Internic takes a few days to process new orders, and in that time, your site will only be reachable by its IP address or the host name of the LSYF/YOA server your site is hosted from.

Once the domain record is operational at Internic, your domain will be visible to the name servers of networks across the internet, and your site reachable by 'www.yourdomain.com'
 

- Registering domains with other Top Level Domains

YouthOfAmerica register domains in other TLD'S, and  will gladly coordinate with you on synchronizing our DNS with your domain information.

     http://youthofamerica.net/Whois.htm

Modifying an existing domain

Unless you have very special needs, you will want to make LSYF/YOA your new DNS server when you move your web site hosting to LSYF/YOA.

Changing the primary name servers for a domain is a moderately simple process, requiring just two pieces of information, the hostnames and IP address of two LSYF/YOA DNS servers. Contact us for this information at the time of obtaining your LSYF/YOA account, to ensure you have correct information for your domain. Submitting an incorrect modification request for InterNIC that later needs to be corrected can put your domain name [not your web site itself] out of action for several weeks while the changes are processed.

The forms for modifying your domain information with Network Solutions can be found at:

http://www.networksolutions.com/makechanges

You must use the form marked 'modify domain name registration agreement'. This is the form used to change your DNS servers, or to modify contact information for your domain.

The most common change you will have to make, is the alteration of your domain's name servers if you are transferring your domain from a previous hosting service. The fields you must adjust appear as follows

Go here: http://youthofamerica.net/members2.html

 

Please use the above values when transferring your domain toLighthouse Sanctuary Youth Foundation, Inc.

After you fill out the form, you will receive an email delivered to your listed contact address. This email will contain a copy of the information you filled out on the form page, and instructions on how to acknowledge the changes to be completed [essentially, you must just reply to the email and write 'YES' where indicated]

Please note: Submissions for modification of domain information will only be honored by internic if the submission is sent from the email address listed in your contact information for your domain.

in short:- If you know you will no longer be able to receive email at the address listed in your contact information, this may make it extremely difficult to facilitate changes to your domain record, short of calling Network Solutions by phone. This is actually much less likely to produce a timely result than modifying the domain through the automated email processing system.

Tips for which email addresses to use in domain contact records: it should be noted that using non permanent addresses for domain records can produce many problems for your handling of your domain at a later date. We strongly discourage you from using non permanent email addresses, especially those of web-mail based services such has Hot Mail and Excite. These accounts are particularly bad for several reasons

  • As they are free, there is no guarantee of service from these services. They may cancel your account at any time.
  • Web-based email services are notably insecure and it is no great matter for people with the required skills to forge email from these accounts, to make unauthorized modifications to your domain by assuming your identity.
  • Free email services convey an image of untrustworthiness upon you - especially as these email services are considered non permanent addresses, they convey a degree of 'fly-by-night' nature upon people using them as business addresses [most notably because these free email sources are often the source of unsolicited commercial email ['spam'] by people abusing their services.

Good addresses to use are those that indicate a measure of permanency and accountability in them. Email addresses at businesses, educational establishments and Internet service providers all fit this requirement.

TROUBLESHOOTING DNS PROBLEMS

So there's a problem with your domain, what do you do? DNS problems can be some of the most thorny problems to resolve, essentially because there are many points of failure, only a few of which are under the control of LSYF/YOA.

Before anything else, please check that your domain is paid to date. You may do this by going here. If your domain is paid to date, please proceed.

There are essentially four main points of failure for the DNS system

  • LSYF/YOA DNS Servers
  • InterNIC [or the relevant registrar body for your domain] and your domain record itself
  • The thirteen root DNS servers can provide DNS synchronization across the whole internet
  • your ISP's local DNS server

The best way to asure a rapid resolution to any domain related problem, is simply providing us with as much information about the problem as possible. Here is a quick checklist and some software tools you can use to gather required information.

Firstly an overview of common DNS tools [you may wish to use these yourself, or at least be aware of their purpose so as to clarify information you receive from tech support about the DNS problem].

ping - A tool used to determine if a connection can be made to a remote domain or IP address over the internet from your computer. Ping sends out data to the remote machine and listens for replies indicating the serer can be reached from your location.

nslookup - Is short for 'name server lookup'. Nslookup queries a DNS server for the IP address of a given computer or domain. As noted earlier in this section, this is referred to as resolving the address. An important part of solving DNS problems is to query DNS servers in several important locations to determine which servers can successfully resolve your domain to its IP address. In this manner we can rapidly isolate the problem and provide a solution.

traceroute - traceroute is something of a combination of the two previous tools. As the name suggests, it traces the route between your computer and a remote system, indicating the networks and computers your data passes through on the route to its destination.

whois - The client tool for the database system of the same name. a whois utility allows you to look up information on domain records. Most domain registries have whois tools built into their web sites now , so obtaining a separate whois tool is now largely unnecessary.

Versions of these tools are available for all operating systems and it is recommended you obtain some of these tools for your system, they are established standards for obtaining information about systems on the internet, and often necessary for keeping track of information about your domain

Here's the checklist of information to obtain for resolving DNS problems. The more of these you can provide to us, the quicker we can provide a solution.

  • Can you ping your web site by domain name?
    ping [your domain name]
  • Can you ping your web site by IP address?
    ping [your IP address]
  • Does your local DNS server resolve your domains to its correct IP address?
    nslookup [your domain name]
  • Does your Whois record indicate the correct DNS servers [i.e. ns1.lsyf.com] in the 'name servers by order' section?
    whois [your domain name]

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