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How to get right address for your Web site.
Why go to the trouble?
Why go to the trouble?
While many personal Internet users are satisfied with an e-mail address containing your ISP's domain name, the majority of organisations can qualify for a unique domain name of their own choosing.
You're the owner of bicycle outlet Cycle City? You can have your e-mail address as john@cyclecity.com.au. You're in charge of computer teaching at St Marys College? Your school can get on the Net with a domain name of stmary.edu.au. Maybe you coordinate a telecommuting cottage in the suburb of Blue Hills? Sign up for bluehills.org.au.
A domain name built around the name of your company or
organisation is an effective and professional-looking way
to stake your claim online. It's easier to remember than
the usual ISP-based address, doubly so if you launch a
Web page from the same domain -- and doesn't
www.cyclecity.com.au sound smarter than
www.supernet.com.au/users/~cycle?
How domain names are given out
Domain names are allocated in accordance with the international and local address schemes developed by the Internet Network Information Centre (InterNIC) and the Australian Network Information Centre (AUNIC).
Five Australian domain `extensions' are applicable to most users -- COM, EDU, GOV, ORG and NET.
As a starting point your organisation will fall into one of the first three categories: a business, an educational institution or a government body. ORG has been deliberately left as a catch-all for community bodies, affiliate groups (ranging from trade unions to computer clubs) and others who don't belong anywhere else.
Many businesses and quite a few individuals are choosing to register for domain names ending in NET.AU, however. As the Web has exploded, the volunteer appointed by AUNIC to administer the .COM extension has been overloaded with work, leading to delays in processing the highly sought-after COM.AU domain names for businesses eager to jump online. The criteria for COM.AU is also strict -- the organisation applying must be a registered business or company with an ACN number (individuals need not apply) and the requested domain name must be identical to or bear a significant relationship to the business name.
The NET.AU domain name has no such restrictions. This makes it easy to obtain a domain name for almost any purpose -- home-operated hobby businesses which aren't registered, the names of products and publications owned by a larger parent company, or even a generic name or catchy description of the services you offer. It's even possible to register your surname and arrange for family members to have the ultimate in personal e-mail addresses!
NET.AU is also popular as an alternative if the name
you want has already been registered by someone else in
the COM.AU domain (dial into AUNIC's query page at http://www.aunic.net/namestatus.html
to see if your desired domain name has already been
issued).
How to get your domain name
So how do you set yourself up with a uniquely identifying domain name? Although you can apply directly to the AUNIC's Australian Internet Registry page at http://www.aunic.net, you'll need to have your own Internet server and full-time connection, which is a little like building your own car and then trying to have it registered.
The most practical method is to have your ISP do all the leg work -- after all, they'll also be responsible for handling your e-mail and hosting your Web page at that same URL address.
Most ISPs charge a once-off registration fee for your domain name (although these names are issued free by AUNIC, that cost can represent the ISPs administration and setting up of the domain name on their server). This varies from $200 (OzEmail) to $1000 (World.Net) and should include the automatic forwarding of mail sent to your domain address, such as john@cyclecity.com.au, to your usual mail account with that ISP.
The fact that mail sent to john@cyclecity.com.au is redirected to jsmith@supernet.com.au is totally transparent to most e-mail software. This maintains the illusion that your company is a big-time player with offices in a city skyscraper instead of a one-person home business nestled away in the spare room.
If you want a Web page at the same domain address, you'll have to sign up for a `virtual Web server' plan under which the ISP will host your Web page, provide hard disk space for files which users can download, and support CGI so your page can include forms (useful for surveys, competitions and other feedback mechanisms). This is likely to cost from $1000-$3000 per year but prices and plans vary widely between ISPs, so it pays to shop around (and don't be afraid to haggle) in order to find the best deal.
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All text © 1997 Australian Consolidated Press - PC User Magazine