Web Hosting FAQ, Forums and News

Web Hosting FAQ

2008-02-15T22:35:00.001-08:00

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is the act of renting space and bandwidth through a company so that you may publish your web site online.

You can either opt for free hosting that is usually supported with banners and pop ups, or may opt to get paid web hosting, which gives you complete control over your site contents.

What is Virtual Hosting?

Also known as shared hosting, this form of web hosting should suffice for most everyone.

Virtual hosting simple refers to the fact that your site is on one server, and that this server hosts multiple sites. You are virtually shared - your site will not be the only one on this specific server.

Very few sites would actually need the power of a dedicated server, so this option provides to be a reliable and cheap solution.

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is a word along with a TLD that uniquely identifies your website.
Please visit our domains page for more information.

How Do I Register a Domain Name?

Registering a domain name is very easy.

First you will have to make sure that the domain you want is available - using something called a WHOIS lookup at sites like Register.com or Whois Source you can make sure the domain you want is available for registration.

Afterwards, you simply need to visit a registration site such as DirectNIC or Register.com to purchase your domain name.

My host offers unlimited bandwidth/space/transfer

As we explained on our scams page, it is not possible for a web host to offer 'unlimited' bandwidth or diskspace. Such hosting plans always come with clauses that restrict how much bandwidth you can transfer at a given moment, how much CPU usage you can use (which is arbitrarily decided), and so forth.

What exactly is space and bandwidth/data transfer?

Diskspace is the size your website can be. Every single letter on your website has to be stored somewhere on your web host's server. Each letter is one byte, and a megabyte is roughly one million bytes. HTML pages are usually very small, but it is the extra images, scripts, and even databases that can take up large amounts of disk space.

Bandwidth/Transfer is the amount of data the server will allow your site to send in a month. Transfer is usually measured in gigabytes - billions of bytes. Once you go over your monthly limit, a host may either shut your site down for the remainder of the month or it can charge you 'overage.' This overcharge is usually about $2.00-$5.00 per extra gigabyte of transfer.

Web Hosting FAQ 1

2008-02-15T22:34:00.004-08:00

What do I need to do to put Flash on my website?

Flash is a client side feature - it runs on the user's computer, not on your web host. As long as the user's browser has the correct plugin installed, it will run on their computer.

How do I track how many hits my website gets?

There are a few things that need to be cleared in terms of terminology:

Hits - this simply refers to the number of 'elements' loaded on your site. If one page has five images in it, viewing that page once adds 6 hits (one page + five images).
Impressions - the number of times all the pages on your site are seen (also simply called page views). Impressions are sometimes referred to as 'hits' which can cause confusion
Unique - the number of people that visited your site

So to clarify, if I visit your website, look at two pages, and each page has 5 images on it, then your stats increase by one unique, two page views, and 12 hits.

Tracking on your site can be either done server-side or remotely. With server-side statistics, log files are used to generate visitor information. This is usually much more accurate than remotely hosted solutions. In such cases, you usually have to add some JavaScript to your site. This javascript is then used to track visitor data.

If your host provides it (and many do), server-side statistics are a good solution. Otherwise, companies like Site Meter can be used to remotely track your visitors.

What are PHP, ASP, perl, etc?

These are all programming languages which are referred to by their acronyms.

PHP - PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
ASP - Active Server Pages
Perl - not an acronym

Each programming language has its own benefits and uses. It is best that you research on your own to find one that best fits your needs.

What is MySQL, MS SQL, etc?

MySQL and MS SQL are database systems. Depending on what your host provides, you can use a database to organize your data.

To help you out, we have lists on hosts that provide MySQL and hosts that provide MS SQL.

Do I have to change my domain if I get a new host?

No. Provided that the domain is registered in your name (as it should be), you can simply update your namservers (from where you manage your domain names) to that of your new host.

Will there be forced advertising on my site - things like banner ads or popup ads?

Not at all. You are paying for webspace that is only yours - no one may put ads on your site except you.

What is Domain Parking?

Domain parking lets you buy a domain and then have a 'coming soon' page on it. This is not needed - if a domain is not parked it will simply be inaccessible to anyone.

Most domain registrars provide this by default.

How can I pay for web hosting?

This depends on which host you decide to go with. Most web hosts will accept credit cards, and some will accept PayPal and/or a Money Order / Check.

What is PayPal?

Simply put, PayPal lets anyone with email address send money to anyone else with an email address.

Each user signs up with PayPal and then enters their necessary banking and credit card information. Once registration is completed, your email address is all you need to send and receive money.

PayPal is owned by eBay.

What are sub domains?

Consider sub domains as an extension of your domain. For example, your site is www.example.com. A sub domain would be test.example.com, and another would be webhosting.example.com.

Sub domains are usually treated as separate sites from the main domain site.

How do I upload my site online?

Uploading your site can be done in many ways, but the most popular is FTP.

When your hosting account was created, you should have been provided with an FTP account. Using software such as CuteFTP or WS_FTP, you can log into your host. Then, using the program like a normal windows program, you can drag and drop files onto your web host. These files become live online instantaneously.

There are other ways to upload your site such as using SSH or uploading files through your browser

What is uptime?

Uptime is literally what it means - it is the amount of time your site is online throughout the entire month.

The best uptime would be 100%, but because things can break, many hosts offer 99.9% uptime guarantees. This means that if your site is not accessible for more than 43 minutes in a single month, they will reimburse you, depending on their terms of service.

What is the difference between UNIX hosting and Windows hosting?

Depending on which operating system to go with depends on your needs.

If you need to support Microsoft products such as ASP, MS Access, or VBScript, then Windows hosting would be better. Furthermore, if you are comfortable with IIS and do not have the time to understand how UNIX works, Windows hosting would again be a better choice.

There are some things to remember.

First of all, just because you use Windows at home does not mean you should use Windows hosting. The two are completely different, and having a Windows system at home will not affect your ability to communicate with a UNIX server.

Secondly, Linux is much more common with web hosts due to its superior stability and because it is free. Since it is free, Linux hosting is usually cheaper than Windows. Just because it's free does not mean it's not as good - Linux is an excellent product too.

In order to help you, we have created a list of web hosts using Unix and a list of web hosts that use Windows.

I have a fast internet connection (DSL/cable) - can I just host my own site?

You could, but that's definitely not recommended.

First of all, most ISPs have clauses that do not let you use your internet connection for web hosting - doing so will result in termination of your account.

Second of all, think of the headaches it can provide: making sure your system is secure so that no one can hack into it, having your computer on 24/7, and other such problems.

Third of all, think of the performance. Most good web hosts use powerful servers with lots of RAM and high performance hard disks. Furthermore, they have multiple internet connections at speeds far higher than what residential DSL or cable service can provide.

Lastly there are all the issues of support. If something goes wrong, it will be your job to fix it - you will not have a professional to correct the problem.

Web Hosting FAQ 2

2008-02-15T22:34:00.003-08:00

Why would I need a dedicated IP?

For most people, a dedicated IP is not required. But for people that want to provide anonymous FTP or a website using SSL, a dedicated IP can make that easier.

Why don't I just go with the cheapest hosting?

A host has to make a profit to continue operating. Some hosts do not properly understand the market, and may be pricing themselves too cheap.

We provide a more detailed explanation here

I am using too much bandwidth! Is there any way for me to make it less?

In most cases, yes.

You should first try to optimize the graphics on your website. Many GIFs look just as good with fewer colors, and many JPEGs look just as good with a higher compression level. NetMechanic offers an image optimizer program online.

You should also analyze the HTML of your site. Make sure you use relative paths, so that images are not downloaded more than one time. Remove any extra spacing and when linking to other pages, use relative paths and not absolute links.

While many hosts already have it, you could also see if your host has mod_gzip installed. This can save you a lot of bandwidth.

Best of all, optimizing your page like this makes the user experience better as your site will load faster for them!

Can I keep my domain name when I change a host?

Yes. We recommend that you register your domain name with a separate registrar before getting a hosting plan (please see our Domain Name Guide). Then, when you need to move to another host, you just need to point your domain's name servers to this new host. If you registered your domain name with a host and now you want to move, you should find your registration records or contact this host and ask them how to control your domain name. If you have a problem, you can usually see the name of the registrar by performing a "Whose" query on your domain name and contact them.

Does it make a difference what type of desktop computer I use?

No. This will only make a difference if you develop scripts that you want to use without changes on your web site. FrontPage extensions can also be done on UNIX (or Linux) servers.

Will I have forced advertising on my site like I do on Geocities, etc.?

No. None of the web hosts listed in our database force any kinds of ads on your site. In fact you can put your own ads if you'd like.

I don't have any experience in creating a site. Who can help me create and host my site?

There are services such as 1001designs.com, OCWebdesign and CityMAX that do that. Please also see our Quick Start Guide.

What is full-service web hosting?

"Full-service" can refer to a variety of services offered in addition to providing web space, transfer, and emails for a web site. For example, it could be 24/7 toll free phone support, web design services, or web site content maintenance services.

What are the numbers listed under "space" and "transfer"?

Space is the amount of "stuff" you can put on your web site. Available space is usually listed in megabytes (MB, millions of bytes). Single letter takes up one byte. HTML files are usually rather small (this file is about 25,000 bytes) but pictures and programs can get quite big. Your scripts, emails and stats will also take up space on your host.
Transfer is the amount of "stuff" that visitors to your site can download before you reach your monthly limit. Transfer is usually listed in gigabytes (billions of bytes). After the transfer limit is reached for the month, you will need to pay extra for additional transfer at higher rates. For example, if an average visitor to your site views 3 HTML pages of 20 KB (thousands of bytes) each and 8 small embedded pictures of 10 KB each, and you get 500 visitors per day, you will require at least (3 * 20 + 8 * 10) * 500 * 30 = 2,100,000 KB = 2.1 GB of transfer per month.

How do I pay for web hosting?

The methods of payment which are accepted depend on each individual host. Almost everybody accepts credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard. Vast majority of plans require periodic (usually monthly up to yearly) payments.

Can I use Java applets, JavaScript, and Flash pages on my site?

Yes. Those are client-side technologies, so the host doesn't have to do anything to support or enable them. Any browser (such as Internet Explorer or Netscape) that supports them is enough, so any host will do. It doesn't matter whether Java or Flash are listed among the plan's features, they are supported by default.

Should I use a Unix (Linux, SunOS, BSD, etc.) or Windows NT (Windows 2000) based server?

Which operating system you decide to use should depend on what features you need. For example, if you are already using IIS, ASP, VBScript, Windows Media, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, or Visual InterDev, and you don't have the time to learn Unix-based solutions, you'll have to choose a Windows NT or Windows 2000-based host. Just because your desktop is Windows-based doesn't mean you should use a Windows host. You may notice that Linux-based operating systems and Apache Web servers are most common among web hosting companies. This is due to Apache's many shared-hosting features, a good track record of stability and performance, and because Linux and Apache are free. In addition to cross-platform products like Java or Cold Fusion, it is also possible to find hosts that run unusual combinations that for example let you use Apache on Windows NT or ASP on Linux.

Even if you use FrontPage and its extensions for your site design, you can find many web hosts that will support these extensions on a Unix system using our Advanced Search page.

How much data transfer will I need?

You can figure out how much data transfer you will require by estimating your average page size (including graphics!) and multiplying it by the number of page views you expect to have in a month. For example: with an average page size of 50 KB, and around 2000 page views per day, you will transfer an average of 3 GB per month. In this case, you should get a plan with 4 to 5 GB of data transfer limit per month, so you don't have to worry about overstepping your account's limit, which may cause extra per GB transfer charges.

Can't I just get a DSL line or a cable modem and host the site or my own computer?

Sure, you could do that, but it's not a good idea for several reasons. First, a vast majority of ISPs won't let you legally use a residential cable modem or a DSL line to host a public server. You would have to get a more expensive business package. Second, ADSL and cable lines usually have lower upstream bandwidth than downstream bandwidth, so your site may appear to be sluggish under heavy traffic. Third, DSL and cable lines have a much lower reliability than dedicated T1 or better lines. Fourth, you wouldn't have the benefit of data security, data backup, UPS power, or technical support that a host can provide.

Web Hosting FAQ 3

2008-02-15T22:34:00.001-08:00

Do I need stats?

Probably not If you can access raw logs, you could download them and analyze them on your home computer with a stats program yourself. However, the log files can get quite large for popular sites, so having the server analyze them may be more convenient. You could also use a service like Web Trends, theCounter.com, or Site Meter to get more detailed stats on your users than any host's stats program can provide.

My site is database-driven and uses 50 GB per month in transfer. Can I simply use a host with an unlimited transfer plan for $10 per month?

No. Most hosts are in business to make money and they would lose money hosting your site. They have to pay from $0.3 to $5 per GB of transfer to upstream providers themselves. Almost all hosts that have "unlimited" plans specify in their acceptable use policies that no site can use an "excessive" amount of resources. If you use too much disk space, bandwidth, or CPU time, these "unlimited" hosts will ask you to upgrade or leave.

Is there any advantage to a host that uses a Cobalt RaQ as opposed to one that uses a normal Linux computer?

No. RaQs are made specifically for hosting and they have pre-installed software that is optimized for hosting but experienced hosts can build and administer their own server just as well for less money. RaQs do have an advantage of being physically smaller.

Can I run my own software on my site?

This depends on a web host and a plan. Most plans will allow running scripts in languages such as Perl or PHP. Some plans will also allow you to compile program in C/C++ and run them. Some Unix plans will also allow you to run "cron" which enables you to automatically execute programs or scripts at a specific time and date. However to get a full control over all aspects of your server, you will need a dedicated or co-located server instead of a shared plan.

Do I need a static IP address for my site?

Maybe There are some advantages to having a unique IP for your site. When you change servers, you can point your users to a new IP, so they don't have to wait for the domain name change to propagate. With a static IP, it can also be simpler to upload and test your site before transferring the domain name to a new server. Setting up SSL is also much simpler. You may also not want to share your IP with some sites that could lead to your site being banned by search engines or spam lists.

Do I need to use host's search engine submission service?

No. Some search engine submission tools are better than others and some big search engines don't like automated submission. You should submit manually to major directories like Yahoo!, ODP, or Look smart, and you may also prefer to submit manually to major search engines.

Should I simply choose a cheapest plan?

We wouldn't recommend choosing any plan below $5 per month if you expect to get a reasonable level of technical support.

Will the bandwidth prices fall soon?

Bandwidth prices are gradually decreasing. It is now possible for hosts to pay less than $1 per GB of transfer in chunks of 100 GB. New companies like Cogent Communications are building fiber-optic networks and promise 100 Mbps of bandwidth across their network to multi-tenant office buildings in major cities for $1,000/month. The question is whether they will be able to peer with established telecoms without raising prices.

How can hosts make money offering high transfer limits for low prices?

They count on the fact that the majority of sites won't use anywhere close to the full amount of transfer available. This overselling is usually a valid assumption and it is done in many other businesses (ex. airlines).

Are there any extra costs involved in hosting a secure site?

Yes, you'll need to get a digital certificate from a Certificate Authority such as VeriSign, Thawte, or Equifax Secure.

Should I worry that my host is a reseller?

Probably not. It is quite possible to get better support or prices from a reseller than from a base company. Resellers are usually smaller companies and since they don't own the server, sometimes they have to wait for the parent company to perform some tasks.

Should I go with a big or small hosting company?

This depends on your preferences. Large companies might be considered to have better chances of staying in business for a long time and may be able to negotiate better deals for their customers, but small hosts are usually cheaper, provide better support for individuals and small businesses, and are quicker to offer new features.

Are there any advantages to getting a domain name with Network Solutions instead of a cheaper company?

No.

I don't want my site to be down. Ever. What host should I use?

No host can provide 100% uptime. We monitor uptime for many hosts and you could use this data as a guide.&bnsp; But even the biggest and best multi-million dollar sites go down from time to time due to various unforeseen circumstances. The best you can find is an uptime guarantee, where the host offers refunds for downtime.

Can I reduce the amount of data transfer my site needs?

Usually yes. Try to optimize all the graphics on your site. Many GIFs don't look noticeably worse with fewer colors. Don't duplicate graphics files, let the browser cache them. Try to clean up your HTML by using relative paths, short filenames, less extras, and reducing the number of spaces and new lines. If your site is mainly text-based, ask your host about using an HTTP compression module like mod_gzip.

Can I keep my domain name when I change a host?

Does it make a difference what type of desktop computer I use?
No. This will only make a difference if you develop scripts that you want to use without changes on your web site. FrontPage extensions can also be done on UNIX (or Linux) servers.

Will I have forced advertising on my site like I do on Geocities, etc.?
No. None of the web hosts listed in our database force any kinds of ads on your site. In fact you can put your own ads if you'd like.

I don't have any experience in creating a site. Who can help me create and host my site?

There are services such as 1001designs.com, OCWebdesign and CityMAX that do that. Please also see our Quick Start Guide.

Web Hosting FAQ 4

2008-02-15T22:33:00.005-08:00

What is full-service web hosting?

How do I pay for web hosting?

Can I use Java applets, JavaScript, and Flash pages on my site?

Should I use a UNIX (Linux, SunOS, BSD, etc.) or Windows NT (Windows 2000) based server?

Even if you use FrontPage and its extensions for your site design, you can find many web hosts that will support these extensions on a UNIX system using our Advanced Search page.

How much data transfer will I need?

Can't I just get a DSL line or a cable modem and host the site or my own computer?

Do I need stats?

Probably not. If you can access raw logs, you could download them and analyze them on your home computer with a stats program yourself. However, the log files can get quite large for popular sites, so having the server analyze them may be more convenient. You could also use a service like Web Trends, theCounter.com, or Site Meter to get more detailed stats on your users than any host's stats program can provide.

My site is database-driven and uses 50 GB per month in transfer. Can I simply use a host with an unlimited transfer plan for $10 per month?

Is there any advantage to a host that uses a Cobalt RaQ as opposed to one that uses a normal Linux computer?

Can I run my own software on my site?

Do I need a static IP address for my site?

Maybe. There are some advantages to having a unique IP for your site. When you change servers, you can point your users to a new IP, so they don't have to wait for the domain name change to propagate. With a static IP, it can also be simpler to upload and test your site before transferring the domain name to a new server. Setting up SSL is also much simpler. You may also not want to share your IP with some sites that could lead to your site being banned by search engines or spam lists.

Do I need to use host's search engine submission service?

Should I simply choose a cheapest plan?

We wouldn't recommend choosing any plan below $5 per month if you expect to get a reasonable level of technical support.

Will the bandwidth prices fall soon?

Web Hosting FAQ 5

2008-02-15T22:33:00.003-08:00

How can hosts make money offering high transfer limits for low prices?

Are there any extra costs involved in hosting a secure site?

Yes, you'll need to get a digital certificate from a Certificate Authority such as VeriSign, Thawte, or Equifax Secure.

Should I worry that my host is a reseller?

Should I go with a big or small hosting company?

Are there any advantages to getting a domain name with Network Solutions instead of a cheaper company?

I don't want my site to be down. Ever. What host should I use?

No host can provide 100% uptime. We monitor uptime for many hosts and you could use this data as a guide but even the biggest and best multi-million dollar sites go down from time to time due to various unforeseen circumstances. The best you can find is an uptime guarantee, where the host offers refunds for downtime.

Can I reduce the amount of data transfer my site needs?

What are "free webspace and free web hosting providers"?

These are online web hosting companies who offer to host your website on their web server at no cost to you (you pay no money). The free webpage hosting servers usually have several drawbacks over paid hosting servers (see next question), but they are especially great for beginner webmasters (newbies) to learn, for those who can't afford paid web hosting, for developing and testing PHP scripts in different webhosting server settings, or possibly even for "doorway pages" to your other web sites (always check the free web space provider's Terms of Service [TOS] first).

Why are these website hosting services free?

Most of these "free" services make profit from hosting your website, either by: (1) placing banner ads on your free web pages, (2) placing banner ads on the administration pages which you use to upload files and other website maintenance, or (3) by sending you email from advertisers. This is to your benefit in a way, since if they make money, they will probably continue to offer the "free" web space. The more traffic your website gets, the more their banners are viewed and the more money they make. (4) Some websites offer free hosting in hopes visitors to your website will visit the homepage of the URL you are given. (5) Many recent free web page hosting sites require forum posting, which gives their website free content. (6) Several commercial hosting services offer free webhosting in hopes you will want to upgrade to their paid hosting. These are often unreliable, as they usually end up ceasing their free service. (7) A few free web site hosts are run as hobbies by the owner, and are the least reliable. (8) There are several services, such as Community Architect, which allow websites to offer cobranded free webhosting at no charge to the cohost (cobranded host). These are not recommended, as your website will then depend on at least two services continuing their free service.

What are the best free website providers?

That depends a lot on the webhosting needs of your free web site (do you need CGI, PHP, ASP, SSI, unlimited bandwidth, domain hosting, FrontPage server extensions, large file sizes, FTP upload, ecommerce with SSL, free cpanel hosting, etc.). If you serious about having a website, buying your own domain name is recommended. Look for a free web hosting service which has been in business a long time, and is making profit. See our web page listing free web hosting ratings (based on user reviews and voting), and our list of best free web hosts.

How do I search for free web hosts which meet my needs?

If you know exactly what services you need, the best method is the advanced free web hosting search - choose only the features you need, click on the "search" button, and the free web space hosts meeting those requirements are returned. The simple search is best if you are looking for a particular free website provider, or a feature not listed in the advanced search. You can also browse the full list of unique free webspace providers. If web hosting features aren't as important as the URL name you will use, also check out the cobranded hosts, such as Community Architect, which aren't listed in the searchable database using the default settings. There is a separate section for a list of free image hosting and free file hosting service providers.

Where do I find what these webhosting words and terms mean?

See our webhosting terms and definitions page.

How do I add new free hosting services to this website?

Just go to our contact page and submit the URL, and preferably as much info as possible about it. We always double-check the information, but it makes the process faster.

Do I need a UNIX or Windows platform?

The choice between a Unix or Windows platform will depend on your personal needs, Unix is the most common platform providing excellent security and a wide range of features. If you need a Windows specific feature such as ASP (see below) or are going to be using an Access database then a Windows platform would be needed.

Do I need FrontPage extensions?

If you intend to use MS Front-page to manage your WebPages and you use any front-page components (such as the hit counter) then you will need this feature.

What is ASP and do I need it?

ASP (Active Server Pages) is a feature similar to CGI that allows dynamic web pages to be generated utilizing Active X scripting. ASP is ideal for people who want to use Visual basic or Jscript scripting languages to enhance their web sites.

How much web space do I need?

The amount of web space is how much physical space you need to store your web pages and images. If the site is going to be less than say 200 pages then 50Mb will be ample as the average web page should be between 2Kb and 50Kb, so this would leave plenty of room for any images you want to use (200 times 50Kb is around 10Mb), if you intend to be using a large database or storing lots of pages/images then you will need more space.
Hosting companies are flexible and will allow you to increase your web space as your web site grows.

Web Hosting FAQ 6

2008-02-15T22:33:00.001-08:00

How much bandwidth do I need?

Bandwidth is a measurement of how much data (information) can be transferred over a set period of time, for instance every time someone looks at a page / image on your website this increases your bandwidth use. The average hosting company offers between 1Gb (1024 Mb) and 5Gb a month, which should be plenty if the site isn't going to be another Amazon ! So the calculation for the bandwidth would be the size of the pages/images viewed by each visitor times how many visitors per month.
Hosting companies are very flexible with bandwidth and will allow you to increase your quota if necessary.

What is CGI and do I need it?

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is a standard feature that allows the user to interact with your website. It provides a special directory where you can keep CGI scripts and then call them from the web page, if you intend to have any type of interaction on your web site for instance contact forms or database integration then CGI is essential.

What is PHP and do I need it?

PHP (Pre Hypertext Processor) is a scripting language similar to Perl that allows the developer to create dynamic web pages, the PHP script is embedded within the HTML code enclosed between PHP tags. PHP can be used for many tasks and is a question of personal preference as to whether you use PHP instead of Perl for any scripting applications.

What is SSI and do I need it?

SSI (Server Side Include) is a feature that allows the web developer to pull data from another file and insert it into the web page through use of a tag, a common use is to pull page headers and footers from one file, this enables any changes to be made to the headers and/or footers by updating just one file instead of every page. Another use is to insert the result of a script into a html page.

What is SSL and do I need it?

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) provides a secure connection to your website, this is essential if you intend to store or transfer any information that requires maximum security (for instance credit card numbers). If you intend to use a shopping cart (see below) then it is imperative that you have SSL.

Do I need a shopping cart?

Shopping carts provide ecommerce capabilities; if you intend to sell anything on your web site then having a shopping cart is the best solution. Shopping carts need to be used in conjunction with SSL (see above).

Do I need database support?

This decision will depend on whether you intend to store any information in a database. Most hosts provide this feature so you can always add a database at a later date if your requirements change.

What database platform?

There are two main types of database platform supported by web hosting companies; these are MS Access and MySQL. Your choice will depend on personal preference as they both offer virtually the same features. If you decide you want an Access database then it is advisable to choose a windows hosting plan for compatibility.

What is webmail?

Webmail provides you with the capability of reading and sending your emails via a webpage (much like yahoo or hotmail), you will be provided with a web address where you can logon to read or send email.

What are graphical statistics?

Graphical statistics give you reports on how many visitors there are to your site in any given period. They can also provide you with other reporting information such as the phrases people use to find your site in search engines, the different types of browsers people use and other demographic information.

Do you put adverts on my website?
Vision Internet Limited never place adverts on any hosting packages.

If I buy hosting from you, can I use any ISP to upload my files?
Yes, you can use any ISP of your choice.

Can I use flash animation (.swf files) on my hosting?
Yes, you can use flash animation with any of our hosting packages.

What type of servers are you running?
Our servers are custom built to our own specification. They run Linux operating systems with Apache web server. This makes them very reliable and fast.

How do I get my files to my web site?
You need to use an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) package such as Cute FTP or WS_FTP. Internet Exploror can also be used to upload files to your space.

I have uploaded my site but I still see your site reserved page. Why?
There could be one of two reasons. You may have uploaded your site to the wrong directory. Your web site should be uploaded to either the html or mainwebsite.html directory. Alternatively, you may not have overwritten (replaced) the index.html file already in the html directory. If your home page is called index.htm, make sure you delete the index.html file currently there.

I keep getting an error 403 - Forbidden message when I visit my site.
You've removed the index.html file. If you have a file there called index.html, make sure that it's in lower case. Linux based servers use case sensitive characters. Some web servers will list all the contents of folders that don't have an index.html file. This is incredibly bad for security and we don't allow this on any of our servers. Hence the error message.

I wish to sell your hosting on at a profit. Is this allowed?
Certainly, no problem. We only contact the administrator of an account and not the registrant of the domain name.

Can I upgrade my hosting?
Certainly. You can do this at any time. Please contact us as we calculate the time left on your present package and trade that in against the time difference on the new package. We will confirm the price with you, send you information on how to pay for this and upgrade the account.

What is your uptime rate?
We are one of the top hosting companies in the UK for reliability. It would be unusual for us not to have a 100% figure for any given month. Obviously we occasionally need to take the server down for planned maintenance. When this happens, we inform our clients that the service will be down and try to give an indication as to how long for.

How secure is your server?
We take security very seriously and apply patches and new versions of software when available.

My current 'free web space' provider is too slow. Will your hosting be faster?
We're likely to be faster than your free hosting provider due to server location and less over-crowding of hosting accounts.

My website is currently down and my hosting and domain name provider cannot be contacted. Is it possible to move my site to you?
In most cases, yes. You will need to move the domain name over to us. Please see our page on moving a domain name or contact us with more details.

I don't really like trust hit counters. Is there an alternative?
If you have a hosting package with us that include site statistics, then yes. This will give you an indication as to the number of visitors on all your web pages rather than one with a hit counter on it.

Web Hosting FAQ 7

2008-02-15T22:32:00.003-08:00

My stats report 'file not found' for robots.txt and favicon.ico. Any clues?
Robots.txt is a file that the web spiders (robots) use to check if they are allowed to check through all links of your web site. If they cannot find the file, they assume they are allowed. Favicon.ico is an icon files that old version of IE check for when someone tries to bookmark your site. We now believe that only Netscape browsers use this correctly.

I've had 140,000 requests made to my site. Are these all different visitors?
No. Hits or requests are not the same as visitors. The number of hits includes all images and buttons on your page as well as the page itself. If you had 10 buttons and 5 images, that's 16 hits including the page itself. To get a better idea, you need to look at distinct hosts served.

My stats say I've served 251 distinct hosts. Does this mean I have had 251 individual people visiting the site?
Not exactly, although it's usually a good indicator. There may be more than one person at a single host going through a proxy server. Our server will only log the IP address of the proxy and see this as only one person. Equally, one person may have revisited your site using a different IP address.

Is there any way of not including me in the stats as I visit 6-7 times daily?
Unfortunately not. Our servers aren't aware of your IP address when you check your site.

Someone has told me my website is down. He recommends I buy some monitoring package.
It's likely to be a scam to make you buy this package. Do not trust the word of anyone who tells you your site is down and are selling anything. It's incredibly rare that our hosting is down.

I've tried to upload folders and the remote site has created a folder called XYIZNWSK. What is this?
Dreamweaver creates this directory automatically on the server and should remove it after use. It's most likely used in synchronising the online files with your local files.

Do you support FrontPage and ASP?
We support MS-FrontPage with most of our web hosting packages but we don't support ASP.

I'm debugging a perl script but the full errors are not shown in the error log. How can I see the full error details?
To see the full error details, please add the following line directly under the first line of your perl script...
use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);

Some of my jpg pictures have bands of corruption running through them and others don't appear at all.
Please check your FTP settings and make sure that you're uploading these in 'binary' mode rather than 'ascii'.

404 error pages don't work with php5.
Add the following to your .htaccess file... RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}%{REQUEST_URI} !-f
RewriteRule ^.+\.php$ bogusfile

Find the answer to what is web hosting.

Web hosting is the process of putting your web site on a web server or web host, so everyone connected to the Internet can see it. If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you could host your web site on your own computer, but that is in general not a good idea. A good web host is a real server in a datacenter with a fast high bandwidth connection to the Internet. And, to make sure you can move your web site to another web host, if necessary, you need a web hosting provider that supports domain hosting.

Fortunately, with shared hosting, hosting your web site with a domain name in a reliable datacenter environment is no longer expensive.

Find the answer to what is domain hosting.

Most Internet Service Providers (or ISP) will give you a free web site when they provide you with access to the Internet. They do this because they don't want to give you a permanent IP address, which is what you need if you'd like to host a web site on your own computer. Unfortunately, most ISPs don't support domain hosting with their free web sites. Hence, the URL of your web site is an extension of the URL of your ISP. So what happens when you change ISP? You will have to change the URL and nobody can find you anymore.

The use of a domain name for your web site is absolutely necessary for a professional web site, and to host your own domain you will need to find a real web hosting provider with domain hosting. Many web hosting plans actually include the price of a domain registration, so don't register your domain before you have chosen your web hosting company.

Find the answer to what is a sub domain.

A sub domain is an extension of a domain name that normally points to a subdirectory of a web site. Instead of using the URL http://www.how-to-guides.com/faq/ , which points to the directory FAQ on my site I could have created a sub domain http://www.faq.how-to-guides.com/ to point to that FAQ directory. In this particular example the sub domain is not that more attractive than the original URL, but in some cases a good choice of a domain name and sub domains can result in a big improvement.

Find the answer to what is shared hosting.

In shared hosting a single web server can host hundreds of different web sites instead of just a single web site. As a result, the cost of web hosting is reduced drastically. If the load on the server is properly managed, there is no reason why shared hosting cannot be high quality hosting.

Shared hosting will also normally imply that you share the same IP address with the other web sites, and there is some concern that a web site that does try to spam a search engine may get that IP address blocked. I have used shared hosting for several web sites for many years and never encountered any problems. I must assume that the search engines are clever enough to realise that most web sites use shared hosting. However, if you like to avoid this potential problem you might consider virtual hosting with your own IP address.

Find the answer to what is virtual hosting.

Virtual hosting is often used as a synonym for shared hosting, e.g. you host your web site on a web server with hundreds of other web sites and you share the IP address with these web sites.

The term virtual hosting should imply, however, that while you share the web server it looks from the outside world that you are the only web site on that server. That means that with virtual hosting you should not only have your own IP address, but also a dedicated bandwidth to the Internet and a dedicated slice of the computers processing power. So, if a web hosting provider uses the term virtual hosting, have a close look if these features are offered before you decide on paying a premium price above standard shared hosting.

Find the answer to what is UNIX hosting.

UNIX hosting is the predominant form of cheap hosting based on servers running a Unix like operating system. Unix (or its free cousin Linux) is an alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating systems and has become very popular because of the availability of a many free or low cost tools and applications such as the Apache web server software.

Whether your hosting provider uses a Windows server operating system or a UNIX operating system is in most cases not important for your web hosting situation, but does reflect in the price. So, even when you run Microsoft Windows at home, you can still host your web site on a UNIX server to save money.

Find the answer to what is a webmaster.

A webmaster is someone who has the responsibility of managing a web site. Most web masters not only oversee the day to day running of the web site and its web hosting, but also develop new pages for the web site and optimize and promote the web site for the search engines. So, when you decide to design your own web site and start looking for a suitable web hosting provider, you have become a web master.

Web Hosting FAQ 8

2008-02-15T22:32:00.001-08:00

Find the answer to what is a good web host.

A good web host is one that offers reliable hosting with superior support and whatever other features you need for your particular situation. And, of course, most of us webmasters want this also at the lowest price possible.

The only obvious first distinction between the good and the not so good web hosting plans is the bandwidth they allow you to use. The more bandwidth, the more visitors your web site can have. Any web hosting plans with less than 5Gbit of bandwidth allowance per month (or with unlimited bandwidth) are simply not worthy of your considerations.

Most hosting providers now a day’s offer very similar web hosting packages at very different prices. And while some of the very cheap web hosting providers, under about US$5, have to cut corners to provide you web hosting at that price - which will reduce their service and reliability - many of the more expensive web hosting companies don't necessarily provide better support or service. Believe me, I have seen some bad ones.

If you want a recommendation for a good web host, I recommend this cheap web hosting guide.

Find the answer to what is a web server.

A web server is either a special computer or server for reliable hosting of web sites, or the software application that runs on that server. The two main web server applications used by most web hosting providers are
Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS) for windows hosting and Apache for Unix hosting. Both use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to transfer web pages to your web browser.

Find the answer to what is bandwidth.

Bandwidth is a measure that reflects how much data can be transferred over a data communication channel.

In web hosting plans the allowed bandwidth generally indicates how much data can be downloaded from your web site per month, and therefore indicates how many web pages and pictures your visitors are allowed to download. If the average amount of page views per visitor is assumed constant, the allowable bandwidth restricts how many visitors you are allowed to have per month.

Just as important, however, is how fast the communication channel between your web host and the Internet is. The amount of data that can be transferred per second is also called the bandwidth of this channel, and this bandwidth is shared by all the web sites hosted by the same provider. If this bandwidth is insufficient, you'll sometimes notice a slowdown in the display of your web pages. In most cases, however, such a slowdown is more likely to be caused by an overload on the web server itself.

Find the answer to what is a dynamic web page.

A dynamic web page is a web page that uses some scripting language, such as PHP or ASP, to allow the web server to adapt the content of the web page to a particular situation. Dynamic web pages can also be used to upload information from the browser to store it on the web server. Examples of web based applications that use dynamic web pages are guest books, chat rooms, web logs, and forums.

The information content that is displayed on the web page in your browser will normally not be stored in the file containing that web page on the web server, but in a separate database. When the page is requested from the server, the web server will retrieve such a dynamic web page, process it to retrieve the relevant information from the database, and then puts that information in the HTML of the web page.

With dynamic web pages, the same information can be displayed on many different web pages, but only needs to be managed in one place: in the database. At the same time, we can create another web page to manage the information in the database (change it, update it, etc), as well as upload new information to enable users to create new web pages on the fly.

Find the answer to what is a static web page.

A static web page is a normal web page that is written in HTML and therefore needs no pre-processing on the web server. They are called static web pages to differentiate them from dynamic web pages. Static web pages can still contain JavaScript, Flash, Shockwave, Java, and other non-html code to be executed in the web browser or in web browser plug-ins.

Find the answer to what is a web robot.

A web robot is a program that automatically retrieves web pages by following the links on web pages that it has already retrieved before. Web robots are used by search engines to find web pages for inclusion in their search database. Other web robots, however, will try to harvest any email addresses on your web pages to include in their email database, which they then use or sell to email spammers.

Through a special file on your web host, called robots.text, you can tell a web robot which pages you would like it to ignore. Most email harvesting robots will, of course, just ignore the instructions in your robots.txt file.

Find the answer to what is the robot.txt file.

The robot.txt file is a file in your main (root) directory of your web site that is retrieved by web robots, such as search engine spiders, to see if you would like to exclude them from accessing any part of your web site. If you don't feel the need to restrict these web robots, it is best to have an empty robots.txt file in your root directory, so the failed accesses are not recorded in your web stats and hide the other reasons for failed access, such as accidentally deleted pages.

Find the answer to what is SSI or Server Side Includes.

SSI or Server Side Includes are directives in your web pages HTML that are evaluated on your web server just before the web page is served. SSIs are often used to include small files with common text for all your web pages, such as menu's or footers. This allows you to maintain this text in a single file to prevent having to edit all your web pages if you want to add a menu item or change the footer text.

SSI's can also be used to create simple dynamic web pages, for instance by putting the time or date on your pages, but for larger dynamic applications you are better of using CGI scripts or PHP / ASP pages.

Find the answer to what are Front-page Extensions.

Front-page extensions in a web hosting plan offer support for Microsoft's Front-page application for the development and uploading of web sites. Unless you intend to use Front-page, there is no need for these extensions. Most other web authoring environments simply use FTP to upload your pages, and almost all web hosting providers support FTP.

Find the answer to what is Web Mail.

Web mail is a web based interface to your own email directories on your web server. If you use domain hosting, your web hosting provider will also offer to support a number of email accounts based on your domain name. You can download the email in those accounts to your own computer, using Outlook Express or a similar email client, or, if your web hosting company offers web mail, you can access your email with web mail as you would access a hotmail account from any computer you happen to have access to.

Find the answer to what is FTP or File Transfer Protocol.

FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a way of transferring files between computers. Most web hosting companies also implement an FTP server on their web servers to enable you to upload your web pages and image files to the web server. You will need an FTP client, such as the WsFTP program, on your computer to connect to the FTP server, or you can use a web authoring environment that has an inbuilt FTP client to "publish" your web pages. Many web hosts also support an alternative called front-page extensions, which allows you to use Microsoft's Front-page web development program to create and publish web pages.

Find the answer to what is a datacenter.

A datacenter is building, or part of a building, which offers a professional environment for running computer servers. A datacenter will generally have high speed connections to the Internet and other networks, as well as good security to protect against natural hazards, such as fire, and other hazards, such as intruders and hackers.

How long does it take to get reviewed and listed?

Getting listed in our directory takes about one business day, once the review process has been completed. It takes about one to two days to perform the required tests. Once your application has been received and processed, it is placed in a queue, where it will then be routed for a full review of your services. We will notify you once your company has been accepted for inclusion in our directory, or if your application has been declined, along with a valid reason.

Web Hosting FAQ 9

2008-02-15T22:31:00.002-08:00

Does Low Cost Web Hosting Guide.org accept major credit cards?

Yes. Currently, we accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit cards, as well as the popular PayPal system of funds transfer. Please contact us today and we will instruct you in the right way to proceed.

What benefits do I get if I list my Web hosting company in this directory?

There are many benefits to being listed in such an independent Web hosting review directory. Here are 10 of the most important:

Significantly increased exposure
Increased sales, revenues and profit
Greatly improved professional image
Larger scope of all your hosting offerings
Increased public awareness of your services
Improved public relations with your clients
Added visibility in Google, Yahoo and many search engines
Your company will gain respect, trust and confidence
An inexpensive way to efficiently advertise your company
Queries in search engines are usually very relevant to hosting services
Increased Page Rank™ in Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Lycos and AltaVista

Since Low Cost Web Hosting Guide.org is researched thousands of times a day by companies, small and medium size businesses, all levels of government, non-profit organizations and private individuals, this is the best medium to ensure your Web hosting company will be seen by the largest and the most targeted audience there is.

Are there any fees to become a member once we have been accepted?

There are no fees for the evaluation or any of the tests. However, all members must pay an annual listing fee of US $ 99 to maintain their listings in our database. Companies that wish to become members must apply for a listing by paying the listing fees in advance. If a membership should be refused for failing to pass our tests, all listing fees will be returned to the company once it has been notified of it's refusal.

What is Low Cost Web Hosting Guide's mandate?

Low Cost Web Hosting Guide's mandate is to provide the public with high quality, independant reviews and evaluations to help find the best and the lowest-cost Web hosting companies, offering the Linux as well as the Windows operating system. To be elegible, all members must successfully pass a number of wide-ranging tests, ranging from quality of service (QoS), the speed and responsiveness at which technical support is offered, the range and depth of hosting services offered, the hours of operation, if the data centers offer full diesel and UPS backup power, plus many more critical parameters.

Our minimum standards and the basic requirements to be listed in the Low Cost Web Hosting Guide are high. Before we accept any company in our directory, we perform a full investigation of all services offered, the time it takes to get at least three technical issues repaired, the quality and responsiveness of the people answering both the phones and email, as well as the average prices asked for all hosting plans. Additionally, we also verify the speed at which servers respond to, as well as overall network performance and scalability.

All of our evaluations are unbiased, totally objective and independant. We provide no guarantee whatsoever of inclusion to any company. By the same token, any company has an equal chance of becoming an accepted member, if it has successfully passed all of our tests. Getting listed in our directory can be viewed as a value-added opportunity for any Web hosting company.

I just went to a web page, and now I cannot get back to my previous web page because the Back browser button is grey. How do I go back?

The reason that this has happened is that the link you pressed opened a new window.

You just need to either close the window by pressing the "x" on the titlebar, or switch back to the other window by holding down the "alt" key and pressing the "tab" key (sometimes the one with the left and right arrows on it) until you get the other window back.

Web Site

My company is planning to set up on the Internet. Where do we start?

Please read our Web Development page.

Can you provide a "road map" of the basic steps we will need to take?

Also read our Web Development page. Basically you need to register a domain name; host the domain name; build, or have a website built; and host the website. Then someone will have to design build, and test the website for you. We provide all of these services.

What is a domain name, and why do I need one?

Registering a domain name is like putting your name in the phone book. If someone wants to find you on the Internet, he will type in your name, and the domain name service in his computer will look up the exact address of where your company is located on the Internet. To get that exact address, his computer will look at the "DNS" hosts that his service provider either gave him directly, or through a behind-the-scene service.

What is web hosting?

Web hosting is the service of storing, and rendering web pages for viewing by a computer that is connected to the Internet.

What is a domain (DNS) hosting, and why do I need it?

Domain hosting is generally set up when you register a domain name. Registering a domain name simply reserves your name so that others can see that you have declared it yours. Hosting the domain name associates your name with two or more computers so that they can brodcast the details of where your different services (eg. email and web servers) are located on the Internet. Nobody can get to your website, or send you any email associated with your domain name without domain hosting.

You charge for your hosting: why shouldn't we use a free hosting company?

Many companies offer "free" web-hosting, but they will put their company logo, and/or some sales information somewhere on your site. We charge a nominal amount to host your site with us, and provide you with commercial free hosting.

How is a web developer different from a web designer?

A web designer is someone with graphic design skills who can lay out a website so that a web developer can create the code to present the website. Some designers have some html skills, but few have the ability to create "server-based" programs, and/or web based form programs. Computer Engineering Inc. has both web designers and web developers available to design and create great looking web sites. With these rich resources we can model your business processes with our Systems Analyst Services, and then offer a rich graphics and database interface for internal business functions, or to dazzle your clients with a website on the Internet.

What should I consider when purchasing web hosting services?

RELIABILITY
A couple of years ago, a common bandwidth for Internet hosts was T1 (1.5 Megabits/second). As the Internet's popularity grows, the once standard T1 has become the "snail" in terms of hosting connections. More and more providers have one or more T3 connections (45 Megabits/second), which provides a "pipe" 27 times faster than a T1. You will find many, many hosting services which offer this speed at prices that rival T1 connections. While all of this speed is nice, a company with 10 000 customers that has a 10 T3 lines will offer slower internet access than a company with 20 clients, and a T1 line. Usually it is difficult to determine how many clients are connected to a web hosting service, so it is a better idea to go with a hosting company that is reliable: this includes periodic backups, and some indication of the uptime that you can expect. If speed is slow (also very difficult to determine who is at fault), then simply suggest to the hosting company that your site is slower than normal, and what is the reason. Sometimes this is due to network congestion somewhere between you and the hosting company.

FEATURES
Not all web hosting services provide the same features. Computer Engineering Inc. does not, for example, provide Front Page extensions since they are a security risk. Computer Engineering Inc., however, does provide a complete php and postgreSQL toolset with a modern and upgrading apache web server. These tools allow the developer to create extremely sophicated web pages that can be ported to another hosting site: php used by more than a million websites worldwide.

Web Hosting FAQ 10

2008-02-15T22:31:00.001-08:00

What is some other factors affecting website performance / reliability?

Operating System software, processor speed, server memory, and the number of sites placed on each server are all important factors. At Computer Engineering Inc., we use extremely reliable Unix Servers and are constantly planning upgrades, and upgrading our servers. To increase optimal performance, we limit the number of web sites on each box. One final note about performance. Each hosting provider has an internal network, which your website is connected to. Your pages must make a trip through that internal network before they are sent out to the Internet and ultimately to your customers. At Computer Engineering Inc., we are also continually planning upgrades, and upgrading our internal and gateway network and network access speed to suit our clients' needs.

When I ftp my updates to my main page, I don't see them?

Try accessing your site using port 8080. To do this, just append :8080 to the website name. So if your website is /contact, just append :8080 as in :8080/contact.

Firewalls / Security

My php form worked great until January 29th, 2005 and now the form variables cannot be found. Can you get it working again?

Sure. The developers of PHP have had a habit of making old things not work anymore. In this case the problem is with the old style of keeping "register_globals" directive on. This is a bad practice, and it causes the web server to be quite insecure, and thus less reliable. On January 29th, 2005, we turned "register_globals" off. As a solution, you need to take the POST variables, and re-initialise them at the top of your php code. Here is an example of how to do this properly:

foreach ( $_POST as $key => $value ) {

$$key = trim( $value );

}

As well, if you need to access the variable $PHP_SELF, then you will not have to declare it as a global, and you will have to get it new way as in, for example:

echo $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"];

... and no longer do this:

global $PHP_SELF;

echo $PHP_SELF;

When I FTP, I can connect, but see no files and transfers do not work. Can you fix this?

If you are running FTP through a firewall to access the webhosting services, then you need to use "passive" mode for ftp. Even if you do not have a router or filewall at your home or office, we have a firewall protecting our services.

Why should I want a firewall for my business?

The general idea of a firewall is to isolate your internal network thereby keeping it away from intruders outside your internal network but still allowing your "internal" users to communicate with the outside world possibly in a controlled fashion. The Internet serves many people that gather information around the clock and around the world. Most people use the net as a resourceful medium to attain or store information; others (intruders) use it to gain vital information or use resources which are not theirs.

What is a "hacker"?

Actually the correct term is "cracker" — like a safe-cracker. The term "Hacker" should refer to someone who writes computer source code in a rapid manner: a good "hack" is a well written program that was whipped up quickly. The term "Hacker" originated from the same name used for writers.

A "Cracker" is a person who breaks into computers — usually on the Internet.

What are script kiddies?

Script Kiddies are people who download scripts and programs off of the Internet which can be used to break in, or "crack" into machines connected to the Internet. They are usually children, or teenagers that get a thrill out of breaking into and destroying things. These are the most common break-ins on the Internet, and usually the most damaging. A professional cracker who wants corporate info will probably never be detected, and destroy nothing. Script Kiddies are the main reason for getting a firewall. Valuable time will be lost if a breach occurs in restoring data, and programs to your computer.

Can you set up secure access for my employees from their home to the office?

This is a common setup. We provide a basic setup that allows employees or management to access their servers at work in a secure manner. This is called a VPN, or Virtual Private Network. Our solution requires a low cost computer in the home that acts as a firewall, a VPN gateway, and a dhcp host so the home user can connect many computers to the firewall protected home sub network. A single server at the office can provide VPN gateway access for all employees. Over 100 VPN connections have been tested with our product offering, and many more are possible.

I do not have IIS and SQL Server on the same box. Can I use myLittleBackup?

myLittleBackup can be used with these 4 different configurations:

IIS, SQL Server, File Server on the same machine
IIS and File Server on Machine A, SQL Server on Machine B
IIS on machine A, SQL Server on Machine B, File Server on Machine C
IIS on machine A, SQL Server and File Server on Machine B

The 4th configuration is the one we recommend. Each configuration is completely described in the Installation Guide.

I do not give my customers dbo privileges. Can I use myLittleBackup?

In order to perform a backup or a restore with SQL Server, the user must have very "high-level" permissions like db_owner, db_backupoperator, dbo etc... The problem is that web-hosting companies does not apply these roles to their customer logins. That's why myLittleBackup offers the possibility to define authorizations based on database roles. Even if the web-hosting company only wants to give the user db_datareader, db_datawriter, db_ddladmin roles for security reason, it will be still be possible to offer backup/restore features using myLittleBackup.

I have both MS SQL 2000 and MS SQL 2005 servers. Can I use myLittleBackup?

myLittleBackup works with MS SQL 7.0, 2000 and 2005. It means that myLittleBackup can be used to backup a MS SQL 2000 database and then to restore this backup file on a MS SQL 2005 server. Please note that MS SQL backup files are not upward compatibles.

My customers databases are limited in size. What will happen if they restore a database that exceed this size limit?

By default, myLittleBackup does not allow to restore a backup file that would exceed current database size limits. Of course you can disable this feature by setting up a flag to false in the configuration file.

I don't want my customers to upload too much backup files and waste disk space. How myLittleBackup can manage that?

You can specify the number of files you allow to upload. Then the user can manage (upload, download, delete) his files through the "Manage backup files" interface.

I don't want one customer to be able to backup/restore another customer database.

When a user is connected, he can only see the databases he has access to, i.e the databases he has an account on. Then in order to process a backup, restore or check process, the user roles must fit with the ones you specified in the config.file.

I need to know who is using myLittleBackup. Are you providing log files?

Yes, myLittleBackup writes its own daily log files in wich you'll be able to find all connection, backup, restore information.

Web Hosting Quick Start

2008-02-15T22:29:00.002-08:00

Web Hosting Quick Start

As a quick start, there are three main things you need to get a website:

Domain Name
Web Design
Web Hosting

Domain Name

The domain name is your identity online - as long as you keep renewing it, no one else can claim to have it. For more information, we have a more detailed domain information page to help you understand how domains work.

Web Design

You will need a web design so that people can navigate your website. There are four different options you can choose when getting a web design.

Get a Webpage Made for You - The simplest and most expensive option. By contacting either a professional or a company, you can have your entire webpage built for you with no work on your part. Depending on what options you choose, the web designer may even provide the web hosting for you, saving you that problem too.

Just as there are scammers in web hosting, the same exists for web designers. Before awarding work to one, it is usually best to check their portfolio and to do some research on them. But for the average user, a professional designer can create a truly amazing website!

Do It Yourself - Learning HTML is not hard to do. As it is really a 'markup' language, there is no programming to get a website up. And with emerging standards such as XHTML and CSS-P becoming more used, making a good design that will work on all browsers is not very difficult.

For those not very comfortable, the easiest way to create a webpage is to use Microsoft FrontPage. Designed to be very easy to use, you can quickly whip up a web site design. Furthermore, many hosts support FrontPage Extensions. These are add-ons that let you update your site and add functionality right though FrontPage!

For those wanting even more control over the process, programs such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Arachnophilia provide more flexibility and power. These programs let you directly modify the HTML of your webpage, giving you control over every aspect of your site.

One thing to remember is that most of these programs, be it FrontPage or Dreamweaver, come with pre-made templates. You can simply load these up, edit in your content, and a generic website is ready for you.

Use a template - A sort of compromise between #1 and #2. With this option, you buy a ready-made design, and then proceed to fill it up with content yourself. No changes will be made to the design for you - you must do it yourself or hire someone else to.

Due to their vast library, we recommend Template Monster.

Site Creators - Think of this as a cross between #2 and #3. With this option, a user signs up for a service where he can generate a webpage. This can either cost extra or your web host can provide the service for you. You choose a design you like, and then proceed to modify it all online. Things that can be done include adding your own logo, modifying text, and even creating a message board for your site.

The thing to remember is that your creativity will be limited to whatever the online service can do - you can only do what the online tool will let you. But for someone looking to get a site online fast and inexpensively, this can be a good option.

You have to remember that the above-mentioned options all create static pages. For more elaborate sites that require user interaction with features such as search (like this site), programming will be required. Either you can find free web scripts or pay someone to do custom work for you. A good resource is Web Scripts Directory.

Web Hosting

2008-02-15T22:29:00.001-08:00

Web Hosting

There is no one 'type' of web hosting - the most popular are virtual hosting, dedicated, and colocated. Unless you have extremely demanding needs or have your own server, virtual hosting will suffice. Virtual hosting itself is synonymous with 'web hosting' - it just means that your site is hosted on a server with other sites.

The steps usually needed when getting a web host:

Select a Web Host - We have our own large directory of web hosts that you can look through to find a host.
Sign up - Once chosen, you must actually sign-up with the host you are going to use! Most hosts accept credit cards, and many also accept PayPal and check/money orders.
Change Nameservers - To make sure that people are actually going to your site, you must change the nameservers of your domain to that of the web host you signed up. This is done so that when someone enters yourdomain.com (yourdomain.com being whatever domain you have) they will end up at your site. This may take up to 72 hours to be fully functional.
Upload Your Site - Again, there are many ways to do this, but the most popular is FTP. To use FTP, you need an FTP client like Cute FTP or WS_FTP.
Sit Back, and Enjoy! - Your site is now online for everyone to see!

Of course once your site is online, you will have to market it so that others know that it exists. This in itself is a whole new topic - a good place to learn about this is at Webmaster World.

Web Hosting Choice - Choose Your Web Host

2008-02-15T22:28:00.002-08:00

Web Hosting Choice - Choose Your Web Host

Web Hosting Choice is your advertisement free guide to choosing the right web host for your personal or business site. Our focus is on a searchable directory that will let you find web hosting plans suitable for a small site or for a large e-commerce website.

For those that are new to webhosting, we have created a learning area where we explain the basics of web hosting. From a quick start guide that will have you on your way to creating a web site to our FAQ page where we try to answer your most common questions about web hosts.

Some of you will have a specific feature that you will need, from Unix Hosting to needing MS SQL provided by your webhost. To help you quick find web hosts that provide such features, we have created a web hosting plans directory.

For those that need to grill down to specifics, we have an advanced search page that allows you to pick every single feature you want with web hosting.

We hope that the you find Web Hosting Choice as a useful resource.

Cheap Web Hosting

2008-02-15T22:28:00.001-08:00

Cheap Web Hosting

At times you will come across deals that are almost too good to be true - cheap web hosting with amazing features!

There are hosts that while offering cheap prices do back that up with excellent performance and service, but there are things to be noted:

Look very closely to what is written in their terms of service (TOS) and acceptable use policy (AUP) documents. Some hosts try to limit the activity of the customer through these two.
Unlimited bandwidth or space. As explained on our scams page, offering either of those two as unlimited is not possible.
The quality of bandwidth and the overall performance. Some hosts scrimp on these to give you cheaper prices. Do a self test - visit the host's website multiple times in a day to see that it remains fast loading.
In general, Windows Hosting is more expensive than Unix hosting.
Test out the support, and take a look over the online documentation. If you are paying less than $10 a month (which is roughly 30 cents a day), do not expect to receive an answer right after email the host. Many hosts now offer flash tutorials online which can be an excellent way to learn how a feature works.
Do some research - visit google.com and WebHostingTalk and look up feedback on a host.

Just because a host is cheap does not mean that you will receive 'cheap' service, but you must be careful.

Domains

2008-02-15T22:27:00.000-08:00

Domains

A domain is your identity online. It separates you from everyone else - once yours, as long as you keep renewing it, no one else may have it.

There are two parts to a domain - the domain names itself, and the TLD (top level domain) extension.

The most popular TLD is the .com extension - it is synonymous with online business. But due to its popularity, getting a good domain name with '.com' is hard - most have been bought and are not available.

Most TLDs have a meaning behind them - .EDUs are used by educational institutes, and .ORGs are supposed to be used by non-profit organizations. A domain with a TLD of 'co.uk' is very likely British-based. There are other TLDs too, such as .cc, .tv, and .tk. These are all associated with either a company or with a country.

Many hosts will register a domain for you if you do not have one (it must be available though). You need to be careful that the domain is registered in your name and not theirs. Also make sure that they are not overcharging - some hosts charge over twice the average.

There are quite a few companies that will register your domain for you. The biggest and oldest is Network Solutions, which is also known as VeriSign. Personally, we use and recommend DirectNic. At $15.00 per year, they are much cheaper than Network Solutions ($35.00 a year), while offering better support and full features. We have a list of hosts that register domains for you.

For most domains, the minimum registration duration is one year. Some TLDs such as .US require a minimum of two years. However, most TLDs only require a one year commitment.

The information related to you when buying a domain is publicly available. It is illegal to put in false information, so your personal information can be traced back. If you are worried about that, some registrars like Go Daddy will register for you as a proxy - your information will not be public. Be prepared for some spam to be sent to that address.

Once you have registered a domain, as long as you remember to keep renewing it, no one will be able to take the domain. You may sell the domain to someone else (or even buy somebody else's domain), but no one will be able to just take the domain.

Having your own domain is very important for your business. It sets you apart from everybody else, and gives you a brand to work with. Other resources for more information include Domain Name Palace and Domain Information Center.

Resources Links

2008-02-15T22:22:00.000-08:00

Webmaster Network

Webmaster Focus - head website for the Webmaster Focus network.
Java Programming - Cookie Nest - Java programming websites with applets, applications, beans, articles, and more. The site has a comprehensive java basics manual.
Web Scripts Directory - Very useful resource site covering PHP, ASP, Perl, JavaScript, and more.
Webmaster Stop - Provides articles, tutorials, and guides on money making programs online.
Webmaster Directory - Provides directory listings for anything webmaster related.

Webmaster Sources

Domain Information Center - Provides basic information on domain names.
evoArticles Article Management - Powerful article manager to organize and run a content website.
SeoMoz.org - Informative blog featuring the latest seo changes in the SEO world.
Search Engine Land - Day-to-day news covering topics relating to google, yahoo and live search.
SpiderPro - Build, present, and publish websites.
XML Tutorial - Learn how to use XML on the web.
Web Reference - owned by internet.com, this site provides many insightful articles.
Site Point - one of the biggest webmaster sites, and for a good reason - constantly updated with excellent webmaster material.
SEO Glossary - contains definitions of important search engine words.
Web Hosting Info - contains both basic and advanced information on web hosting.

Webmaster Forums

Web Hosting Talk - nicely designed forum regarding web hosting.
SitePoint Forums - partner to SitePoint.com, large and very helpful community.
Webmaster World - excellent source for those wanting to learn more on promotion.
Geek/Talk - many webmasters hang around here discussing ways to make revenue.

Web Direstory Links

File Recovery
Outlook Repair
Company-List Business Directory
Computer Directory
Dating Directory
Hard Drive Recovery
Finance Directory
RAID Recovery
Used Dodge
List Nation
Internet Privacy
Internet Marketing
Shopping Directory
Software Directory
Bad Credit'
Travel Catalog & Directory
Undelete
Free Web Hosting
Used Cars
Zip Codes
Data Recovery
Mesothelioma
Automotive News
Renovations

Confirm Links
www.all-directory.net/Computers/Internet/
www.all-list.net/Computers/Internet/
www.companylist.net/Computers_And_Software/
www.computerdirectory.biz/Internet/
www.datinglist.biz/Miscellaneous/
www.ezlist.org/Computers/Internet/
www.financedirectory.biz/Business_Finance/
www.guide-pro.com/Computers/Internet/
www.list-nation.com/Computers_Communications_And_Electronics/Internet/
www.listnation.net/Computer_Software/Internet_And_Browser_Software_And_Utilities/
www.listsite.net/Computer_Software/Internet_And_Browser_Software_And_Utilities/
www.megacatalog.net/Computers_Communications_And_Electronics/
www.shoppingdirectory.us/Computers/
www.softonline.biz/Windows/
www.super-directory.com/Computers_Communications_And_Electronics/Internet/
www.travelcatalog.net/Miscellaneous/Classified_Ads/
directory.vestigatio.com/Computers/Internet/
directory.mister.net/Computers/Internet/
dir.carcasher.com/Computer_Software/Internet_And_Browser_Software_And_Utilities/
directory.zip-code-database.org/Computers/Internet/
res.bitmart.net/Computers/Internet/
health.e-mesothelioma.us/Resources_General/
directory.autopolitan.com/Computers/Internet/
directory.reno-pro.com/Computers/Internet/

APNIC Certification Authority FAQ

2008-02-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

APNIC Certification Authority FAQ

General information

Why do I need an APNIC digital certificate?
How can I obtain an APNIC digital certificate?
After submitting the online certificate request form, can I send my photo identification and hardcopy form by scanned image instead of fax?
What is APNIC root certificate? How is it different from my certificate and why do I need to install it?
What can I use the certificate for?
Can I sign emails with my certificate?

Technical information

What is private/public key? How do they work and how are they related to the certificate?
How do I check if my APNIC-issued certificate is installed and see its details?
Which browsers have been tested and found to work with APNIC digital certificates?
Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox/Opera asks for the software security device password. What does this refer to?
I'm using Mac OS/X. Is there anything I should know about installing a certificate in OS/X?
How do I backup my certificate or copy it to a different computer/browser?

Problems and troubleshooting

I cannot verify my certificate after the installation. What should I do?
My computer crashed and I cannot recover my certificate. What should I do?
I have submitted a certificate request from https://www.apnic.net/ca, but APNIC has not processed my certificate. Why?
I have installed my certificate, but cannot access MyAPNIC. What should I do?
I'm using Internet Explorer, but I cannot complete the certificate request (an error occurred). What should I do?
I'm using Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox. When downloading the certificate it doesn't look like it's doing anything. What should I do?
I got an error message when I requested a certificate using Windows Vista and Internet Explorer.
I have a problem that is not listed in this FAQ page. Who should I contact?

General information

Why do I need an APNIC digital certificate?

You will need an APNIC certificate to access secured services of APNIC. MyAPNIC requires you to have the digital certificate installed in your browser. There will be other services in the future that will make use of your digital certificate.

How can I obtain an APNIC digital certificate?

This is a two stage process:

First, fill in the online form at https://www.apnic.net/ca.
Second, after submitting the form, you will be asked to fax your photo identification and a hardcopy form. Important? APNIC will not process your request until we receive these documents from you.

After submitting the online certificate request form, can I send my photo identification and hardcopy form by scanned image instead of fax?

Yes. Please send an email to ramanager@apnic.net with the scanned documents attached.

What is APNIC root certificate? How is it different from my certificate and why do I need to install it?

APNIC root certificate is the certificate used by APNIC to sign your digital certificate. The APNIC root certificate must be installed in the list of trusted Certification Authorities (CA) in your computer or browser. Root certificates from well known Certification Authorities such as Verisign, Thawte, Entrust are probably installed in your browser by default. This process will add the APNIC root certificate to the trusted CA list.

What can I use the certificate for?

You can use the certificate to access secured APNIC services such as MyAPNIC. You can also use it to digitally sign or encrypt e-mail and documents within APNIC community.

Can I sign emails with my certificate?

Yes. However, your email recipients must also recognize APNIC as a trusted Certification Authority by installing APNIC root certificate in their computers or mail software.

Technical information

What is private/public key? How do they work and how are they related to the certificate?

In public key cryptography, data that has been digitally signed or encrypted by a private key can only be validated or decrypted by its corresponding public key, and vice versa. Your private key should be kept secure and never revealed to other parties. Your public key, on the other hand, should be as widely distributed as possible so other parties can validate and decrypt data signed by you and send the data back to you securely. Your certificate contains your identity (name, e-mail, country, APNIC account name) and your public key. Its authenticity is certified by APNIC. More information can be obtained by searching the Internet using the keywords 'public key cryptography'.

How do I check if my APNIC-issued certificate is installed and see its details?

One way is to point your browser to https://www.apnic.net/ca/part-4.html and click 'Next'. If the next page correctly shows your identity and certificate detail then your certificate has been correctly installed. Note that this only works with certificates issued by APNIC.

Other ways to view details of your certificate depend on the software you use. Some examples are:

Internet Explorer: Tools -> Internet Options -> Content -> Certificates
Mozilla/Netscape: Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Certificates -> Manage Certificates
Firefox: Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Manage Certificates
Opera: Tools -> Preferences -> Security -> Manage Certificates
Safari: Use the Keychain Access utility

Which browsers have been tested and found to work with APNIC digital certificates?

Microsoft Internet Explorer
Netscape
Mozilla
Opera (Identify as Mozilla 5.0)
Firefox
Safari
MyIE2

Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox/Opera asks for the software security device password. What does this refer to?

These browsers maintain a secured file where they put all the private/public keys and certificates. This file is encrypted and protected by a password, which is usually called the software security device password.

I'm using Mac OS/X. Is there anything I should know about installing a certificate in OS/X?

When using Safari, OS/X stores and manages the private/public keys and certificates with a utility called 'Keychain Access'. When downloading a certificate from the APNIC website, Safari won't automatically install it. It will just copy the certificate to the desk. Double clicking the certificate will invoke Keychain Access, which will guide you to install it into the system.

When using any of the other browsers mentioned above, the certificate will be installed automatically by the browser.

How do I backup my certificate or copy it to a different computer/browser?

Internet Explorer:

Tools -> Internet Options -> Content -> Certificates
Highlight your certificate and click 'Export'. Follow the wizard and make sure you export the private key. This will produce a file with extension .pfx.
Copy this file to the other computer and start the browser.
Tools -> Internet Options -> Content -> Certificates
Click Import, point it to the recently copied .pfx file and follow the wizard.

Netscape/Mozilla:

Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Certificates -> Manage Certificates
Highlight your certificate and click 'Backup'. Follow the instruction on screen. This will produce a file with extension .p12.
Copy this file to the other computer and start the browser.
Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Certificates -> Manage Certificates
Click Import and point it to the recently copied .p12 file. Follow the instructions on screen.

Firefox:

Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Manage Certificates
Highlight your certificate and click 'Backup'. Follow the instructions on screen. This will produce a file with extension .p12.
Copy this file to the other computer and start the browser.
Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Manage Certificates
Click Import and point it to the recently copied .p12 file. Follow the instructions on screen.

Opera:

Tools -> Preferences -> Security -> Manage Certificates
Highlight your certificate and click 'Export'. Type the backup filename, making sure you type .p12 as the extension. Follow the instructions on screen. This will produce a file with extension .p12.
Copy this file to the other computer and start the browser.
Tools -> Preferences -> Security -> Manage Certificates
Click Import and point it to the recently copied .p12 file. Follow the instructions on screen.

Safari:

Open the Keychain Access utility and click the ?Show Keychains? button.
If you have more than one keychain, view each one to identify which contains the certificate issued to you by APNIC.
Using Finder, go to Users -> your-username -> Library -> Keychains. Copy the relevant keychain file to the destination of your choice.
If you want to install this keychain in another Mac OS X computer, double-click the file. It should now be stored in the Keychain Access utility on this computer. If necessary, use Keychain access to remove other certificates or passwords that may also be contained in that keychain.

Problems and troubleshooting

I cannot verify my certificate after the installation. What should I do?

When downloading your certificate, make sure that you are using the same computer and browser that you used to submit the certificate request. This is important as the private key is stored there. The certificate will not be correctly installed if the private key is missing.
There are rare cases where your browser might have lost its private key (due to a virus or corrupted file system). The only solution to this problem is to submit a new certificate request. The new request will automatically generate a new private/public key pair for you. If this happens to you, please email ramanager@apnic.net explaining the situation so that your new request gets priority processing.

My computer crashed and I cannot recover my certificate. What should I do?

Please submit a new certificate request from https://www.apnic.net/ca, and email ramanager@apnic.net explaining your situation so that your new request gets priority processing.
When you receive your new certificate, to avoid the same problem, please make a backup copy of your certificate and private key (see the FAQ on backing up and copying certificates to another computer/browser).

I have submitted a certificate request from https://www.apnic.net/ca, but APNIC has not processed my certificate. Why?

The most common explanation for this is that APNIC has not received your faxed form with your photo identification.
Note that you can also scan the hardcopy form and photo identification and send them as attachments to

I have installed my certificate, but cannot access MyAPNIC. What should I do?

Make sure that your certificate is installed correctly (see FAQ on checking the installation).
Try to backup or export your certificate and private key to a file, and import it back into your browser. If you can't backup your certificate, then there is a possibility that your private key has been lost or corrupted. Please obtain a new certificate from https://www.apnic.net/ca.
If you can backup and reinstall your certificate, but still cannot access MyAPNIC, then send an email to ramanager@apnic.net explaining your situation. We will check the problem from our side.

I'm using Internet Explorer, but I cannot complete the certificate request (an error occurred). What should I do?

You may need to install the security fixes mentioned in Microsoft Security Bulletins MS02-048 and MS02-050. Please visit the Microsoft website to download and install these fixes.

I'm using Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox. When downloading the certificate it doesn't look like it's doing anything. What should I do?

These browsers install the certificate automatically without giving user feedback. There is a good chance that your certificate has been installed correctly. Please see the FAQ on how to check if the installation is successful.

I got an error message when I requested a certificate using Windows Vista and Internet Explorer.

This is a known problem caused by the changes in how Windows Vista handles certificate requests. For a temporary solution, please install Mozilla/Firefox on your Windows Vista computer, and use it to request an APNIC certificate. You can then back up the certificate from Mozilla/Firefox and import it into Internet Explorer. APNIC is working to fix this problem permanently. In the meantime we appreciate your patience and understanding.

I have a problem that is not listed in this FAQ page. Who should I contact?

Send an email to ramanager@apnic.net explaining your situation. We will respond to your mail within 48 hours.

IPv6 Documentation prefix

2008-02-15T22:11:00.001-08:00

IPv6 Documentation prefix

What is the IPv6 documentation prefix?
What range of IPv6 addresses can I use as examples in my documentation?
Do I have to apply to use a prefix in my own documentation?
Where can I get more information?

What is the IPv6 documentation prefix?

In technical books, articles, and training material, it is often necessary to show examples of IP addresses in use. To avoid confusion, it has been decided to set aside a range of addresses that operators will know should never be routed to the public Internet. The documentation prefix is the IPv6 address range that has been set aside for this purpose.

What range of IPv6 addresses can I use as examples in my documentation?

The /32 ranges that has been reserved for documentation is:

2001:0DB8::/32

Do I have to apply to use a prefix in my own documentation?

No. You can use addresses from the documentation prefix in your documents at any time.

Where can I get more information?

The IETF has created an RFC containing information on the documentation prefix. For more details, see RFC 3849.

APNIC Root Server Trial FAQ

2008-02-15T22:10:00.002-08:00

APNIC Root Server Trial FAQ

How can APNIC deploy new root servers?
Which root servers are involved?
Will new root server "letters" be allocated?
What is "BGP Any cast"?
Will the new servers be fully operational root servers?
Is there a difference between the different "letters"?
Are "anycast" servers different from the "real" servers?
Will APNIC become a "Root Server Operator"?
Why is APNIC involved?
Will APNIC continue to support root servers in future?
Where are root servers being deployed?
Where can I find more information?

How can APNIC deploy new root servers?

APNIC is facilitating the deployment of root servers in cooperation with the official operators of those servers. Each new server is deployed as a mirror copy of an existing root server, and is administered exclusively by the existing operator. These copies (referred to as "any cast instances" of the server) are announced into the Internet routing system using the "BGP any cast" technique, which is explained below.

Which rootservers are involved?

APNIC has formal MoU agreements with the operators of the F-Root and the I-Root, and is also cooperating actively with K-Root and M-Root. The organisations involved are as follows:

· F-Root: ISC, the Internet Systems Consortium, a US non-profit organisation which is responsible for BIND and other widely-used Internet server software including DHCP and INN.

· I-Root: Autonomica AB, a Swedish technical support company working in the fields of the Domain Name System, Electronic Mail, and Internet Exchange Point Technologies.

· K-Root: RIPE NCC, the Network Coordination Centre of RIPE, which is APNIC's counterpart RIR, serving the European region.

· M-Root: WIDE Project of Japan, a key research and development institution in the areas of Internet applications, IPv6 and related technologies.

Will new root server "letters" be allocated?

No. Rather than requiring new root server identifiers (such as A,B,C,...M), the BGP anycast technique will allow the existing root servers to be copied across multiple separate servers located at different points on the Internet.

What is "BGP Any cast"?

It is a technique whereby the same address space is used and announced in the normal way, but from multiple locations on the Internet. Within the BGP routing system, multiple routes to the same address space will be seen, and the shortest route preferenced in the normal way.

BGP Anycast is well tested and has been in use for many years in appropriate services such as DNS. It is suitable for transaction-oriented services such as DNS or wrhois, but not for connection-oriented services which require a long-term connection between a client and a particular server.

For more information, see:

· RIPE-268, "Distributing K-Root Service by Any cast Routing of 193.0.14.129"

· ISC's Technical Note 2003-1," Hierarchical Any cast for Global Service Distribution"

Will the new servers be fully operational root servers?

Each of the supported sites will provide a fully operational root server.

Is there a difference between the different "letters"?

There are differences between servers in terms of hardware, software and operational practices, however there is no hierarchy of status or importance among the servers. Each of the 13 separate root servers (i.e. from A-Root to M-Root) behave identically in DNS terms, and are distinguished only by their different "letter" names and IP addresses.

Are "any cast" servers different from the "real" servers?

No. When any cast distribution of an existing server is implemented, all servers become "any cast servers", including the "original" server. All any cast instances behave identically, and have the same status within the DNS.

Will APNIC become a "Root Server Operator"?

No. The existing root server operators will maintain full and exclusive administrative control over all copies of their servers. APNIC's contribution is to locate suitable sites, and provide the equipment.

Why is APNIC involved?

While APNIC is not involved in domain name registrations, the DNS carries several critical infrastructure services, including the reverse DNS trees, in-addr.arpa and ip6.arpa. We have been asked many times to take some involvement in root server operations, to improve access to these infrastructures for ISPs in the Asia Pacific region.

APNIC's role in root server operations is as a voluntary facilitator and coordinator of root server deployments in this region.

Will APNIC continue to support root servers in future?

After the first trial year of this project, it is apparent that availability and efficiency of root services is greatly improved in many parts of the Asia Pacific region. The project will continue to deploy new servers during 2004.

Where are root servers being deployed?

During the first year of this project, servers have been installed in many locations including Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing, Taipei, Singapore and Brisbane. Other locations have been proposed are currently being considered for deployment in the coming year.

Additional sites may be proposed by response to the existing call for expressions of interest.

Where can I find more information?

Please visit the APNIC Root Server Trial page for news and updates.

Privacy of customer assignments FAQs

2008-02-15T22:10:00.001-08:00

Privacy of customer assignments FAQs

Why are customer assignments being made private?
What will happen when this policy is implemented?
What if I want to keep my whois records as they are?
Can I update private records via an email to auto-dbm?
Can the Whois update form on the public web site see private records?
How can I move objects between the APNIC Whois Database and the private database?
What if I don't want to use MyAPNIC?
Will related objects be affected?
Can an inetnum that is referenced by a route object be removed from the database? Why?
Can a route object creation refer to a private inetnum?

Why are customer assignments being made private?

At APNIC 16, there was consensus to adopt a policy proposal intended to protect the privacy of end users. Under the amended registration policy, LIRs are now able to decide wether or not their customer registration details should be publicly visible in whois.

What will happen when this policy is implemented?

The migration of database objects will take place on 30 September 2004. From this date, only those non-portable objects designated 'public' will be visible in the APNIC Whois Database, meaning that all non-portable objects (customer assignments) will cease to be visible in the database. Database queries on customer-assigned address space will be directed to the upstream provider's registration information.

Portable allocations and assignments will be unaffected.

What if I want to keep my whois records as they are?

If you would like your customer assignments to remain visible in the APNIC Whois Database, you will have to make them 'public' after the migration date. You can do this using MyAPNIC, or by contacting APNIC host masters.

Can I update private records via an email to auto-dbm?

No. auto-dbm is a public tool, and does not allow you to access private objects. APNIC will provide an alternative tool to manage private objects through an automated process, but the implementation schedule for this tool has not yet been finalised.

Can the Whois update form on the public web site see private records?

No. Only the Whois update form on MyAPNIC can see private records.

How can I move objects between the APNIC Whois Database and the private database?

You can change the status of your resource records using MyAPNIC. For more information on using MyAPNIC, see:

Managing APNIC resources with MyAPNIC

What if I don't want to use MyAPNIC?

APNIC recommends that members use MyAPNIC to manage their resources; however, those not using MyAPNIC can contact APNIC hostmasters and have all of their resources restored to 'public' status. The resources can then be managed as usual.

Will related objects be affected?

This project is concerned with inetnum and inet6num objects. Related objects such as route objects, maintainer objects, and nic-handles will not be affected.

It is up to the member to delete related objects (e.g. maintainers, nic-handles) if they are no longer needed. APNIC also has a regular data cleaning process to remove unreferenced objects in the APNIC Whois Database. For more information on this project, see:

Database cleanup project

Can an inetnum that is referenced by a route object be removed from the database? Why?

Yes, because a route object only refers to an inetnum during creation of the route object itself (in order to check maintainer authorisation). Once created, the route object no longer refers to the inetnum.

Can a route object creation refer to a private inetnum?

No. When you create a route object it must refer to a publicly viewable inetnum.

Lame delegation response FAQs

2008-02-15T22:09:00.001-08:00

Lame delegation response FAQs

Why is APNIC contacting people about this issue?
Why is APNIC contacting me, specifically, about this issue?
How can I test my name servers to determine if they are giving authoritative answers for my in-addr.arpa zone(s)?
How can I correct the situation so my servers are no longer considered lame for the listed zones?
How can I make modifications to my registration records in the APNIC Whois Database?
If I do not make the corrections to my name server, what are the consequences?
My delegation has already been removed from DNS. How can I get it reinstated?
What do I do if the name servers you have contacted me about are not under my control?
I am no longer serving as the point of contact for this registered IP address space. What should I do?
My organization is not responsible for one or more of the name servers you have listed, they belong to our upstream provider. Why have you contacted me and what do I need to do?
What if I don't know the password to update the database?
I am not a member of APNIC - I obtained the address space from another registry and it has since been transferred. What should I do?
How do I contact APNIC if I have additional questions about this issue that are not answered by the email I received or this web page?

Why is APNIC contacting people about this issue?

The APNIC community has created a policy that instructs the APNIC Secretariat to identify lame delegations, contact the responsible parties, and advise them to fix their misconfigured in-addr.arpa name servers.

This policy has been created because lame delegations have been shown to result in extra load on the root servers of DNS.

Why is APNIC contacting me, specifically, about this issue?

You have been contacted because you are listed as an admin-c or tech-c in the APNIC Whois Database for the domain record responsible for the lame in-addr.arpa delegation.

A list of those reverse delegations currently identified as lame is available at:

ftp://ftp.apnic.net/lames/

How can I test my name servers to determine if they are giving authoritative answers for my in-addr.arpa zone(s)?

There are a few tools that can issue DNS commands. The command line tool called 'dig' can be used to ask for data from a particular server. For example, to verify that the zone called 2.0.192.in-addr.arpa is being served by myns.company.com, issue the command:

dig @myns.company.com 2.0.192.in-addr.arpa soa

This asks for the SOA record from the zone. If there is any error in the reply, or if the reply does not claim to be authoritative (look for 'aa' in the flags), then the server is not configured properly.

How can I correct the situation so my servers are no longer considered lame for the listed zones?

Either your servers are misconfigured or your registration record in the APNIC Whois Database does not properly reflect the name servers that you intend to be authoritative for your reverse delegated zones. If your name servers are misconfigured, please reconfigure them so they provide authoritative responses to queries for your in-addr.arpa zones. If you have the wrong name servers listed in the APNIC Whois Database, please update your registration record.

How can I make modifications to my registration records in the APNIC Whois Database?

The nserver(s) entries of domain objects can be updated using:

MyAPNIC
Online form
Text form

If you require further assistance please contact the APNIC helpdesk either via email at helpdesk@apnic.net, or phone +61 7 3858 3188.

If I do not make the corrections to my name server, what are the consequences?

If you do not make the corrections, your delegation will be removed from the global DNS, and your reverse DNS registration records (domain objects) will be marked as lame in the APNIC Whois Database. This policy will not affect your IPv4 registration records in any way.

My delegation has already been removed from DNS. How can I get it reinstated?

Update the domain record using one of the methods listed in question 5.

What do I do if the name servers you have contacted me about are not under my control?

If the name server you have designated for in-addr.arpa on your registration record is not under your control, please contact the administrator of that name server and notify them of the situation.

I am no longer serving as the point of contact for this registered IP address space. What should I do?

Please contact APNIC helpdesk via email at helpdesk@apnic.net or phone +61 7 3858 3188.

My organisation is not responsible for one or more of the name servers you have listed, they belong to our upstream provider. Why have you contacted me and what do I need to do?

You have been contacted because you are an administrative or technical contact currently associated with this domain record in the APNIC Whois Database. If you do not maintain the in-addr.arpa name server(s) associated with this record, then you should contact the person responsible for this server(s) at your upstream provider and alert them to the problem.

What if I don't know the password to update the database?

If you are a member of APNIC, please send an email to helpdesk@apnic.net and we will reset the password for you. If you are not a member of APNIC, please see the next question.

I am not a member of APNIC - I obtained the address space from another registry and it has since been transferred. What should I do?

Please review the information and fill out the form available at:

ftp://ftp.apnic.net/apnic/docs/historical-maintain-form.txt

How do I contact APNIC if I have additional questions about this issue that are not answered by the email I received or this web page?

You can either call the APNIC helpdesk on +61 7 3858 3188, or send your questions via e-mail to helpdesk@apnic.net.

Reporting network abuse: spamming and hacking

2008-02-15T22:08:00.001-08:00

Reporting network abuse: spamming and hacking

Network abuse FAQ series

Spammers & hackers : Using the APNIC Whois Database to find their network | Spam | Hacking

How can APNIC help?
Can APNIC tell me the name of the person hacking/spamming me?
So why does my software say APNIC is responsible?
Why does the web site I've consulted tell me APNIC is responsible?
Can APNIC investigate my complaint?
Does APNIC have a role in preventing network abuse?
What if the registered contact details are wrong?
More information

How can APNIC help?

APNIC is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for the Asia Pacific region. The APNIC Whois Database holds details of IP address registrations within this region. You are welcome to use this database to track down the source of the network abuse and find contact details of the relevant network administrators.

See: Using the APNIC Whois Database to find the spammer/hacker's network

Can APNIC tell me the name of the person hacking/spamming me?

No. In general, our database contains details of the networks that are using address space, not the individual users. In most cases, individuals will have a different IP number each time they log on to the Internet. You will need to report the IP number and time of the abuse to the network administrators, who should be able to use their log files to contact the individual involved.

APNIC registers the address space that larger networks use, but does not provide Internet connection to any networks. Therefore, APNIC does not have knowledge of the individual end-users, nor do we have access to the log files of external networks.

So why does my software say APNIC is responsible?

Your software may not be giving you the full picture. Many software products used to detect network abuse are designed to only search the ARIN Whois Database. But IP addresses are registered by five RIRs on a regional basis and the ARIN database is not definitive for the whole world. It only covers the IP ranges not held by the other four RIRs (RIPE NCC, LACNIC, AfriNIC and APNIC).

So, if a standard search refers you to APNIC, it means only that the network in question is registered in the Asia Pacific region. It does not mean that APNIC is responsible or that the hacker/spammer is using our network. To get information on the actual network involved, you need to use the APNIC Whois Database.

Also, please be aware that there are two major types of whois databases. One type contains records on domain names and the other contains IP address records. The APNIC Whois Database contains IP address records.

Why does the web site I've consulted tell me APNIC is responsible?

There are many websites with whois lookup functions that are subject to the same limitations as lookup software described above.

Can APNIC investigate my complaint?

No. You are welcome to use the APNIC Whois Database to find out where to take your complaint, but APNIC is not able to investigate it for you. As a registry, APNIC adopts and applies policies relating to the way in which networks are addressed. But APNIC does not have any powers (legally or practically) to regulate the conduct of Internet activity.

Laws relating to network abuse vary around the world. If you are not able to get the cooperation of the network administrators, then you may need to contact law enforcement agencies either in your jurisdiction or the jurisdiction where the problem originates.

Does APNIC have a role in preventing network abuse?

APNIC's main role is to provide publicly accessible registration information. But APNIC also has a role in the education of network operators in the Asia Pacific community. We conduct training courses relating to addressing policy around the Asia Pacific region. As a component of those courses, we do seek to raise awareness of the need for responsible network management. Discussions on these issues are also raised in the course of APNIC's Open Policy meetings.

What if the registered contact details are wrong?

APNIC requires that organizations register valid contact details, but we are not automatically notified if those details later cease to be valid. So, if you do find invalid contact details in the APNIC Whois Database, you can submit details of the invalid contact using the invalid contact report form or by sending an email to helpdesk@apnic.net clearly stating the IP address and the incorrect contacts.

Using the Parser/Validator on the APNIC IPv4 ISP Request Form

2008-02-15T22:07:00.000-08:00

Using the Parser/Validator on the APNIC IPv4 ISP Request Form

This FAQ is intended to provide helpful information to users of the new APNIC ISP Address Request Parser/Validator.

If you have not submitted a request through the parser before, we recommend that you first read this FAQ and also refer to Quick tips for requesting IP addresses.

What is the ISP Request Parser/Validator?
How will I benefit?
Will the general requirements for requesting IP addresses change?
What will I need to do to ensure my request is successfully parsed and validated?
What if my request will not parse after several attempts?

What is the ISP Request Parser/Validator?

The ISP Request Parser/Validator is a program that supports both e-mail and web interfaces to provide you with real time, on-line feedback when submitting an ISP Address Request Forms. The parser performs tests that reflect APNIC's current policy requirements for ISP address requests, providing you with instant feedback on your request.

The main functions of the tool are to check the syntax of the request and its consistency with APNIC whois database requirements. Any errors encountered will need to be corrected before resubmitting the request. Requests will not reach hostmaster@apnic.net for evaluation until they are successful parsed and validated.

How will I benefit?

By automatically performing checks at the time requests are submitted, the ISP Request Parser/Validator will help you provide accurate and correct information in your ISP address request form. It will also help you to perform a check on the data you have submitted to the database by identifying inconsistent or missing APNIC Whois Database records.

ISP Request Parser/Validator will help to reduce the turnaround period for many ISP requests. Previously, APNIC Internet Resource Analysts manually checked ISP requests with a two to three day turnaround on each attempt. The ISP Request Parser/Validator can now resolve in minutes problems that used to take many days.

Will the general requirements for requesting IP addresses change?

No. All procedures and policies will stay the same.

The only change that you should notice is that when you submit your request, you may be asked to check and modify details in your request form or details registered in the APNIC Whois database before you resubmit the request.

To help you understand the procedure, view the APNIC work flow chart.

What will I need to do to ensure my request is successfully parsed and validated?

You will need to check that all of the fields are syntactically correct and that you have supplied your documentation in the format defined in the APNIC-065 ISP Address Request text document. This will be required for all the IP address ranges you currently hold. You will also need to check that you have updated all of your customer assignments into the APNIC database, and deleted the objects that are no longer valid.

We have prepared a quick checklist that you can use before your submit your request, to ensure that your request passes the Parser/Validator quickly. You can also find detailed help information about each request field from the online guide to the ISP Request Form.

What if my request will not parse after several attempts?

If you continually receive error messages and are unsure how to fix those errors, please consult the troubleshooting guide or send the request to hostmaster@apnic.net. In the subject line, include your member account name in square brackets and the text "[NO-PARSE]". If you do not use this format in the subject line, your email will be automatically filtered.

Quick tips for requesting IP addresses

2008-02-15T22:06:00.000-08:00

Quick tips for requesting IP addresses

Create person objects and a company maintainer object before you apply.
Always sign your request.
Use the correct account name for your request
Always use the same ticket number for the same request
Provide a good description of your network
Use the Additional Comments field for other important information
Provide a detailed description of your network ology
Plan to adopt current best practice
Use the online ISP Request Form
Use the IPv4 checklist before submitting the Request Form to the parser.

Create person objects and a company maintainer object before you apply.

A person object (or NIC-handle) is used to identify an individual.
A maintainer object is used to protect other database objects.

When you complete your ISP Request Form:

Enter the nic-handle field from the person objects in the admin-c and tech-c fields.
Enter the maintainer object you create for your company* in the mnt-by field. This will mean that only those who know the password for this maintainer object can change your company's details in the APNIC Whois Database.

* You can also create a personal maintainer object, but you should only use this to protect your own person object.

Always sign your request

How to get introduced

The current registered contact can send an email to APNIC introducing the new contact's name and email address; or
If the registered contact has left the organisation, APNIC will need a fax on the organisation's letterhead stating the names, email addresses, and NIC-handles (if possible) of the new contacts. The fax must be signed by an authorised person, such as a director or manager.
Current contacts can use MyAPNIC to add new contacts.

Use the correct account name for your request

APNIC's "hostmaster" mail box only accepts mail from members. Messages to that mailbox without a valid account name in the subject line are automatically returned. The account name must be enclosed in brackets or parentheses in the subject line.

Examples:

Correct

Subject : [EXAMP - ID]    or

Subject : (EXAMP - ID)

Incorrect

Subject : {EXAMP - ID}   or

Subject : EXAMP - ID

If you do not know your account name, please email admin@apnic.net - you will need to provide details of your organisation.

Always use the same ticket number for the same request

When you send a request form or an email to hostmaster@apnic.net you will receive an acknowledgment with a "ticket number" in the subject line. This helps us to track the progress of your request.

Please ensure that all emails you send relating to the same request contain that ticket number in the subject line, as it appeared in the acknowledgment. The easiest way to do this is to simply "reply" to the messages you receive from APNIC, keeping the ticket number in the subject line.

Creating a new email can cause delays as it will generate another ticket number, which will make it difficult for us to track your request.

Provide a good description of your network

It is important that you provide us with detailed information about your network when you first make your request. This will mean that we will not have to ask you as many questions and we will be able to process your request faster.

In particular, in the network-plan field, it is not enough to simply identify the location of the network - you need to actually tell us about the equipment that is installed at each network location. To do this, in the infrastructure and network-plan fields*, please provide the number and type of devices and servers which require IP addresses (descriptions such as "PCs" or "servers" are not sufficient).

Example of a sufficiently detailed network plan:

network-plan: 0.0.4.0 255.255.255.0 PART 256 16/60/240 8 PRI dial up modems

network-plan: 0.0.5.0 255.255.255.0 PART 256 0/60/240 8 PRI dial up modems

network-plan: 0.0.6.0 255.255.255.192 YES 64 10/16/35 LAN -mail and DNS servers

network-plan: 0.0.6.64 255.255.255.192 YES 64 15/25/40 LAN -NOC & Ops management

network-plan: 0.0.6.128 255.255.255.240 YES 16 5/11/11 LAN -Name based web hosting

network-plan: 0.0.6.144 255.255.255.240 YES 16 0/8/8 LAN -DNS servers

network-plan: 0.0.6.160 255.255.255.240 YES 16 4/6/12 loopback router interfaces

*If there is not enough space to include sufficient details, please use the "Additional Comments" field.

Use the Additional Comments field for other important information

You can use the "Additional Comments" field to provide other information which will help us to properly evaluate your request.

Important information to include in the Additional Comments field

The make and model of the equipment (if possible, include a URL where we can view the product information).
Your schedule for planning and deploying your network. Clearly indicate the quantity of the equipment already on-site for each POP and, if applicable, the number and type of devices you plan to purchase for this deployment
Explain whether you have considered the possibility of using the following technologies: NATs with private address space, or IP unnumbered (for P2P links with singly homed customers).
If your network does not support supernets (CIDR), subnetting (VLSM), or "all-0s and all 1s" subnets*, please give us more details.

*Please note, in many router configurations, "all-0s and all 1s" is enabled with the command 'ip subnet zero'.

Provide a detailed description of your network ology

A good description of your network ology can help us to evaluate your request much earlier.

In the network diagram, you should:

label all POPs and equipment use
indicate bandwidth

You can either attach the diagram to your request or fax it to APNIC at +61 7 3858 3199. Alternatively, if you have a copy of your network diagram available online, you can include its URL in the "Additional comments" field (remember to tell us the password if one is required).

Plan to adopt current best practice

APNIC strongly encourages that members adopt current best practice when addressing their network. If your plans are not based on current best practice, we may ask you to explain why.

For example:

Virtual web hosting: name-based or IP-based?

if your plans include virtual web hosting services, please tell us whether you intend to provide name-based or IP-based hosting services.

If you intend to provide IP-based hosting, then you should provide a technical justification.

If you plan to assign more than a /22 for IP-based hosting, then you must provide a list of URLs and corresponding IP addresses in you request.

(APNIC guidelines for IPv4 allocation and assignment requests deals with other examples where best current practice should be considered.)

APNIC has a web-based ISP Request Form.

The online ISP Request form includes a comprehensive help system, as well as real-time parsing and validating to help reduce the processing time of requests.

Autonomous System numbers FAQ

2008-02-15T22:02:00.000-08:00

Autonomous System numbers FAQ

What is an Autonomous System?
When should an Autonomous System be created?
What is an Autonomous System Number?
When is a Public Autonomous System Number Required?
Am I eligible for a Public Autonomous System Number?
When can I use a Private Autonomous System Number?
I plan to change my upstream providers - can I take my ASN with me?
I obtained my ASN from my provider (which is an LIR) and they are going out of business. What happens to my ASN?
The organization I work for is merging with another. Can my ASN be transferred?
More information

What is an Autonomous System?

An Autonomous System (AS) is a group of IP networks operated by one or more network operator/s which has a single and clearly defined external routing policy. Exterior routing protocols are used to exchange routing information between Autonomous Systems.

More information regarding Autonomous Systems is detailed in RFC1930.

When should an Autonomous System be created?

An AS needs to be created if a network connects to more than one AS with different routing policies. Some common examples of Autonomous Systems are networks connected to two or more upstream service providers or exchange points, networks peering locally at exchange points.

What is an Autonomous System Number?

A public AS has a globally unique number, an Autonomous System number (ASN), associated with it; this number is used in both the exchange of exterior routing information (between neighboring Autonomous Systems), and as an identifier of the AS itself.

There are two types of Autonomous System numbers; Public AS numbers and Private AS numbers.

On 1 January 2007, APNIC began processing applications for both two-byte and four-byte AS numbers. For further information please see:

Policy document Policies for Autonomous System number management in the Asia Pacific region

When is a Public Autonomous System number required?

A Public AS number is required only when an AS is exchanging routing information with other Autonomous Systems on the public Internet. That is, all routes originating from an AS is visible on the Internet.

Am I eligible for a Public Autonomous System Number?

An organisation is eligible for an ASN assignment if it:

is multihomed (this includes organisations connected to a public Internet Exchange Point); and
has a single, clearly defined routing policy that is different from its providers' routing policies.

An organisation will also be eligible if it can demonstrate that it will meet the above criteria upon receiving an ASN (or within a reasonably short time thereafter).

When can I use a Private Autonomous System number?

A Private AS number should be used if an AS is only required to communicate via BGP with a single provider. As the routing policy between the AS and the provider will not be visible in the Internet, a Private AS Number can be used for this purpose.

The IANA has reserved AS64512 through to AS65535 to be used as private ASNs.

I plan to change my upstream providers - can I take my ASN with me?

This depends on how you received that ASN. If you got it directly from APNIC or an NIR, then it is portable and you can take it with you to whichever providers you choose (subject to the agreement you signed with APNIC or the NIR).

However if got your ASN from an LIR, you can only use it while you continue to receive connectivity from the LIR. In other words, if you decide to no longer use that LIR as one of your upstream providers, then you will have to return the ASN. (Note, this condition only applies to ASNs assigned after 1 December 2002.)

I obtained my ASN from my provider (which is an LIR) and they are going out of business. What happens to my ASN?

If the LIR from which you obtained an ASN is about to cease trading, all ASNs assigned to them for use by their customers must be returned. As one of their customers, you will have two choices:

return the ASN to your provider. They will then return it to APNIC (or the relevant NIR);
contact your provider and advise them that you wish to take over the custodianship of the ASN. This will mean that you will be asked to sign an agreement with APNIC and to pay the applicable membership or non-member fees.

The organisation I work for is merging with another. Can my ASN be transferred?

Yes. However the organisation which is the current custodian of the ASN will be asked to provide legal documentation of the transfer. Please contact helpdesk@apnic.net for more information.

Using the IP unnumbered configuration FAQ

2008-02-15T22:01:00.000-08:00

Using the IP unnumbered configuration FAQ

Content

What is APNIC's position on IP unnumbered?
What is IP unnumbered?
Can you see if the serial interface is up?
Can the "ping" utility still be used to determine whether the interface is up?
Can SNMP be used to remotely monitor interface status?
Can a runnable image be netbooted over an unnumbered serial interface?
Can IP security options be supported on an unnumbered interface?
Where can I find more information about the use of IP unnumbered configuration?

What is APNIC's position on IP unnumbered?

APNIC encourages the use of the IP unnumbered functionality as it helps conserve IPv4 address space. See section 7 of APNIC guidelines for IPv4 allocation and assignment requests.

What is IP unnumbered?

Depending on the router vendor, IP unnumbered allows you to do IP processing on a serial interface without assigning an explicit IP address for point-to-point links. This is applicable to statically routed, singly homed customers. It is not applicable to those doing BGP.

Can you see if the serial interface is up?

Yes. Please note that while the interface defined by the interface name must be enabled (listed as "up" in the show interfaces command display), the physical state of an interface (layer 1) does not relate to protocol activity (layer 3).

Can the "ping" utility still be used to determine whether the interface is up?

Yes, although the interface has no address, you can still determine whether or not the interface is up by "pinging" the ethernet IP address. If the serial interface is up and the ethernet interface is down, the serial interface "adopts" the ethernet's IP address, so the router will still respond to pings received on the serial interface.

Can SNMP be used to remotely monitor interface status?

No, it cannot. But many ISPs produce their own software tools for interface monitoring.

Can a runnable image be netbooted over an unnumbered serial interface?

No. But as frequent upgrades interrupt stability, many operators choose to do this once or twice a year.

Can IP security options be supported on an unnumbered interface?

Yes, most security options do support unnumbered interfaces. This includes security options such as filtering, tunnels and IPsec. If you find any that do not work, APNIC would appreciate it if you could email the examples to helpdesk@apnic.net.

Where can I find more information about the use of IP unnumbered configuration?

See Cisco's Understanding and Configuring the ip unnumbered Command.

APNIC policy on Network Address Translation (NAT)

APNIC policies do not require any ISP or Internet user to employ Network Address Translation (NAT). The choice of whether to use NAT is left entirely to the discretion of address space users, namely ISPs and their customers.

APNIC policies do support the assignment of public address space by ISPs for use with any permanent or semi-permanent Internet connection, and address space is made readily available to ISPs for this purpose.

If you have any questions regarding the use of public address space or NAT, please send an email to helpdesk@apnic.net to discuss the matter further.

For further information on NAT and APNIC policies regarding its use, see section 12 of:

APNIC guidelines for IPv4 allocation and assignment requests

Deprecation of ip6.int reverse DNS service FAQs

What exactly does "deprecation of ip6.int reverse DNS service" mean, and why was it done?
How does this affect me?
How will a failed reverse DNS look-up affect me?
I am delegated under ip6.arpa - how can this change affect to me?
What can I do about problems with services I use?
Can APNIC re-delegate under ip6.int?
I run services which use ip6.int and I don't see a problem. Why?

What exactly does "deprecation of ip6.int reverse DNS service" mean, and why was it done?

At 00:00 UTC, Thursday 1 June, 2006, all sub-domains under 1.0.0.2.ip6.int were withdrawn. This reflects a decision taken by the IAB in August 2005 to cease use of ip6.int for reverse DNS registration, and an agreement between the IETF and the RIR community to remove these entries on 1 June, 2006.

The decision to withdraw ip6.int is documented in RFC3152, which specifies that reverse DNS domains in IPv6 should be registered under ip6.arpa.

How does this affect me?

If your computer performs reverse address look-up, then it is vital that it is configured to use ip6.arpa, and not ip6.int. All modern operating systems which support IPv6 now use ip6.arpa, so you should have no difficulty upgrading to a version which supports this domain for reverse DNS resolution.

If any of your systems perform reverse address look-up using ip6.int, then when you receive IPv6 traffic, or need to do reverse DNS look-up on IPv6 for any other reason, your look-up will fail.

There was a brief disruption of some ip6.arpa services in Japan, due to a error which occurred at the time of the ip6.int withdrawal. This error has been rectified.

How will a failed reverse DNS look-up affect me?

When reverse DNS look-ups fail, there are typically two consequences:

1. Everything runs slower at connect time: it usually takes up to 30 seconds for the failing request to be logged as having 'timed out' - during this time, your connections are not being processed.

For example, if you run a web server that attempts to perform a reverse address look-up on every IPv6 request, there will be a 30 second delay for any IPv6 request before the server can continue. This may be a problem for you, or it may be a problem for clients accessing your web server.

2. Because reverse DNS fails, your services may refuse to continue.

Some higher security services regard reverse DNS failure as an indication of a security or other problem, and will not continue. This may apply to any services, including web, mail, or remote access.

It is possible that because the ip6.int listings have been withdrawn 'high' in the DNS tree, you will not see these problems. You may, in some circumstances, see faster connection, because there will be no apparent ip6.int delegation to check. Or, you may see rapid refusal to connect (for the same reason). You should therefore not assume that a 30 second delay is the only possible consequence.

I am delegated under ip6.arpa - how can this change affect to me?

Unfortunately, even if you are correctly delegated under ip6.arpa you can still be affected by this problem if servers you connect to continue to look up addresses under ip6.int.

What can I do about problems with services I use?

You should contact the operators of these services and advise them to investigate the problem and, if necessary, upgrade their service to use ip6.arpa for reverse DNS resolution.

Can APNIC re-delegate under ip6.int?

Unfortunately this is not possible. The decision to make this change was taken globally, and APNIC is bound by that decision.

I run services which use ip6.int and I don't see a problem. Why?

If you host your own ip6.int server, it is possible that you will not see any problems after the global ip6.int services are withdrawn by APNIC and the other RIRs. In such cases, it would be possible for you to continue listing ip6.int delegations and for all internal services to find the DNS server, and satisfy these look-ups. However, it is likely that you will begin to have other problems, including difficulty with external access, offsite access, and with progressive upgrades to your services which change to ip6.arpa. If you depend on reverse DNS resolution, you need to maintain your ip6.arpa delegation.

Assignment window FAQ

2008-02-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

Assignment window FAQ

What is an assignment window (AW)?
What is the second opinion request?
Why does APNIC require the second opinion requests?
Do I need to send in a second opinion request for assignments to my own infrastructure?
Can I assign more than my assignment window?
What size assignment window is given to new members?
How long do I have to wait before my assignment window increases?
How long do I have to wait for a second opinion request to be approved by APNIC?
What will happen if I do not follow the second opinion process?
Can I see an example of what a second opinion request should include?

What is an assignment window (AW)?

An assignment window refers to the amount of IP address space that you can assign or sub-allocate to your customers without the need to send in a second opinion request form for APNIC's approval.

Example 1:

Your organisation has been given an assignment window of 0 IP addresses.

Therefore, you cannot assign any IP addresses to your customers without

first receiving approval from APNIC.

Example 2:

Your organisation has been given an assignment window

of 32(/27). Therefore, you can assign up to and including

32 IP addresses without the need to seek approval from

APNIC. But if a customer requests more than 32 IP

Addresses, you must first seek APNIC's approval.

What is the second opinion request?

A second opinion request is the process that is used to seek APNIC's approval for assignments or sub-allocations that exceed your AW. On the second opinion request form, you outline how you are going to assign IP addresses to your customer networks. The information you need to supply on this form is similar to what you need to provide on the IPv4 ISP Request form except that the second opinion request relates only to customer assignments and sub-allocations, not assignments for your own infrastructure. You must receive APNIC's approval of the second opinion request before you can make assignments or sub-allocations exceeding your assignment window.

Why does APNIC require the second opinion requests?

APNIC applies the assignment window and second opinion process to all members. This is to ensure that all members are familiar with APNIC's policies and follow the correct procedures and practices when assigning IP addresses.

You can find more information on APNIC's Policies for address space management in the Asia Pacific region.

Do I need to send in a second opinion request for assignments to my own infrastructure?

No, you do not need to send in a second opinion request for your infrastructure; however, you do need to ensure that you assign IP addresses conservatively and only on justifiable technical needs (not simply for administrative convenience). Please remember, when you wish to obtain additional IP addresses from APNIC you have to demonstrate that you have used 80% or more of your previous allocation and that you have used them in accordance with APNIC's policies.

Can I assign more than my assignment window?

Yes, you can assign or sub-allocate as many IP addresses as it is necessary for your customers to implement their networks. However, before you assign or sub-allocate to your customers, you must submit the second opinion request form and receive APNIC's approval.

What size assignment window is given to new members?

All new members will be given an assignment window of 0 IP addresses when they first join. As the member gains experience, this will be raised.

How long do I have to wait before my assignment window increases?

APNIC will review your assignment window following every third second opinion request. However, this does not mean that your assignment window will be automatically increased to the next level. In deciding whether or not to raise the assignment window, APNIC will apply the following criteria:

Whether the second opinion form is always completed with the details necessary for APNIC's hostmasters to evaluate it without requesting additional information.
Whether the member has been correctly and accurately updating all previously approved second opinion requests in APNIC's database.
Whether the member has been assigning or sub-allocating IP addresses conservatively and following the current Internet best practice. For example, the current best practice includes: assigning IP addresses for 25% immediate usage and 50% usage within one year; and using Variable Length Subnet Masking (VLSM).

How long do I have to wait for a second opinion request to be approved by APNIC?

All requests sent to APNIC will get a reply within one working day (Monday to Friday). This does not necessarily mean that your requests will be approved the first time, as this depends on whether your request is complete, accurate, and contains sufficient information for APNIC's hostmasters to understand and evaluate. Therefore, you should read the second opinion request form carefully and obtain all the necessary information from your customers before submitting the form to APNIC.

What will happen if I do not follow the second opinion process?

APNIC will request an explanation as to why you have not followed the second opinion process. Provided your explanation is reasonable, APNIC will continue to allocate resources to your organisation. Depending on the circumstances, APNIC may also advise you of any action that may be taken if your organisation does not follow the process in future.

Can I see an example of what a second opinion request should include?

Following is an example of what you might need to provide in your second opinion requests.

#[SECOND OPINION REQUEST FORM TEMPLATE]#

#[REQUESTOR TEMPLATE]#

name: John Doe

email: john@sparky.net

acct-name: SPARKYNET-MY

org-relationship: consultant

#[SECOND OPINION TEMPLATE]#

address-type: IPv4

opinion-type: assignment

#[IPv4 ASSIGNMENT TEMPLATE V:1.0]#

netname: GLOBALNET

descr: Globalnet Inc.

descr: Software Company

descr: Kuala Lumpur

country: MY

prefix: /26

network-plan:  0.0.0.0/28   /29, /29, /28  Router, Mail, Web, DNS, 10 workstations

network-plan:  0.0.0.16/28  /30, /28, /28  Research and Development

network-plan:  0.0.0.32/27  /29, /29, /27  Wireless Network

old-network: 202.5.10.0/29    1 router and 4 Workstations

old-network: 202.5.10.8/29    Application Servers

#[ADDITIONAL INFORMATION]#

The customer will renumber and return the existing IP address to their

upstream once this request gets approved.

Below is  a diagram on how the customer will connect to the ISP's network.

                         +-------------------+

                         | Our router        |

                         +-------------------+

                                   | 2M link

                        +---------------------+

                        | Customer router     | A-BRAND2543

                        +---------------------+

                  +----------------+-----------------------+

                  |                                      |

                  | B-brand5421                          | C-Brand5200

       +------------------+            +-------------------------------------+

       | Dial-up router   |            |  Distribution Router (Leased Line)  |

       +------------------+            +-------------------------------------+

                  |                                   |

                  |                                   | 126Kbps

 +------------+   |                              +----------+

 |3 Servers   |---+                              | LL Cust  |

 +------------+   |                              +----------+

 email,DNS,News   |  +-+                          Existing cust

                  |  | |    +---------------+     30 IP addresses

                  +--| |----| 20 PCs        |

                  |  | |    +---------------+

                  |  +-+     PC using private IP addresses

 +------+         | Firewall

 | NAS  |---------+

 +------+

 120 Dial-up lines (90 digital and 30 analogue)

 (2 NAS XXX brand )

 ( each has 60 ports)

#[TEMPLATES END]#

What is virtual web hosting?

Virtual web hosting refers to the process of running multiple "virtual" web servers on a single physical host computer. Using this technique, a single computer can host thousands of independent web sites. Commercial web hosting service providers often use this technique to allow better manageability, efficiency and scalability of their service infrastructure.

Most virtual web hosting applications rely on virtual DNS resolution, so that a specific domain name (such as a customer's own registered domain name) may be associated with each independent virtual web server. This can be achieved through either name-based or IP-based virtual web hosting. These techniques are explained below.

What is name-based web hosting?

Name-based web hosting is a technique that can be used when providing virtual web hosting services. Each web site that is hosted on a single machine shares a single public IP address. All HTTP GET requests received by this web server are answered according to the domain name supplied by the requesting client, enabling the web server to differentiate between multiple virtual sites on the one IP address.

What is IP-based web hosting?

IP-based hosting is a technique that can be used when providing virtual web hosting services. Each web site that is hosted on a single machine is given its own separate public IP address. The HTTP GET requests are resolved by using the IP address instead of the name.

Operating system limitations may also limit the maximum number of IP addresses that can be assigned to a single machine, especially if separate log files are used.

What is the 'Host:' header field?

The definition of a Host: header is taken from section 14.23 of RFC 2616

The Host request-header field specifies the Internet host and port number of the resource being requested, as obtained from the original URI given by the user or referring resource (generally an HTTP URL, as described in section 3.2.2). The Host field value MUST represent the naming authority of the origin server or gateway given by the original URL. This allows the origin server or gateway to differentiate between internally ambiguous URLs, such as the root "/" URL of a server for multiple host names on a single IP address).

Under what circumstances is name-based web hosting possible?

Name-based web hosting is generally possible for web sites that do not have any special security requirements. For example, name-based hosting would be appropriate for personal web sites or servers that need to be accessible via more than one domain name.

Under what circumstances is name-based web hosting not possible?

There are a few technical limitations to name-based hosting. The most common one is some websites requirements of using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) for e-commerce services, particularly if a separate certificate is used for each virtual domain, and for anonymous login functionality with virtual FTP services.

Can browsers that are only HTTP/1.0 compliant view websites that are hosted by a name-based virtual hosting system?

Browsers that are HTTP/1.0 compliant can view websites that are hosted by name if their version of the browser issues requests with an additional Host: header field. (This is a required header in HTTP/1.1, but all current HTTP/1.0 browsers also issue this header)

The justification of browsers not being HTTP1.0 compliant is not sufficient to warrant large scale IP-based hosting. Statistics collected by APNIC over a four month period show that almost all browsers visiting www.apnic.net provide the Host: header field (98.9% of HTTP1.0 and 99.8% HTTP1.1).

Early Registration Transfer Project

2008-02-15T21:59:00.001-08:00

Early Registration Transfer Project - Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some answers to questions you might have about the Early Registration Transfer (ERX) Project.

What is the "Early Registration Transfer Project"?
Which resources are part of the ERX project?
What should I do if the information in the database is incorrect?
Will this change cost me or my organisation any money?
We received some IP addresses a long time ago, and have had little to no contact with any of the RIRs. What difference does it make to have my IP addresses registered in ARIN's or APNIC's database?
How does this change affect my network currently in operation?
Do I need to become member of APNIC?
Who decides on what information will be in the new object in the RIR database?
Will I be able to communicate directly with any RIR from now on?
Do I have to move my data? I don't want the bother.
What information in the ARIN WHOIS database will be affected?
Does this affect my domain name?
Do I get to keep my XYZ123-ARIN NIC-handle?
I have never used the APNIC Whois database and do not know how to make updates, what do I do?
I am not familiar with policies and procedures, where can I find more information?
You mentioned 'domain' as one of the objects in the RIR database. I thought domain names weren't affected?
My reverse delegation has gone away or is incorrect.
How do I go about managing my resource with APNIC?
I was notified that my records were transferred to APNIC, but the records are not visible at whois.apnic.net?
I have read all the FAQs, but still have questions. How do I contact APNIC?

What is the "Early Registration Transfer Project"?

Some AS numbers and address resources were allocated to entities before the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) processes were established. Having been managed by US-based organisations during that period, these resources have since been managed by ARIN.

Many entities now have resource records both in the ARIN database and in the database of their local RIR. When these entities need to make a modification to one of their records or request additional resources, there is often confusion about which RIR needs to be contacted. Eliminating the need to maintain resource records in two separate databases will reduce the overhead of these entities, and is a goal of the Early Registration Transfer (ERX) Project.

Additionally, it is often difficult for organisations outside the ARIN region to communicate with the ARIN staff due to considerable differences in time zones.

In response to requests by the community to relocate data management from ARIN to the appropriate regions, the RIRs have begun the migration of these early registration records.

Which resources are part of the ERX project?

All Autonomous System numbers as well as the former "Class B" address space, namely 128/2, and selected "Class C" address space, namely 192/8, 196/8, and 198/8.

What should I do if the information in the database is incorrect?

To ensure the integrity of information in the APNIC Whois Database, APNIC will not update information about ERX ranges in the APNIC Whois Database until the resource holder can prove the organisation's right to the resources and has a formal agreement with APNIC as a member or non-member account holder. For more information, see Guide to the maintenance of historical Internet resources.

Will this change cost me or my organisation any money?

If the information in the database is correct, and you do not need to update any details, there are no costs involved for your organisation.

If you wish to update information in the database, you will need to create an APNIC account. If you are an APNIC member, you can update any ERX resource registrations for free. The minimum fee to become an APNIC non-member account holder with the ability to update historical ERX records is US$100. For more information, see Guide to the maintenance of historical Internet resources.

If you wish to transfer ERX resources to another organisation, the organisation receiving the ERX resources must be a current APNIC account holder. For more information on transferring resources, see the Guide to the transfer of historical Internet resources.

If the data relocation process exposes disputes over registration, and use of address resources, your organisation may be required to pay non-RIR managed expenses.

For some entities, the benefits of increased efficiency will far outweigh any longer term costs.

We received some IP addresses a long time ago, and have had little to no contact with any of the RIRs. What difference does it make to have my IP addresses registered in ARIN's or APNIC's database?

The Early Registration Transfer Project is to benefit the Internet community as a whole. Although you may be required to establish a new relationship with another RIR, there are significant benefits. In the future, you will only deal with your local RIR. This should mean simpler processes, and service in or close to your core working hours.

When applying for more resources, you are required to account for early registration resources. The transfer of these early registrations, should simplify this process, and helps manage all resources through a single source.

How does this change affect my network currently in operation?

If nothing in connection with your reverse-DNS has to change during the "lockout" period, then this change in data management should have no impact on deployed services.

If you discover that in transit, changes have been made to your DNS we will of course help resolve this as quickly as possible.

Do I need to become member of APNIC?

No, you don't have to become a member. Of course, we encourage resource holding entities to share the community cost for administration of the resources, but there is no obligation at this time. You may in future incur fee for service, but you may have incurred this anyway, irrespective of the relocation of data management to the RIR.

In many cases, resource holders may already be a member of an RIR in connection with other resources. If so, we welcome you choosing to fold management of these early registration resources into that framework.

Who decides on what information will be in the new object in the RIR database?

The information has been created from data held by ARIN.

Will I be able to communicate directly with any RIR from now on?

Yes, anybody can communicate directly with any RIR. Some channels for communication are of course restricted to members, and require membership codes, but in principle, all of the RIRs are open to input and communication from all Internet users.

However, we suggest that where your inquiry relates to resources which have been relocated, requests for assistance with management of the resources and associated data be directed at the RIR which now holds the records for your resource. You can expect other RIRs to ask you to primarily use the in-region RIR for communication in this context.

Do I have to move my data? I don't want the bother.

If we have misidentified your entity as being outside the ARIN region then you can keep the data with ARIN. If the country attribute associated with your resource record is in another RIR's region, your resource record will be transferred to that RIR.

What information in the ARIN WHOIS database will be affected?

Any AS number or IP address space that was registered prior to ARIN's existence, with a country attribute outside of the ARIN region will be affected.

Does this affect my domain name?

No. Only network resource information is affected. No whois objects held by any other agency, relating to any other purpose than assignments or allocations of Internet address or AS number resources are affected.

Do I get to keep my XYZ123-ARIN NIC-handle?

If you retain any resources in the ARIN region, you may keep ARIN NIC-handles and data in ARIN Whois but in the relocation of data management from ARIN to APNIC, it is necessary to have a new NIC-handle generated to avoid clashes with existing records.

I have never used the APNIC Whois database and do not know how to make updates, what do I do?

Information about updating information in the APNIC Whois Database can be found in the APNIC Whois Database objects resource guide.

I am not familiar with policies and procedures, where can I find more information?

Information about APNIC policies can be found at the following:

Autonomous System number (AS Number) resource guide
IPv4 resource guide

You mentioned 'domain' as one of the objects in the RIR database. I thought domain names weren't affected?

Domain names are not affected. APNIC and RIPE use 'domain' objects in the management of reverse delegations, for example x.y.z.in-addr.arpa.

If the IP addresses that are being transferred, have in-addr.arpa nameservers attached, these nameservers are added to the RIR database as domain objects, and are automatically included in the zone reloads.

My reverse delegation has gone away or is incorrect.

All information received from ARIN was transferred into APNIC resource management processes. If, at the time of transfer, your reverse delegation depended upon incorrect details formerly managed at ARIN or did not have a delegation record, this will have been detected in transfer and therefore removed from the authoritative parent zone. Please contact us to have your current delegation details updated. Please be aware that you may have to prove your relationship to the delegation.

How do I go about managing my resource with APNIC?

Each RIR has specific methods for authorising changes and establishing authentication. At the time of transfer, if the contact-of-record does not already have an established means of authentication with the recipient RIR, the RIR will place your records in a 'hold-harmless' state.

You can establish a means of authentication by completing some simple proof of relationship processes to identify yourself. In most cases, readily available information from another authorised person (such as a data centre manager, company officer) will suffice. It is recommended that you establish a means of authentication prior to transfer.

I was notified that my records were transferred to APNIC, but the records are not visible at whois.apnic.net?

Please contact APNIC. Be sure to include the affected records and the date of transfer.

I have read all the FAQs, but still have questions. How do I contact APNIC?

If you are unable to find the answers to your questions on the APNIC web sites, please send an email to helpdesk@apnic.net. E-mail will allow APNIC to ticket and correctly track your questions and comments for a more informed response.

IPv6 Frequently Asked Questions

2008-02-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

IPv6 Frequently Asked Questions

Content

Can I receive an IPv6 allocation from APNIC?
Do I need to join APNIC to receive an IPv6 allocation?
I am a member of an NIR. How can I receive an IPv6 allocation?
What is the cost for an IPv6 allocation from APNIC?
How do I apply for IPv6 allocations from APNIC?
Can I upgrade my existing /35 allocation?
Can I apply now for IPv6 addresses which I will not use immediately?
Can I get an IPv6 assignment for my Internet Exchange Point?
I am involved in IPv6 R&D. How do I receive address space to support my activities?
Can I get an IPv6 multihoming assignment for my network?
More information

Can I receive an IPv6 allocation from APNIC?

If your organisation provides connectivity to other organisations, you may be eligible. You will need to show that you have a realistic plan to make at least 200 customer assignments within two years. You will also need to show that you will provide connectivity and aggregated routing for those assignments. There is also provision for current holders of IPv4 address space to receive an initial allocation of IPv6 space appropriate to their customer requirements. The specific eligibility criteria for allocations are set out in section 5 of the IPv6 Address Allocation and Assignment Policy.

If you are an end user, you will need to request IPv6 addresses from a service provider.

Do I need to join APNIC to receive an IPv6 allocation?

You will need to either become an APNIC member or open an APNIC non-membership account.

I am a member of an NIR. How can I receive an IPv6 allocation?

As a member of an APNIC NIR, you may receive your allocation from the NIR itself, provided that your NIR is in a position to make the request from APNIC. Alternatively, you may join APNIC to receive an allocation directly from APNIC.

What is the cost for an IPv6 allocation from APNIC?

For normal members, the first address allocation request (either IPv4 or IPv6) is subject to a non-refundable IP resource application fee of $US2,500. However, if you have received IPv4 or IPv6 space from APNIC previously, all subsequent allocations are free, providing that your membership is current.

IPv6 address space costs for confederation members are laid out in section 3.4.3 of the fee schedule.

How do I apply for IPv6 allocations from APNIC?

If you are an APNIC member, please use the APNIC IPv6 Allocation Request Form.

If you are a member of a confederation, please discuss this with your confederation.

Can I upgrade my existing /35 allocation?

Yes, organisations that received a /35 allocation from APNIC or their NIR before 1 July 2002 are available to have their allocation increased to a /32, provided they still meet the general eligibility criteria in section 5 of the IPv6 Address Allocation and Assignment Policy. For more details, contact helpdesk@apnic.net.

Can I apply now for IPv6 addresses which I will not use immediately?

You must be able to show that you will be able to make at least 200 assignments within two years of receiving your allocation.

Can I get an IPv6 assignment for my Internet Exchange Point?

You may be eligible to receive an IPv6 address assignment under APNIC's new IXP policy. See the IXP address assignment FAQ. These assignments are available for members and non-members.

I am involved in IPv6 R&D. How do I receive address space to support my activities?

You should refer to APNIC's Experimental allocations FAQ.

Can I get an IPv6 multihoming assignment for my network?

You may be eligible. For more information please see the IPv6 resource guide.

Experimental allocations FAQ

2008-02-15T21:56:00.002-08:00

Experimental allocations FAQ

Does APNIC make allocations for experiments?
How much does an experimental allocation cost?
Part of my research project is private and I do not wish my details to be disclosed. Is this okay?
How much address space can I request?
Can I extend the term of the experimental allocation?
What is an experiment?

Does APNIC make allocations for experiments?

Yes. Please refer to our Experimental allocation policy for the full policy statement.

How much does an experimental allocation cost?

You will need to become a member of APNIC to get an experimental allocation. This costs a minimum of US$625 (for the associate category). No other fees apply to these allocations. If you are already a member of APNIC, then you do not have to pay anything extra for an experimental allocation. Also, the experimental allocation will not be counted in calculating your membership tier.

Part of my research project is private and I do not wish my details to be disclosed. Is this okay?

You will need to discuss this with APNIC. The intention of these allocations is to encourage experiments that are in the public interest. APNIC will consider your request to not disclose some non-essential elements of your experiment, but if you require any significant restrictions on disclosure then you will not be eligible for an experimental allocation.

How much address space can I request?

In most cases, experimental allocations will be consistent with APNIC's minimum allocation sizes (/21 in IPv4, /32 in IPv6). However, if your experiment specifically requires a different allocation size, this will be considered.

Can I extend the term of the experimental allocation?

It is intended that most experiments will be completed within one year. However, if you need more time to complete the objectives set out in the original proposal, then you may request an extension, fully documenting the reasons why more time is needed.

What is an experiment?

An experiment is a project that meets the criteria in either section 6.1 or 6.2 of the Experimental allocation policy. That is, if the project is documented in an experimental RFC, or is described document that is available free of charge and publicly accessible in a forum approved by APNIC, it can be considered an experiment.

APNIC may discuss the details of the proposal with the IETF or other standards bodies to determine whether a project is experimental or not.

No projects will be considered as eligible experiments if they are being conducted for commercial purposes or if the results will not be freely available without constraints on their disclosure or use.

Critical infrastructure FAQ

2008-02-15T21:56:00.001-08:00

Critical infrastructure FAQ

What is critical infrastructure?
Does APNIC make assignments to critical infrastructure?
Are Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) critical infrastructure?
What size assignments does APNIC makes for critical infrastructure?
How can I apply for a critical infrastructure assignment?
Are there any fees for this?
Where is this policy documented?

What is critical infrastructure?

Critical infrastructure is defined as:

· root domain name system (DNS) server

· global level domain (gTLD) nameservers

· country code TLD (ccTLDs) nameservers

· IANA

· Regional Internet Registry (RIRs) and

· National Internet Registry (NIRs)

Assignments to critical infrastructure are available only to the actual operators of the network infrastructure performing such functions. Registrar organisations which do not actually host the network housing the registry infrastructure, will not be eligible for an assignment

Does APNIC make assignments to critical infrastructure?

Yes. APNIC has critical infrastructure policies for IPv4 and IPv6 address space.

Are Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) critical infrastructure?

IXPs are not included under this definition. However, IXPs are eligible for assignments under separate policies. Refer to our IXP address assignment FAQ for more information.

What size assignments does APNIC makes for critical infrastructure?

The assignment sizes are:

· minimum /24 of IPv4

· maximum /32 of IPv6 per operator

How can I apply for a critical infrastructure assignment?

If you believe that your organisation qualifies for a critical infrastructure assignment from APNIC, you can make an application using the APNIC portable assignment request form.

Are there any fees for this?

APNIC's normal fee schedule applies.

Where is this policy documented?

For IPv4, the policy is documented in Policies for IPv4 address space management in the Asia Pacific region.

For IPv6, the policy is documented in IPv6 address allocation and assignment policy.

Hosting News - IXP address assignment

2008-02-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

IXP address assignment (IPv4 and IPv6)

What is an IXP?
What's the minimum IPv4 assignment for IXPs?
What's the minimum IPv6 assignment for IXPs?
I am an IXP. Do I have to apply under this special IXP policy?
Do I need to be a member to apply under the IXP policy?
Can a member of an NIR obtain an IXP assignment?
Are there any fees I have to pay?
Further reading

What is an IXP?

IXPs (Internext Exchange Points) allow ISPs to extend their network by exchanging routing information and traffic with other ISPs. The ISP buys a connection to the exchange point and locates a router at the physical location of the LAN that forms the IXP. For APNIC's policies, an IXP is defined as: "An Internet Exchange Point (IX or IXP) is a layer 1 and layer 2 network structure that interconnects three or more Autonomous Systems (AS) for the purpose of Internet traffic interchange."

What's the minimum IPv4 assignment for IXPs?

APNIC will assign a minimum /24 for the IXP transit LAN. Multiples of /24 can be requested if there are multiple IP sites and you can demonstrate the need.

What's the minimum IPv6 assignment for IXPs?

The minimum is a /48. Multiples of /48 can be assigned if there are multiple IX sites and you can demonstrate the need.

I am an IXP. Do I have to apply under this special IXP policy?

No, but if you apply under a different policy, you will be required to meet criteria not designed specifically for IXPs. If you only need address space for your transit LAN, it will be much simpler for you to use the APNIC Portable Assignment Request Form.

Do I need to be a member to apply under the IXP policy?

No. You can apply as either a member or non-member. See APNIC membership information for more about becoming an APNIC member or non-member.

Can a member of an NIR obtain an IXP assignment?

An NIR member can choose to obtain an assignment for an IXP either by becoming an APNIC member or as a non-member.

Are there any fees for this?

Normal membership fees apply; however IXP assignments are exempt from the US$2500 initial resource application fee. For more information, see the APNIC fee schedule

Web Hosting FAQ, Forums and News

Web Hosting FAQ

Web Hosting FAQ 1

Web Hosting FAQ 2

Web Hosting FAQ 3

Web Hosting FAQ 4

Web Hosting FAQ 5

Web Hosting FAQ 6

Web Hosting FAQ 7

Find the answer to what is web hosting.

Find the answer to what is domain hosting.

Find the answer to what is a sub domain.

Find the answer to what is shared hosting.

Find the answer to what is virtual hosting.

Find the answer to what is UNIX hosting.

Find the answer to what is a webmaster.

Web Hosting FAQ 8

Find the answer to what is a good web host.

Find the answer to what is a web server.

Find the answer to what is bandwidth.

Find the answer to what is a dynamic web page.

Find the answer to what is a static web page.

Find the answer to what is a web robot.

Find the answer to what is the robot.txt file.

Find the answer to what is SSI or Server Side Includes.

Find the answer to what are Front-page Extensions.

Find the answer to what is Web Mail.

Find the answer to what is FTP or File Transfer Protocol.

Find the answer to what is a datacenter.

Web Hosting FAQ 9

Web Hosting FAQ 10

Web Hosting Quick Start

Web Hosting Quick Start

Domain Name

Web Design

Web Hosting

Web Hosting

Web Hosting Choice - Choose Your Web Host

Web Hosting Choice - Choose Your Web Host

Cheap Web Hosting

Domains

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Resources Links

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APNIC Certification Authority FAQ

APNIC Certification Authority FAQ

Contents

General information

Technical information

Problems and troubleshooting

General information

Why do I need an APNIC digital certificate?

How can I obtain an APNIC digital certificate?

After submitting the online certificate request form, can I send my photo identification and hardcopy form by scanned image instead of fax?

What is APNIC root certificate? How is it different from my certificate and why do I need to install it?

What can I use the certificate for?

Can I sign emails with my certificate?

Technical information

What is private/public key? How do they work and how are they related to the certificate?

How do I check if my APNIC-issued certificate is installed and see its details?

Which browsers have been tested and found to work with APNIC digital certificates?

Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox/Opera asks for the software security device password. What does this refer to?

I'm using Mac OS/X. Is there anything I should know about installing a certificate in OS/X?

How do I backup my certificate or copy it to a different computer/browser?

Problems and troubleshooting

I cannot verify my certificate after the installation. What should I do?

My computer crashed and I cannot recover my certificate. What should I do?

I have submitted a certificate request from https://www.apnic.net/ca, but APNIC has not processed my certificate. Why?

I have installed my certificate, but cannot access MyAPNIC. What should I do?

I'm using Internet Explorer, but I cannot complete the certificate request (an error occurred). What should I do?

I'm using Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox. When downloading the certificate it doesn't look like it's doing anything. What should I do?

I got an error message when I requested a certificate using Windows Vista and Internet Explorer.

I have a problem that is not listed in this FAQ page. Who should I contact?

IPv6 Documentation prefix

IPv6 Documentation prefix

Contents

What is the IPv6 documentation prefix?

What range of IPv6 addresses can I use as examples in my documentation?