Technical Stuff Return to
Main Index We take pride in our commitment to
providing the highest quality, most flexible, and most competitive Web
Hosting Services available. When you place your website on our machines
you can be assured that people around the world will have consistent,
reliable access to your website 24 hours a day.
This is a
test... Our computers are Pentium II Dual Pro
400 and 450 machines running Apache over Linux. You will be able to access
and manage your website on our machines using Telnet and FTP or
Fetch. With our PlusMail Web Control you can even
perform some management functions using your web browser. Our
servers are connected to the Internet backbone over Multiple T3
Connections, each of which has a capacity of 45 MBPS (million bits per
second).
What’s Your
Level? Okay…if you read the above paragraph
and understood every word of it then you qualify as an advanced
user. You will probably only need to use this manual as a reference
tool to look up specific information. If you cannot find the
information you are looking for here, please feel free to contact us at
support.
If you read the paragraph and understood some of
it but not all, then you will probably want to take a little time to
review a few things before diving in. You will find the
comprehensive Index a useful tool for tracking down the information you
need, when you need it.
Finally, if you read the paragraph and found it to be
total gibberish, then it is strongly recommended that you take the time to
read the explanations and instructions in this manual before you begin a
new task that you are unfamiliar with. If you are completely
unfamiliar with Telnet and FTP, and have no desire to learn about them,
you might want to go directly to the PlusMail Web Control section.
The PlusMail Web Control will let you control virtually every aspect of
your web presence from your web browser.
If you need to perform tasks that require you to use FTP
or Telnet, or if you would just like the general knowledge of what they
are, then you should read the section titled The Novice
WebMaster. It will give you a basic, but clear idea of what you
will be dealing with, and take some of the mystery and confusion out of it
all.
We have made every effort to cover all the
bases in this manual, and make it as complete and informative as possible.
However, please keep in mind that if you cannot find the answers you are
looking for here, you should feel free to contact us at support.
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The Novice
WebMaster Ftp?
Telnet? Unix? Linux?!!! HUH!? Chances are
pretty good that you access the Internet using a browser program. Chances
are also pretty good that you use some version of Netscape, Internet
Explorer, or something very similar to those two biggies. You may be
wondering why I mention this cause, gee, is there any other way to access
the Internet?? You gotta have a browser…right?? Well…no. You don’t. In
fact, the gigantic, feature laden browser programs most commonly used
today are just one type of program that you can use to surf the net.
Granted, they provide the most visually appealing view of the Internet,
and they are the most fun and entertaining to use with their image and
sound capabilities. They are, in fact, largely responsible for turning the
Internet into a place where people from all walks of life around the world
now go to play, work, shop and learn.
Browsers are not the only programs you can
use to access the Internet, they are certainly not the first, and,
depending on what your needs and tasks may be, they are not always the
best program to use either. After all…your email program is great
for email. But it isn’t necessarily the best tool to use if you want to
write a book. Your browser is great for viewing the Internet,
but it is not always the best tool to use for managing a website.
For that, you will want something simple, fast, and basic that will let
you upload, download, and access files on your site quickly, easily and
with a minimum of fuss and frills. Telnet and FTP are the two tools
that fulfill these needs best.
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Telnet Telnet is a program that emulates a computer terminal,
allowing you to view information on site rather than downloading it to
your personal computer for viewing. This is extremely useful if you need
to view large amounts of information, such as all the files and folders on
a web site, or a library catalog for example. Imagine how long it would
take for you to download a web page containing the entire catalog of book
titles from just a city library! With Telnet, you are able to actually
view the information on the library site, eliminating the download
time.
Telnet is not graphics capable, does not play sound files
and is not one tiny bit entertaining. But it is the best tool to use for
certain tasks. You will have a white screen with black text, much
like the old DOS screen only in reverse. And, again like DOS, you
will need to type in your commands. If you use Windows you will have
a Telnet program already on your system. Go to Start, Programs, Run, and
type the word "telnet" (no quotes) into the window.
FTP FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. Like the name implies, it’s
main purpose is to make transferring files from one computer to another as
fast and easy as possible. And it is very good at it’s job! Unlike
Telnet, FTP is not a program. It is instead a "protocol" just
like http is a protocol. Your browser program uses the http (Hyper Text
Transfer Protocol) for viewing, reading, and translating HTML into the
bright and colorful interactive web pages you see on your computer
screen. In order to use FTP you will need a program such as WS-FTP
for Windows, or Fetch for Macintosh users.
Visually, you will not see either the
imagery of a browser, or the blank white screen and black text of Telnet.
Instead, if you are using WS_FTP, you will see two panels, each with
folders (also called directories) and files displayed. One panel will
contain the folders and files on your computer. The other panel will
contain the folders and files on the site you are logged into. If you are
using Fetch, you will see something a bit different.
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Linux and
Unix An OS, or "operating system" is the
program you use to operate and run your computer. By far the three most
universally used and recognized by the average lay surfer are Windows in
any version from 3.x to Win 98, NT, and Macintosh. Linux, and Unix are
both operating systems as well. They don’t have, or support, all of the
bells and whistles of the more popular operating systems, but that’s not
what they are meant for. These two operating systems are for serious
stuff…for fast and dynamic data transfer…for allowing one computer to talk
to others quickly and smoothly. Not for personal entertainment. This
is why server computers and many other types of businesses use Unix and/or
Linux operating systems. They aren’t pretty, but they are smart, they are
stable, and they are fast.
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Appendix: Helpful
Links The following are sites on the
Internet which we have found to be helpful:
The Web Developer's Virtual Library A great resource for all things HTML.
The CGI Resource
Index A vast selection of CGI
Scripts (free and for pay).
Directory
Guide A guide to many of the
directories on the Internet.
Black
Coffee Applications, resources, and
source code for Java users and developers.
Gifpile A huge
selection of artwork for your webpages.
Notice Some of the text referring to CGI scripts was taken directly
or adapted for our use from ReadMe files provided by the script designers.
Many thanks to the folks at Matt's Script Archives for their excellent
documentation!
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