Putting up a web page

1. Make your files
· index.html, images, etc.
· Organize into one directory

2. Register a domain name
(ryansmithart.com)

· Find a domain name registrar (GoDaddy, 1and1, or Network Solutions)
· Pick an unused domain name
· Pay the registrar's fee

3. Get Server Space
·the right to put some number of GB, of files, in a directory, on a server
(http://userpages.umbc.edu/~username)
(http://tiger.towson.edu/~username)

· Why not just use your own computer?
· A server must always be connected with the same IP (Internet Protocol)
· even if your computer is always on, its IP address changes
· most people don't need a fixed IP address
· it's more trouble for your Internet Service Provider : $$$

IP Addresses: "127.0.0.1"
· more complex than phone numbers
· Refers to a specific computer

DNS: Domain Name System
· Converts the 4 numbers to text (the domain name)
· You say "google.com", DNS says "216.239.51.99"

4. Connect DNS entry to server
· Your DNS registrar will have a form that you fill out
some ISP's will do it for you

Once the dots are connected, you have a web site.


5. Move the files to the server
· You probably don't know where your ISP is, so you can't send them a CDR
· Use a secure FTP program to move the files from your machine to the server

FTP
(File Transfer Protocol) is a network protocol for moving files from one computer to another.
· Many programs can do it
FileZilla (PC)
Fugu (for Mac)
· They're all pretty much the same
· All they do is transfer files between directories

Internet = files in directories, connected by FTP

· Every web site is a collection of files in a few formats
· HTML files are the Spackle that glob it all together
· severs and browsers (and email, and chat, etc.) are just friendly FTP programs

(this information was provided by Professor Neal McDonald, and edited by Ryan Smith, University of Maryland Baltimore County)