General Virtual Domain Information

What is a Virtual Domain? A Virtual Domain allows your URL to be http://www.yourcompany.com. The purpose of obtaining a Virtual Domain is to give your site a shorter URL, or Web address. This has many advantages - to give your site the appearance of having its own server, and thus a larger presence on the Web; to make it easier for people to remember your Web location; to allow your URL to fit on a business card; and to attach your company name to its Web name.

The other important fact is the ability to move from one hosting company to the next without your customers knowing that you have moved. If you have submitted a number of links to search engines on a directory account http://www.cavecreek.net/yourcompanyname/ you will have to notify your customers and all the search engines that you have moved to a different location.

More technically, in reserving a Virtual Domain name one is registering with InterNic's database, the primary Domain Name Server (DNS) for the World Wide Web. Upon DNS registration one has reserved this URL forever (as long as you pay your registration bill, of course). Please refer to Internic's FTP site or Internic's Web site for current policies and procedures.

Simply put, the Infopage Services' have reserved many I.P. numbers (the true address of everybody on the Web - ours is 209.150.134.204, for example). A company pays rent to Infopage Services for use of this number and for attaching the reserved Domain Name to this address. A company's I.P. # will change when changing providers, but the name can and should remain the same. The I.P. Number points to the Domain Name.

If this all sounds to complicated we can register the name for you for a $50.00 on time fee all you have to do is give us a little info and we will do the rest. Contact sales@infopg.com or call us at 504-757-9341.

Note: It is very important to realize that the portion yourcompany is the Domain Name. Not www.yourcompany.com. The www. is a common Server name pre-fix on the Web - this is different! The .com is for commercial entities, which most companies fall into. (Many people ask for .net and sometimes this can be obtained. However, this is between you & InterNic - with the possibility that InterNic will reject the request three weeks later! The guidelines are explicit in the DNS form. Read it.)

What flexibility do I have with DNS names (my URL)? Typically, there is no problem with registering http://yourcompany.com -vs- http://www.yourcompany.com. In fact,Infopage Services makes sure that both are taken care of during DNS registration - a proper set-up. This is considered true Virtual Domain. Otherwise, any name is possible so long as you check the name first. This does not 100% guarantee the name is not taken. The reason for this is that, though DNS lists pending names in its database upon receipt of the registration form, there is a backlog of putting these in the database. So, you can search all but the forms waiting to be put in the pending file- a backlog of the backlog, if you will. This chance of duplicating another name is slight, but real. As with everything on the Web, the backlog is growing exponentially and is currently at upwards of one week to completely register. (It can sometimes be faster)

How do I register my Name with DNS? Check the name first. Of course, registration is included with the set-up fees for Infopage Service's customers.   After you know you name is available,  fill-out the on-line order form. This should be sent after we receive the Infopage Contract. The easiest way to do our contract is to bring the page up on your browser and sign it online, or call us at 504-757-9341 and we will be happy to take the information over the phone.

A) Web Space Contract - Options: Email, Mail, Fax or Call Infopage Services:

B) DNS Registration -Use the contract, and the online order form has a section devoted to transfer (the time and cost with InterNic is the same as for a new D.N.S. Please refer to the InterNic Page for more information. If needed, please fax an information page stating explicitly your former Provider's location, your Domain Name information, and when and how you want the transfer to be made. There are many combinations of transfer options, all of which are possible, and your desires simply need to be attached to our contract and faxed-in, or entered on our online order page.   The price for non-Infopage customers is $50.00 US.

What about routing my old site's & SLIP\PPP's E-Mail accounts? As above, any requests are usually not a problem. We can point new mailboxes to old mailboxes anywhere (your account comes with 1 to 10 depending upon account, others are $20/each/one time, or $5/each/month--depending on account . There is a space on our contract to specify this, and any unusual requests should be handled in a faxed or emailed note.

Is traffic metered? NO!  Infopage Services allows our customers to have "x" MB storage and unmetered traffic. This option will allow you to get as many hits as your AWESOME site deserves at NO extra cost.

What is your policy on Customer Support? Our policy is unlimited customer support via e-mail or telephone as time permits. It is first requested that each company read the current version of the FAQ before calling or mailing us. The purpose of the FAQ is to tell you, or point you to, the answer to your question.  It is requested that all questions regarding account set-up, contract questions, policy & service questions, problems related to our service be directed to acsupport@infopg.com, and the like. It is also requested that the 504-757-9341 (Baton Rouge, LA, USA) number & other addresses be used for all other questions- for example, questions regarding new CGI script setup, consulting advice, simply to chat and introduce your company & its idea to us, or whatever.

The purpose of 'limiting' Customer Support is to reduce our costs, and thus the costs to the customer. It is our hope that through the combinations of the FAQ, E-Mail, and ; telephone numbers that all questions can be answered. It is also hoped that you will find our staff knowledgeable and friendly, with a variety of experiences with "business on the Web".

What is 150 Megs of Webspace anyhow? Again, using the average HTML page at 100K, one divides this into 150 Megabytes (the basic Corporate 2 account) and gets over 600 pages including graphics - quite a large Web Site. Now, if your company is interested in an FTP site, or you are running high-demand, high-overhead CGI scripts or whatever, you'll find that 150 Megs is still a lot, but you can buy additional space for little of nothing... We're cheap.

What can I, and what can I not, do with my Webspace? If you're interested in reselling your Space, please email or phone. Otherwise, the rules are this:

The following rules are not negotiable-

1) Any Illegal Pornographic material;
2) Illegal activities in the United States or State of Arizona;
3) Threatening or slanderous material;
4) Any material deemed by Infopage Services to be degrading to our systems and/or our other customers.
5) We due allow adult accounts but only on Adult Plans
6) Spamming of Newsgroups or Bulk Emailing
7) Any Violation of our Acceptable Use Policy

Now, one would think that this is self-explanatory. However, we get questions everyday for us to clarify this list and explain why this is our policy. Second things first, why?- because we can! Just as some places of business require Shirt & Shoes or a dress code to enter their store, so does Infopage Services. There is no difference.