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Online interface for your questions and answers.<BR>...first time online? Get the low down here! In our FAQ we discuss everything from IT basics to electronic marketing.<BR><h1 align="center"><font face="Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Internet Business Services</font></h1>
<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif"><a href="http://www.sitesource.com.au/"><font face="Arial Narrow, Arial Black, Arial, serif"><strong>SiteSource</strong></font></a></font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">What is broadband?
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Broadband
is a terms used to <a href="http://results.sitesource.com.au/">describe</a> fast, high speed Internet access… more
Using standard telephone technology it is possible to get Internet connection speeds up to 56Kbps (a speed measured by the number of bits that can be transmitted per second). Using two line ISDN this can be doubled. However, in recent years there have been advances in the technology that service providers use to connect computers into the Internet. For example, Satellite, cable and ADSL are all more modern communication systems. These more modern technologies allow data to be transferred at faster rates. As a group these faster technologies are called Broadband.
The faster your connection to the Internet, the quicker you can download and upload information. (As long as the connections between computers, in the path to your destination, are not slower.) To access broadband you require a broadband ISP and specific hardware related to that technology. For example satellite connections require a satellite dish and modem.
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">What is ADSL?
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif"><a href="http://isp.sitesource.com.au/">ADSL
is a high speed Internet connection</a> that uses current telephone line technology… more
Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line is a new way of sending electrical currents through existing telephone infrastructure, that enables high speed data transmission. It is asymmetric in nature because the data is transferred at different rates to and from your computer. Commonly ISP access starts at 256/64, which means 256Kbps data download speed and 64Kbps data upload speed.
To connect to ADSL you will need special ADSL equipment. Typically this involves an ADSL modem and router (often combined into the same piece of hardware) that plugs straight into the existing telephone line. As this technology operates “on top of” the voice telephone service, users are able to make telephone calls and access the Internet at the same time. With ADSL there are no telephone numbers to dial and the connection is permanent.
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">What is a
domain?
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">A domain
is section of a computer network, a domain name is used to specify that area
of a network… more
Domain names are visually distinguishable as words that are separated by full stops. For example sitesource.com.au is a domain name. Domains are made up of many levels, and computer systems read them right to left, so the first level of the domain above is .au. On the Internet a domain name must be registered to become effective. Each first level domain is controlled by a different entity and different registration systems are in place. For example the .au domain is split up into secondary levels like .com.au and .edu.au. Each of these is then controlled by a different registrar.
To make things easy, often resellers of domain names have agreements with multiple registrars, this enables people <a href="http://diy.sitesource.com.au/">buying
domains</a> to make purchases in one place. Once a domain is registered, the registrar needs to forward all HTTP requests for this domain on the Internet to a DNS (Domain Name Server) server. (Please note some registrars charge extra for this service, so beware of additional forwarding charges when considering the actual registration rate.) The DNS server then advises the IP address that corresponds with that domain, and the signal can be routed to the final destination.
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">What is a
host?
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">A host is
a physical computer on a network, a host name often appears as a prefix to
a domain name… more
As a domain refers to many computers connected on one network (or segment) a host name is used to identify individual computers. Together a host name + domain name can be translated by a DNS server into an IP address. It is also possible to have virtual host names. On the Internet this practice enables one web server to “host” many web sites, rather than having to use one IP address per host/ domain name combination.
Virtual hosts enables cheaper website hosting, however there are times when a business may need a dedicated IP address for exclusive use by their host. An example of this is when SSL is to be used for secure transmission of information on an <a href="http://estore.sitesource.com.au/">E-Commerce
website</a>.
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">What is a
URL?
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Is the complete
address and protocol combination defining a web page or file on the Internet…more
A Uniform Resource Locator is made up of four distinct parts. Firstly there is the TCP/IP protocol that will be used to transfer data between the two communicating computers. In most cases when this is between a client browser and a web server HTTP is used. The format used to denote this in the URL is “http://”. The next part of the URL is the host or virtual host names. Conventionally “www.” is the host name given to web servers on the Internet. The third part of the name is the domain name followed by a “/”.
Finally in a URL comes the path to location of the web page or file on the host computer. In the same way you might store a word processing file on your computer in “C:/documents/paperwork.doc”. Although for security this path is virtual (the names used may not be the real names for the folders) and relative (the folder may not be located in the c:/root drive).
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">What is a
proxy?
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">A proxy is
a computer that receives and transmits requests for information on behalf
of another…more
A proxy computer on a network exists as a security screen. Any requests by computers on one side of it for information from those on the other side, must pass through it. Yes, that does sound similar to a router! A router starts being referred to as a proxy server, when the complexity of decisions it makes about transmitting information increases.
Thus a proxy server, might be programmed to decide not to allow certain information or requests to pass through it. For example, it might scan for incoming viruses or block outgoing access to selected websites. Another word often used to describe this kind of action is Firewall. Sometimes people refer to a proxy as the hardware and firewall as the software, but the terms really do overlap.
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">What is Electronic
Commerce?
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<p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Any activity
which allows customers to make a purchase “offer” online, using Internet technology…more
It’s semantics really, but the difference between using the <a href="http://solutions.sitesource.com.au/">Internet
as a sales promotion</a> tool and e-Commerce, is that your online interface enables customers to advise they want to make a purchase. A purely promotional website will increase you sales by driving customers through your door, to your phone number or some other business goal. An e-Commerce website will allow them to interact in a way that takes the process one step further.
E-Commerce doesn’t mean you have to take payment online! You may still want to do this manually for many reasons. However, for a plumber it might mean that customers can make a booking and confirm a time frame online. For a cafe it may mean a customer can advise what menu items they want to purchase and have delivered. An e-commerce website offers the customer the ability to do more than a purely promotional one.
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