What Exactly is a Domain Name?

A domain name is a text string that corresponds to a numeric IP address used to access a website from client software or application. A domain name is a string of text that users type into a browser window to access a specific website.

For example, Amazon’s domain name is ‘amazon.com.’

The actual address is a long and complicated numerical IP address (e.g. 103.21.244.0). Nonetheless, DNS allows users to enter human-friendly domain names and be directed to websites. This is referred to as a DNS lookup.

Who owns the domain names?

Domain registries manage all domain names and delegate domain names to registrars. A domain name can be registered with a registrar by anyone who wants to create a website. There are currently over 320 million registered domain names.

What’s the difference between a domain name and a URL?

A uniform resource locator (URL), sometimes called a web address, contains the domain name of a site and other information, including the transfer protocol and the path. For example, in the URL ‘https://fastwebhost.in/web-hosting.html’, ‘fastwebhost.in’ is the domain name, while ‘HTTPS’ is the protocol and ‘/webhosting.html’ is the path to a specific page on the website.

What are the parts of a domain name?

Domain names are divided into two or three parts, each separated by a dot. When reading right-to-left, the identifiers in domain names go from most general to most specific.

The section to the right of the last dot in a domain name is the top-level domain (TLD). These include the 'generic' TLDs such as '.com', '.net', and '.org', as well as country-specific TLDs like '.co.in' and '.in'.

The left of the TLD is the second-level domain (2LD), and if there is anything to the left of the 2LD, it is called the third-level domain (3LD). Let’s look at a couple of examples:

For Google’s US domain name, ‘google.com’:

  • ‘.com’ is the TLD (most general)
  • ‘Google’ is the 2LD (most specific)

But for Google India domain name, 'google.co.in':

  • ' .com' is the TLD (most general)
  • ' .co.in'* is the 2LD
  • ' Google' is the 3LD (most specific)

How do you keep a domain name safe?

When a domain name is registered with a domain registrar, such as Fastwebhost, that registrar is in charge of everything. 

For example, notifying the registrant when their domain name is about to expire and giving them the option to renew to avoid losing their domain name.

It is critical to choose an honest and trustworthy registrar to avoid domain fraud and security breaches.

Otherwise, your domain will be fraudulently registered, and you won't be able to safeguard your rights.

Domain registration services are provided by numerous companies, so it can be challenging to discover the best option for you. How do you know which registrar to pick? 

Best Website Speed Optimization Techniques: Performance Testing and Improvement Practices

Your website is your company's online identity, and the speed with which it loads can make or break your business. Customers may be turned off by a slow-loading website! 

Aside from displaying relevant search results for the respective keywords, another important goal of search engines is to provide online surfers with a practical and visually appealing experience.

As a result, a website must have relevant content, fast page load times, script-free web pages, and simple website navigation. 

Is your website loading slowly?

Ways to assess your website speed

Before you begin optimizing your website's speed, you should first determine your current loading time and identify what is slowing your site down. Then you should set goals for your website's performance. 

In 2018, the recommended page load time was less than 3 seconds. According to Google's research on average mobile speed across industry sectors, only a tiny percentage of websites are close to the recommended rate.

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As a result, if you optimize your website speed to a satisfactory level, you will gain a significant ranking advantage over competitors. 

The methods for improving website speed listed in this article are very different. Sometimes, the solution to one problem can harm another aspect of your site.

As a result, we recommend analyzing the website speed after each change to see which actions produce the best results.

Several performance evaluation tools are worth trying:

  • Google Pagespeed Insights is a free Google tool that performs a performance test on your website and provides recommendations on improving performance. It is compatible with both desktop and mobile versions.
  • Pingdom is another excellent tool for website speed testing, with a slew of useful features. It tracks your website's performance history, generates easy-to-understand reports, and makes data-driven recommendations on improving website speed. 
  • YSlow also makes recommendations on improving the page's performance, generating statistics, and summarizing all components. 
  • The Performance Budget Calculator is a free tool that assists you in determining what type of content you can use to keep your site running smoothly.

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After you've checked your website's pace, you can begin optimizing it. There are numerous methods for making your website load faster, and we have compiled a list of the most effective ones.

Take a look at the factors listed below; you'll undoubtedly find a suitable solution for your website! 

List of server-related tips to reduce website load time.

Make use of a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A content delivery network is a set of web servers spread across different geographical locations that deliver web content to end-users based on their location.

When a website is hosted on a single server, all user requests are routed to the same hardware. So the time required to process each request grows. Furthermore, load time increases when users are physically distant from the server. 

CDN redirects user requests to the nearest server. As a result, content is delivered to users more quickly, and websites operate more quickly. This is a costly but very efficient method of optimizing load time.

Fixes on the server-side 

If your website is slow, don't blame the web hosting company; instead, blame the server. It is critical to have a web hosting server with appropriate hosting configurations.

Increasing Cache 

Proper header expiration will allow the stored images to pre-load when a visitor browses your website. Because the images are already in the memory bank, this is possible. This task will necessitate the use of.NET or Apache manipulation. 

Keepalive Monitoring 

'Keepalive' is a message sent between the server and the device to test linkage operations. This action keeps the links from breaking. If any of your website's links are broken, any other data requests will be rerouted without notice. Essentially, there are two keepalive recommendations: TCP and HTTP. 

Activating Gzip Compression 

Front-end programmers' decisions are critical for website page load times. Gzip compression is one of the most effective server compression methods. Simply login to cPanel and enable Gzip compression if you have a cPanel hosting account. 

Caching Landing Page Redirects 

Cacheable redirects are useful for mobile web servers in general. When you browse a website using a mobile browser, the data from website.com is sent to m.website.com. You can set the caching duration to one day, and the cache controls are private to ensure that only mobile users receive the redirects. 

Application of a Content Delivery Network 

The W3 Total Caching plugin is available to all WordPress users, while others must use a content delivery network. For efficient content procurement, you can use any of the free or paid content delivery networks

Fundamentals of Content 

Restriction of Redirects 

If you have moved your website several times, it is critical to redirect traffic to the new sources. The number of HTTP requests increases as the number of redirects increases, and an increase in the number of HTTP requests causes your website to slow down. Avoid using many redirect links in your content, and keep the maximum number of redirected domains to a minimum. 

Query String Elimination 

Because question marks are not cacheable, it is good to leave them out of the query. Only use question marks for resources that are dynamic in nature. 

Character Sets that are Meta 

Setting the character sets in your HTTP Meta tags correctly will speed up browser interpretation and allow the characters mentioned in the tags to be loaded correctly. Joomla and WordPress may use different PHP variations; however, HTML is easier to read and loads faster than any other dynamic scripting. 

Reduce Coding 

Unwanted empty elements and white spaces consume KBs, which directly contributes to longer page load times. If you use a CMS platform, such as WordPress, you can find plugins to optimize your website code. 

Check For and Remove Inappropriate Requests 

Broken URL requests generate a large number of 404 errors. Remove these 404 errors by using online checkers such as WordPress link checker or Broken link checker to detect broken links. 

Photographs and Style Sheets 

This is most likely one of the larger issues causing page load times to be delayed. When various syntaxes are called through the browser, your images, Java, and CSS coding all play a critical role. The following are some important pointers to keep scripting and imagery working on the fly: 

Image Enhancement 

Many images on the website contain unnecessary calls, such as many lines of img> code or unnecessary sizes. You will gain a lot from optimizing images so that your website runs faster. Image optimization is simple with deep line checking of images in the web page source code. 

Restrict Java, Use High Cascading

Following simple script location rules is all it takes to programme your website correctly in accordance with W3C standards. Because Java calls take a long time, you should always keep your Java coding to a minimum. Cascade style sheets should be placed first in your heading to speed up the initial load of your website. 

Image Dimensions 

Image dimensioning will also assist the browser in locating irreplaceable coding. Make sure that the image sizes are consistent throughout the website. 

Conclusion

When making any changes to your website, you should have efficient maintenance pages in place. As a result, a temporary redirect will be created, which you can find in the appropriate location.

Create backups of your current website on a regular basis. There is no need for you to get into any complicated stuff to speed up your website; simply follow the tips in this article and your website will load faster.

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Why Is a 404 Page Essential

You've probably come across a lot of interesting 404 pages on the internet! So, what is a 404 error page? If you click on a broken link or try to access a website page that does not exist, you will see a 404 error page.

This means that the website is still operational, but a specific page within the website no longer exists. If you return to the website and update it regularly to protect it, there will come a time when your website visitors will encounter a 404 page.

Whatever the reason for the 404 page on your website, it is critical that when a visitor hits the 404 page, they are directed back to your website; otherwise, you risk losing website visitors who land on the 404 page. 

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What is the significance of having a 404 page? What is the purpose of a 404 page? 

The main goal of having a 404 page is to keep visitors on your website even if they try to access a page that does not exist or has been removed. When a 404 page is designed creatively and with a purpose, visitors who access the 404 page will not leave your website; instead, they will stay and look around. 

How does a '404 error' page occur?

The most common cause of an error 404 notice is when website content is removed or relocated to another URL. There could also be other causes for an error message to occur. These are some examples:

  • The URL or its contents (such as files and photos) has been removed or relocated (without adjusting internal links accordingly)

  • The URL was incorrectly written (during the construction process or after a redesign), incorrectly connected, or incorrectly input into the browser.

  • The website's server is not operational, or the connection is broken.

  • The domain name system is unable to translate the specified domain name to an IP address (DNS)

  • The domain name supplied does not exist (anymore)

Web hosting operators are unaware that the linked content has been deleted or relocated, dead links are frequently left for extended periods. Many websites continue to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs) even though they are no longer available online (or at least not at the specified URL).

Other linked websites, such as blogs and news portals, are frequently unaware that the site has been removed or has a new URL. Many website owners do not check their external links regularly, so a working link can quickly become a dead one.

Here's an example of a generic 404 page that hasn't been creatively designed:

If you are the website owner or a tech-savvy person, you will understand why a 404 page is returned on your website; however, your website visitors may not. They may not understand how a website works, so a generic 404 page that contains plain text and is not creatively designed may leave your visitors frustrated and unwilling to return. 

A visitor may wonder why there is  404 error page and what it even means in the image above. The 404 page shown above also does not provide the user with a link to another page. Visitors to your website may encounter a 404 page even if they mistype a word or misspell a letter; therefore, you should avoid having a generic 404 page on your website and design it perfectly so that visitors are directed to the correct page on your website. 

Here are some examples of 404-page artwork! 

It is critical to devote time to customizing your website's 404 page.

For your convenience, here are some screenshots of some custom-designed 404 pages:

page404.jpeg404.jpeggohome.pngserveagain.pnguh-oh.png

They were incredible, weren't they? 

Tips for creating a significant and purposeful 404 page

  • Get rid of all the technical language. Your website visitors don't care why the page they want isn't there or how the 404 error occurred. They are only concerned with getting to the desired page, so direct them to it efficiently and creatively. 
  • Incorporate links to your most popular blog posts and articles, as well as a link to the homepage of your website. 
  • Never tell your visitors that they are mistaken and have arrived at the 404 page; simply inform them that the page they are looking for cannot be found. 
  • Ensure the 404 page, including the navigation, has the same look and feel as the rest of your website. 
  • Consider including a method for visitors to report broken links
  • You don't want your 404 page to appear in Google search results, no matter how beautiful it is. To avoid Google and other search engines indexing your website's 404 page, make sure your web server returns a true 404 HTTP status code when someone tries to access a missing page on your website. 

  • Avoid putting a lot of clutter on your 404 page because visitors may be intimidated by a cluttered 404 page with many links. In this case, the user may get confused and leave your website immediately. 

  • Use humor to lighten the mood, and even if your visitor does not get to the correct page, they will smile and be happy to follow the links you have provided. 

  • The 404 page should not include any advertising or promotions from any other or external source. 

  • The 404 page should be quick to load. 

  • If your website caters to visitors from all over the world or those who speak multiple languages, you can create a 404 page that can be translated into multiple languages.

Some important characteristics that can be included in your 404 page to help the visitor:

Search Bar: If the page requested by the visitor has been moved, provide the user with the 'search' option to locate the missing page. 

Contact Information: If a visitor discovers a broken link on your website or becomes disoriented due to the 404 page, it is critical to provide basic contact information. You can either use a form or provide an email address where visitors can contact you. 

Menu: If a menu is included in the 404 page, visitors will take the correct path to the desired page.

Conclusion:

Although a 404 error page can be highly frustrating for your website visitors and may lead to the abandonment of your website, it is critical to consider 404 pages as a way to keep your visitors engaged and on your website. There are no restrictions on designing a 404 page, but it is essential to ensure that it serves its purpose.

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How to Setup WIFI and LAN with BSNL Broadband

This guide will show you how to set up wifi and LAN on your BSNL AN1020-21 Type 2 ADSL Broadband Modem. The router's configuration would improve both wifi and LAN use at the same time.

The BSNL AN1020-21 Type 2 ADSL Broadband Modem has four LAN ports and can also be used as a router.

Please make a copy of the current configuration before re-configuring the modem. Ensure that all physical links are in working order.

In your browser, go to the graphical user interface of the modem with the IP address 192.168.0.1. It will prompt you for your login credentials. By default, all users' BSNL modem login credentials are the same. Admin is the username and password. 

Select Internet Connection in the left pane of the Configuration Tab.

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After that, press the Add button as shown below.

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PVC Name can be whatever you want it to be. The VCI value should be set at 35. After you've made your choices, press Next.

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You won't need to pick something under Configure Connection Type; instead, click Next. 

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Select the radio button to Obtain an IP address automatically under Configure WAN IP settings. Other choices, as shown in the image below, should be reviewed. 

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You must now configure the Broadband Username and Password. The Service Name will be whatever you want it to be, and the Broadband Username and Password will be what you got.

If you want to be linked from the moment your machine boots, set the radio button to Always On. If you don't want to be linked to the internet all the time, set it to Dial on Demand. Next should be selected.

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You'll see a summary of the settings you've created. If they're right, click Apply. 

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You've completed your mission. The following is an example of what your configured settings might look like.

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Web server and types of web servers

The word "web server" may refer to either hardware or software or a combination of the two.

A web server is software that uses HTTP to serve files that generate web pages for users in response to their requests sent by their computer's HTTP clients. 

A web server is any server that sends an XML document to another user. In simple terms, a web server is an Internet server that delivers information and services in response to HTTP requests. 

Let's say you're working on your computer and a message from a friend appears on your screen saying, "I just read a great article at the following URL: https://www.fastwebhost.in/blog." 

As a result, you'll type this URL into your browser and hit enter. That concludes our discussion. 

It makes no difference where in the world your website is hosted because the page you've browsed appears on your computer screen right away. 

Types of web servers

Web servers are divided into four categories: Apache, IIS, Nginx, and LiteSpeed

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Apache Web Server

Apache is a web server that runs on Linux.

The Apache Software Foundation created the Apache web server, which is one of the most common web servers.

Apache is open-source software that runs on a wide range of operating systems, including Linux, Windows, Unix FreeBSD, Mac OS X, and others. Apache Web Servers are used by about 60% of the computers. 

An apache web server is easy to set up due to its modular design. Since it's open-source, you can add your modules to the server if you want to customize it to meet your needs.

It is extremely reliable as compared to other web servers, and administrative problems are simple to fix. Apache can be successfully installed on several platforms. 

When opposed to earlier versions of Apache, the new versions give you the ability to manage more requests.

IIS Web Server

IIS Web Server is a web server developed by Microsoft.

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IIS is a Microsoft product that includes all of the functionality of Apache. Since it is not open source, adding and updating personal modules is more complicated. 

It is compatible with any platform that runs the Windows operating system. In addition, if there is a problem, you will receive excellent customer service.

Nginx Web Server

Nginx is a web server that runs on Linux.

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After Apache, Nginx is the next open source web servers. IMAP/POP3 proxy server is included. Nginx is known for its high performance, reliability, ease of configuration, and low resource consumption. 

Nginx does not use threads to manage requests; instead, it employs a highly scalable event-driven architecture that uses a limited and predictable amount of memory under load.

It has recently gained popularity, hosting around 7.5 % of all domains worldwide. This server is now being used by a large number of web hosting companies.

LiteSpeed Web Server

LiteSpeed (LSWS) is the fourth most common web servers on the internet and a commercial web server. It is a high-performance Apache drop-in replacement. 

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You will notice better performance and lower running costs when you update your web server to LiteSpeed. 

The most popular Apache features, such as.htaccess, mod-rewrite, and mod security are supported by this server. 

It can load Apache configuration files directly and can be used as a stand-in for Apache for almost all hosting control panels. It can take the place of Apache in 15 minutes with no downtime. 

To make the switch from Apache smooth and fast, LSWS replaces all of the Apache functions that other front-end proxy solutions can't. 

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Apache Tomcat

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Apache Tomcat is a web server that runs on an open-source Java servlet container. A Java servlet is a Java programme that extends the functionality of a server. Servlets may respond to a variety of requests, but they're most commonly used to implement web-based applications.

These web servlets are the Java equivalents of PHP and ASP.NET, which are both interactive web content technologies. Tomcat was donated to the Apache Software Foundation by Sun Microsystems in 1999, and it became a top-level Apache project in 2005. Currently, it is used by less than 1% of all websites.

Apache Tomcat is a Java application server that runs under the Apache License version 2. However, Coyote can be used to expand it to function as a regular web server, serving local files as HTTP documents. 

Apache Tomcat is often listed alongside other open-source per cent web server Java application servers. Wildfly, JBoss, and Glassfish are some examples. 

Node.js

Node.js is a server-side scripting language.

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Node.js is a server-side JavaScript environment that is often used in network applications like web servers. It was first published in 2009 by Ryan Dahl. Despite its smaller market share, Node.js is used by 0.2% of all websites.

The Linux Foundation's Collaborative Projects platform assists the Node.js community, which is run by the Node.js Foundation. 

Node.js is unique among common web servers in that it is primarily a cross-platform runtime framework for developing network applications. Node.js, which is capable of asynchronous I/O, uses an event-driven architecture.

Web applications throughput and scalability are improved as a result of these design decisions, making it easier to run real-time communication and browser games. 

Node.js also aids in recognizing the differences between web development stacks, as Node.js is simply part of the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript stack, while Apache and NGINX are components of several software stacks. 

Node.js comes with a variety of licenses. 

Lighttpd

Lighttpd was first released in March 2003 and is pronounced "lightly." It is distributed under a BSD license and currently powers about 0.1 %of all websites. 

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Lighttpd is unlike any other web server due to its low CPU load, small memory footprint, and speed optimizations. It uses an event-driven architecture that is designed for a large number of parallel connections and includes features such as FastCGI, Auth, Output-compression, SCGI, URL-rewriting, and more.

It's a well-known web server for web frameworks like Catalyst and Ruby on Rails. 

Sun Java System Web Server

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This webserver from Sun Microsystems is suited for medium and large websites. Though the server is free it is not open source. It, however, runs on Windows, Linux and Unix platforms.

The Sun Java System supports various languages, scripts and technologies required for Web 2.0 such as JSP, Java Servlets, PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby on Rails, ASP and ColdFusion etc.

You can have detailed information about this server at Sun Java System Web Server

Jigsaw Server

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Jigsaw (W3C's Server) comes from the World Wide Web Consortium. It is open-source and free and can run on various platforms like Linux, Unix, Windows, Mac OS X Free BSD etc. Jigsaw has been written in Java and can run CGI scripts and PHP programs.

Other forms of servers include the following:

Mail Server: A mail server provides a centrally located pool of storage space for network users to store and exchange various documents in the form of emails. Since all of the data is stored in one place, administrators just need to back up files from one device. 

Application Server: It is a collection of components that a software developer can access through an API specified by the platform. These components are usually run in a similar environment to the webserver(s) for web applications. Their primary responsibility is to assist in the development of interactive pages. 

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Server: FTP uses independent control and data links between the client and the server. FTP users should authenticate themselves using a username and password. 

They can, however, communicate using anonymous names if the server isn't set up to allow it. The username and password must be encrypted using FTP and SSL for transmission protection. 

Database Server: A database server is a computer programme that uses client-server features to provide database services to other computer programme or computers. For database access, some DBMSs (for example, MySQL) depend on the client-server model.

This form of server can be accessed through a "front end" that runs on the user's computer and accepts requests, or a "back end" that handles data processing and storage. 

Domain Name System (DNS) Server: A name server is a computer server that hosts a network service for responding to queries. It can be used to map either an addressing component or a numeric identifier. The server does this to respond to a network service protocol request. 

These DNS servers are responsible for converting human-readable domain and host names into numeric Internet protocol (IP) addresses. DNS also aids in the recognition of an Internet namespace, which is used to define and locate computer systems and services on the web.

To sum up...

Client requirements, the number of clients on a single server, the applications/software clients use, and the amount of traffic a web server can handle caused by clients are all factors that web hosting companies consider when choosing. So, when choosing a web server, consider all of these factors first and then choose one.

To know which web server is best for your application reach out to https://www.fastwebhost.in