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FAQ's - Technical Questions
Still have questions? Feel free to Contact Us. We are happy to answer any of your questions.
What Operating Systems does NationalNet support?
Linux & Windows
What is the difference between Windows Server and UNIX/Linux?
Microsoft Windows Server and UNIX (of which there are many varieties, or flavors, including Linux, AIX, Solaris and more) are computer operating systems. Both Windows Server and quality UNIX based implementations are enterprise application servers that can be used for a variety of critical purposes, including, but not limited to, Web, email, and database hosting. Windows Server was developed by Microsoft and is, in many ways, the flagship of their software solutions.
UNIX/Linux is often referred to as an "open system", which means that its source code is publicly available. This has both its advantages and disadvantages. While it has allowed many thousands of developers from all over the world working for different companies to contribute to its development, it is also more complex and less coordinated.
Both of these operating systems make excellent platforms for mission-critical Web hosting, and they function well. There are some differences in the two systems:
- Windows Server supports most Microsoft products including Microsoft FrontPage - a popular Web authoring tool.
- Windows Server supports Active Server Pages (ASP) - a popular programming that allows you to build dynamically database-driven web pages (connecting to Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL server).
- The majority of existing CGI programs (generally Perl scripts) that are available on the Internet have been developed on UNIX platforms and hence tend to install and operate much more smoothly under UNIX. Many Perl Scripts are FREE!
The bottom line is that for many web sites, the operating system on which the Web server is housed is largely inconsequential. The real question is, "Are you using a specific web site or database technology that is more appropriately hosted on Windows Server instead of UNIX (or vice versa)?" If your web site does not require special features offered by UNIX or Windows Server, you can choose either Windows Server or UNIX to serve your web site. It doesn't matter!
What Operating System comes standard on your Dedicated Servers?
Debian Linux is installed as the default Operating System. If you would like Windows installed on your Server, you will have to supply the Windows Server Operating System License or we can provide you a license for an additional charge.
What services do you provide with the purchase of a Dedicated Server Package?
Full Managed CARE - NO Control Panel required
Network Operations Center with 24/7/365 Technical Support
MyNatNet Customer Portal
Tier 1 Class Network Operations & Data Center
Multi-Homed Network
Proprietary Automated Monitoring System
Weekly Data Backups & Restore Management
Server & Device Administration
Software Administration
Security Management
Unlimited domains
One (1) free domain registration from www.natnames.com
Real-time bandwidth utilization stats
DNS service and support
POP email boxes
Email aliases
Shell/Full FTP access
MYSql
CGI
PHP
Do you offer a Control Panel with the Dedicated Servers?
No. Because we provide complete management services, we do all the work for you.
Can I upgrade the hardware and/or software of my Dedicated Server?
Yes. Upgrades are available for your server including additional storage capacity and RAM. Typically, our Network Operations will actually inform you when you need to upgrade.
Will NationalNet upload my website to my Dedicated Server?
NationalNet will assist you in moving from another host to your new server here. Once you are live on your new NationalNet server you will need to upload any future website files to your server. If you have questions about uploading files, you can contact NationalNet's Technical Support Staff.
Who is responsible for handling hardware components if they fail?
NationalNet is responsible for all of your server hardware. In the event of malfunction or failure, we will replace them at no cost to you.
How are backups handled?
NationalNet provide weekly Data Backup Services at no charge. We offer incremental daily backups as an optional service for an additional fee.
How many IP addresses will I receive?
We furnish IP addresses on an "as-needed" basis. You can request more IP Addresses as long as all of your existing IP Addresses are in use. All additional IP Address requests must be justified.
How do I set up a .htaccess to prevent hotlinking?
To create a .htaccess file (that's DOT htaccess), use your favorite text editor and create the file, putting the following in it:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteOptions inherit
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://.*YOURDOMAIN.COM/.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .*[Jj][Pp][Gg]$|.*[Gg][Ii][Ff]$ http://www.YOURDOMAIN.COM
Be sure to replace YOURDOMAIN.COM with your actual domain name, and replace XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX with the IP address of your domain name. Also, the last line can be any URL you wish to use.
Once you have created this .htaccess file, upload it to your main domain folder. If other sites link directly to your images, the only thing that will show up will be a broken image icon. If a surfer tries to right click on that image to view it, they will be brought to your domain.
How do I set up a .htaccess for 401 traffic?
Here is what you do to redirect all 401 web server errors to the URL of your choice (a 401 error is a "forbidden" error). NOTE: You do NOT need to use a 401 unless you have a password protected area on your site.
Create a .htaccess file (that's DOT htaccess) using your favorite text editor and put the following in it:
ErrorDocument 401 [destination]
Replace [destination] with the actual URL of where you want to send all of your 404 traffic.
Here is an example .htaccess file:
ErrorDocument 401 /index.html
Note: YOU CANNOT USE A FULL URL IN A 401 redirect...it MUST be a local page. In other words, the following will NOT work:
ErrorDocument 401 http://domain.com/index.html
Upload this file to your domain folder.
Note: A single .htaccess in your domain folder will protect ALL folders in that domain folder. There is no need to place one in each folder under a domain folder.
How do I set up a .htaccess for 404 traffic?
Here is what you do to redirect all 404 web server errors to the URL of your choice (a 404 error is a "page not found" error).
Create a .htaccess file (that's DOT htaccess) using your favorite text editor and put the following in it:
ErrorDocument 404 [destination] Replace [destination] with the actual URL of where you want to send all of your 404 traffic.
Here is an example .htaccess file:
ErrorDocument 404 http://domain.com/index.html
Upload this file to your domain folder.
Note: A single .htaccess in your domain folder will protect ALL folders in that domain folder. There is no need to place one in each folder under a domain folder.
How do I use SSI (Server Side Includes)?
There are two ways to use SSI (Server Side Includes):
- Rename the .html files to .shtml. Any files that end in .shtml are automatically checked by the webserver to see if they contain SSI code that should be run.
- Create a .htaccess file (that's dot htaccess) using your favorite text editor (not Word), or use an existing .htaccess file already on your server, and add the following two lines:
AddType text/x-server-parsed-html .html AddType text/x-server-parsed-html .htm
If this .htaccess file is in your root domain directory, than it will cover every page in that particular domain.
Note: Doing the second one will cause EVERY file in your domain to be checked by the webserver for possible SSI code, which may cause the pages to load more slowly, although the speed decrease may not be noticible.
How do I find the IP addresses of my domains?
You can find out the IP address of any of your domain names by bringing up a DOS Command window and typing the following:
ping YOURDOMAIN.COM
The numbers that you will see next to your domain name will be the IP address. It will look something like this:
Pinging nationalnet.com [66.115.135.38] with 32 bytes of data:
In this example, 66.115.135.38 will be the IP address.
Where is the path to PERL, sendmail, etc and where is my cgi-bin directory?
We do not create a cgi-bin directory for you by default, however, you can create this yourself using your favorite FTP program. The servers are also set up so that any script that ends with the extensions of .cgi or .pl will run no matter where they are located on your site. A special cgi-bin directory is not required.
Here is some information you will require for different CGI scripts:
- The path to PERL is - /usr/bin/perl
- The path to sendmail is /usr/sbin/sendmail
- The path to the "date" command is /bin/date
We do not place any limitations on the types of PERL scripts that you run, as long as they do not affect the performance of the server, or do things that are illegal.
If you need any special libraries, please let us know. Also please include a description of what you are doing that requires special libraries.
What is the difference between CGI and CGI-BIN?
CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface. CGI is not a programming language, it defines how data is passed between software and databases to the web page. CGI programs can be written using a variety of languages, such as Perl, C, PHP and others.
CGI-Bin is the directory where executable files are located.
What is PHP?
It's like ASP but for Unix. i.e., PHP is a server-side scripting language (runs on the server instead of the user's computer) that is used primarily on Unix Web servers to create dynamic Web pages. PHP script is written into HTML web pages and when the server reads the page it runs the script which is often used to generate content and then sends it on to the end user. Web pages that include PHP script are usually given a file suffix of ".php" ".php3," or ".phtml". You can learn more about it at http://www.php.net.
