| Answers to Frequently Asked Questions |
- What is Web Hosting?
- Do you offer dial-up Internet access?
- Do you support MS Front Page extensions?
- Do you offer web page design services?
- Can I check domain name availability?
- Does Carolinas.net handle domain registration?
- Can I transfer an existing domain to Carolinas.net?
- How long does it take before my domain name is active?
- What is the InterNIC fee for domain registration?
- Does Carolinas.net limit the number of hits I receive a month?
- Do I have my own e-mail address with my hosting account?
- How do I transfer files to my web site?
- Will I have unlimited access to update my pages?
- Can multiple domains point to the same HTML files?
- Can I use my account for commercial purposes?
- Do you accept international orders?
- How long has Carolinas.net been in business?
- What contract and payment terms are available?
- Do you offer technical support?
- How long does it take to set up a new account?
- How do I place an order?
- What do the errorcodes mean?
- What type of encryption algorithm do I use for PGP(tm)?
- Why is there a PHF program in my cgi-bin? Doesn't that make my account insecure?
- What is the Website Administrators Management Tool and The Personal Account Management Tool?.
- How can I tell if my account has been disabled.
| What is Web Hosting? |
Carolinas.net offers web hosting services
which means that you can find a home for your web site on our web servers and establish a
presence on the internet regardless of your needs. We help you register your own domain
name free, which will become your unique address on the World Wide Web. Having your own
domain name does not reveal that you are renting web space, and, since email can be
addressed to your domain (eg. WWW.YOURNAME.COM ) you will not have to announce a new email
address if you change internet access providers. And, with a domain name you can transfer
your web presence at any time and never lose your identity since you can take your
www.yourname.com with you. Carolinas.net offers two hosting
accounts which allows you to start small and scale upward to whatever hosting
solution fits your needs. Our customers range from small businesses to large corporate
clients. Carolinas.net server architecture is the most robust and flexible in the
industry. Customers use their Carolinas.net hosting solutions for e-commerce,
on-line auctions, chat forums, virtual postcards, polls and surveys, live audio and video,
secure conferencing, market research, banner advertisements, shopping carts, email
(virtual post offices), classified ads, databases, search engines, on-line stores and
malls and much more.
| Do you offer Internet access? |
Yes, Carolinas.net offers Internet access. From
the basic 56k unlimited dial-up account to full T1 connectivity, we have a solution that
best fits your needs. Carolinas.net also offers on-site connectivity and configuration
services. We have WINGATEŽ solutions that allow you to connect several PC's to the
Internet through one Internet access account saving time and money. In addition to the
above we offer on-site connectivity and configuration services.
| Do you support MS FrontPage extensions? |
Yes, We will install MS Front Page extensions for all MS Front Page Users. We also offer a FrontPage self help center
| Do you offer web page design services? |
Yes, Carolinas.net offers web page design services. We have professional, experienced designers, developers ,web masters, graphic artist, programmers and technical writers that work as a team, helping turn your ideas into a reality .
| Can I upgrade from a Personal Account to a Business Account or E-commerce account? |
Yes. You can upgrade any time you like with no additional set-up fees. The Business Account
offers unlimited POP3 e-mail accounts (you@yourdomain.com) and a virtual control panel
that allows you to add e-mail, define FTP access, and maintain general account features.
The E-commerce
account has everything you need to develop an E-commerce site. These include:
shopping cart software, shopping cart management software, transaction gateway, and
credit card validation/processing service.
| Can I check domain name availability? |
Yes. You can check domain
availability direct from our web site.
| Does Carolinas.net handle domain registration? |
Carolinas.net will register new domain names with InterNIC for you. InterNIC will
bill you directly for this service. We do not charge for registration and we
register it in YOUR name. If you have an existing domain we will fill out and send
you a modify domain name template to forward to hostmaster@internic.net. When Internic
announces the completion of the transfer, there is a 72 hour propagation period where
visitors could go to either site. At the end of the 72 hours you should contact the
previous host to have them delete the old domain from their records and update their DNS
record. If you use this same provider for your Internet access you will not be able to
access your domain site at Carolinas.net until they update their DNS. During the
propagation period, persons accessing your site will be going to both sites until all are
eventually accessing the new site hosted by Carolinas.net. The process should be seamless.
| Can I transfer an existing domain name to Carolinas.net? |
Yes. Whether you place an order by telephone or via our online order form, be sure to specify that you are requesting a transfer and NOT a new domain. You should keep the service at the present site while waiting for Internic to complete the transfer. We will provide you with a temporary IP address so you can mirror the site on our server. All email and web pages will still be accessed from your current site until propagation is complete. If you experience difficulties getting your domain name modified you can fill out our form at http://www.carolinas.net/contact.html or by email to support@carolinas.net
| How long does it take before my domain name is active? |
Once the InterNIC announces that your domain name has been registered (or transferred,
if applicable), it usually takes about 72-hours before it is active. All internet
providers must update their records (DNS tables) to reflect new site locations. This is
called propagation.
| What is the InterNIC fee for domain registration ? |
The InterNIC charges $70.00 to register a new domain name. This fee covers the first
two years. They currently bill at a rate of $35 per year. The InterNIC will send you an
invoice via email between 3 weeks to six weeks after the domain is registered.
| Does Carolinas.net limit the number of hits I can receive each month? |
No. Our experience has shown that 300 to 500 MB/month is more than enough data transfer
for 90 (+)% of all websites and we use it as a bench mark. Depending on the quantity and
size of your files, 1000MB could support many thousands of hits per week.
| Do I have my own e-mail address with my hosting account? |
Yes, We provide the ability to have POP3 e-mail accounts (yourname@yourdomain.com) with all Business and E-commerce web hosting accounts. You should have your web site administrator, designer or developer configure the accounts for you.
| How do I transfer files to my web site? |
Files must be transferred to the web server via File Transport Protocol (FTP). If you have a PPP internet account and need FTP software, you can download a program for either the PC or Mac from our site. Internet providers such as AOL, CompuServe, and Prodigy may have a built-in FTP interface. An FTP tutorial is available for first time users. Carolinas.net offers unlimited FTP access.
| Will I have unlimited access to update my pages ? |
You have unlimited access via FTP 24-hours a day. As such, you can create and maintain
your web pages on your own computer and upload files to your web site at your convenience.
| Can multiple domains point to the same HTML files ? |
In general, if you have more than one domain account at Carolinas.net we can point each
domain address to the same HTML files. There is a $20.00 setup fee to mirror sites.
| Can I use my account for commercial purposes ? |
Yes, you can use your Business and E-commerce
accounts for commercial purposes. The World Wide Web has become a most efficient and
cost-effective means of making information, products and services available to the users
of the internet community. Carolinas.net Server secure processing is available FREE
using SSL and PGP to provide an environment whereby payment information (such as a credit
card number) or confidential information (such as a custom form) can be transmitted from
web browser to web server in an encrypted mode. Look for the solid key for secure
transaction licensing.
| Do you accept international orders ? |
Yes. We are pleased to have customers around the world. If desired, we can host non-US
domain name extensions.
| How long has Carolinas.net been in business ? |
Under construction for two years, Carolinas.net was launched December of 1998 and is
owned and operated by Carolinas Network Company. Carolinas Network Company owns several
commercial websites and technical companies. Our staff consists of a trained and
professional technical support team, system administrators and network analysts.
| What contract and payment terms are available? |
We bill in monthly, semi-yearly and yearly increments for all accounts and do not require a minimum contract ** beyond the initial set-up and first month fee. We accept MasterCard, Visa, and American Express as well as personal and business checks. Email us if you wish to use wire transfer as a form of payment.
| Do you offer technical support to customers ? |
Yes. We encourage our customers to send email to support@carolinas.net
with questions or concerns about their web site. We are relatively quick to respond to
support email around the clock. If we cannot offer a solution to a concern within a
reasonable time frame, we will invite you to call us or we'll call you directly.
| How long does it take to set up a new account ? |
Orders for web hosting accounts will be configured within 24 hours, and most times will
be done the same day. Once an account is set up an activation notice will be sent to you
via email including a user ID, password, and FTP hostname. You can begin uploading files
to your new web site immediately. Domain account users will be given a temporary URL to
access their site via the web prior to the completion of either domain registration or
transfer.
| How do I place an order ? |
You can place an order
for any web hosting account directly from our web site 24 hours a day or by calling
(704) 672-1600 between the hours of 9 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday EST. If
you have presales questions please call our sales department at 910-672-1600 or email to sales@carolinas.net.
| What do the errorcodes mean? |
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| What type of encryption algorithm do I use for PGP(tm)? |
Carolinas.net supports DSS/Diffie-Hellman encryption. For more information on PGP and other Security issues visit our Security page at: http://carolinas.net/support/security/index.htm
| Why is there a PHF program in my cgi-bin? Doesn't that make my account insecure? |
The original "phf" program was distributed with a number of older webservers. It was supposed to be an example of the "right way" to write a cgi program such that people could not send special characters and break out of your program to run their own programs on your server. Unfortunately, there was a flaw in the code such that a knowledgeable hacker could execute just about any program on your server without your knowledge. Since this program was distributed with these older webservers, and most people did not remove it after it was installed, it became a very popular way for people to try to break into machines.
The "phf" program that is on your server is NOT the same program. Since many wanna-be hackers try to use this exploit, we have written our own version of the phf program that tracks and logs the hackers attempts. The program on your server is nothing more than a simple perl script that forwards the hackers browser to our main server. (You can look at the script for yourself to see that this is so.) This program analyzes the data sent by the attacker, but there is no way that it can be used to break into your account.
On our servers, we log each hit, including the date and time of an attack, and the host
that the attacker was coming from. We periodically compile these logs and forward
complaints to the service providers used by the attackers, and to the proper authorities
as needed. The programs on our servers also analyze the attacker's request and returns bogus
data that looks like the attacker's command has succeeded. (One common attack is to
try and grab the password file from your server. In this case, our program returns a
real-looking password file, that contains a garbage account and password information.) We
are constantly adding new security features to our servers and network and cooperate
regularly with numerous organizations and agencies in an on-going effort to protect your
data. Carolinas.net pursues and prosecutes illegal activities.
| What is the Website Administrators Management Tool and the Personal Account Management Tool? |
The Website Administrator Management Tool and the Personal Account Management Tool are management utilities
provided with Business and E-commerce hosting accounts.
The Website Administrator Management Tool (WAMT) allows
the web site administrator, designer or developer to manage the features and user accounts
associated with the web account. This utility is provided to allow the web site
administrator full control over the functionality of the features included with account.
This tool should only be used by experienced web site administrators, designers and
developers.
The Personal Account Management Tool (PAMT) allows
established user's to manage their E-mail, FTP and POP3 services.
Please contact your account representative for instructions on usage of the
WAMT and PAMT. Carolinas.net assumes no responsibility in use of the WAMT and PAMT and will charge an
hourly rate to repair or replace any website files damaged or deleted as a result of
improper use.
| How can I tell if my account has been disabled |
You will be able to tell you account has been disabled by the Document
Constraints No Data error message when you access your site. It will look like the
following:
in Netscape.
in IE.
If you see ether of the above you will need to contact our accounting department at
(704-672-1600) 9 am to 4 pm EST.
Your account still exists, It has only been disabled for the browsers.