Domains & Hosting

What is a Domain?

Put simply this is the name of your website and it’s the online ‘address’ of your site. The domain name is the one unique link to your identity online, so it’s very important before your launch your new site that you’ve had a good think about what to call it, ie what’s my domain? In our opinion it’s best to try keep a domain short but also to have enough in there to describe what you do.

www.barrydesign.ie
The structure of the domain is made up of two main parts: the ‘barrydesign’ part is called the Second Level Domain, or SDL and the ‘.ie’ part is called the Top Level domain, or TDL.

What are TLDs?

Globally there may be hundreds of different TDLs to choose from but we are most familiar with .ie, .co.uk, .com, .net etc:

Why choose .ie ?

Each country has it’s own TDL and this is the Irish version so if your business is Irish based it’s important to have this domain You can have as many domains as you wish – but don’t forget they do carry an annual cost (albeit small) to own it. The .ie helps identify you as a local business which is very important to many online customers who like to know they’re dealing with a company that have a nearby terrestrial base.

To acquire your .ie domain simply email us the domain you would like, we will check that it’s not already taken and if it’s available we will then need you to send us your company registration number. If you haven’t registered your company name yet or maybe you are an individual creating a site for a hobby etc then don’t worry, we can still register your domain, just contact us for details.

Here are some more TDLs you’ll be familiar with:

.com Generally used for commercial businesses and no proof is required to buy it but difficult to find one that’s not already taken!
.co.uk Your business may have connections with the UK market and so it would be a good idea to have a UK online identity
.net Used by network companies
.org Used by not-for-profit organisations
.mobi For mobile device optimized sites

As soon as you have your domain and have bought some basic hosting you’re ready to set up your own email accounts which will give you a more professional look. So instead of having jimba0053@yahoo.ie you can have as many ‘proper’ email addresses as you like, such as: jim@barrydesign.ie or info@barrydesign.ie

Contact us today to help you decide on the best domain for your business and let’s get you started online.

What is Hosting?

Hosting is a term used to describe the space where your site, all it’s data files (text, Images etc) and components are stored. After your site is built and for it to be published live on the web it needs to be stored on a server. At Barry Design we will provide you with the appropriate hosting required for your site. The size of the hosting spec you’ll need depends on the size and spec of your site. For example a standard ‘brochure’ site will need a smaller hosting package than an E-commerce (Shop-on-line) site.

The more complex sites where you might have a large database of products in a catalogue, for example, will require a more comprehensive hosting package to enable the ongoing development of the site across platforms such as Java, PHP, Joomla, ASP.NET etc. A Shop-on-line site would also require an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) which provides the appropriate encryption necessary when making payments online.

Most of the smaller sites built by us are hosted on a shared server where your website is stored along with other company’s websites on the same server. This is common practice and it keeps the cost of hosting to a minimum because it’s a shared cost. Again with larger sites it’s different – they may need their own VPS (Virtual Private Server) or a Dedicated Server to have greater control and higher levels of security. At Barry Design we can advise you what best suits your online business model.

Secure Hosting

We create a complete snapshot of all your data files, emails and databases every 4 hours and 4 weekly backups are also kept. In addition we use an independent Cloud Back-up service with a major international provider who makes a full back up of all our client’s sites every day. So you can be assured that your website, with all it’s files and data, is very secure.

Call us now to make an appointment 021 4354598
– you are welcome to visit us or we can call out to you. For full details and a map to our premises in Little Island visit our contact page.