[Courses] [Domains] Why own a domain name?

Mary mary-linuxchix at puzzling.org
Sat Jun 12 13:30:14 EST 2004


On Sat, Jun 12, 2004, Sue Stones wrote:
> Quoting Mary:
> > ISPs generally set a limit on the number of email addresses and web
> > spaces you can associate with a given account -- that limit is often
> > equal to 1, especially for webspaces. Domain name hosts often will
> > too, but you can increase this limit arbitrarily by switching hosts.
> 
> I have come across places where the email addresses include <anything>
> @example.com.au   which is/seems contrary to your statement that
> domain name hosts will often limit the number of email addresses to 1.

I didn't state that "domain name hosts will often limit the number of
email addresses to 1." I said "*ISPs* generally set a limit ..."

When I say ISPs in this course, I mean home ISPs (dialup or broadband),
who give you username at example.net as an email address. 

I suppose technically a domain hosting provider is also an ISP, but in
this course I'm maintaining a distinction:

 ISPs: the people who provide internet connectivity to your home or
 office

 Domain hosts: the people who host your domain name

Not all ISPs are limited to 1 email address either (mine would give me
up to 10) but many are. Domain hosts seldom have this restriction.

> Is allowing <anything> @example.com.au an unusual thing, is it
> something that one would typically pay extra for, or is it just that
> they put it all into one mailbox?

The most common scenarios for domain hosts seem to be:

 - limited (but relatively high) number of @example.com email addresses.
 - unlimited @example.com email addresses but limited (somewhere between
   1 and 20) mailboxes
 - unlimited @example.com email addresses and mailboxes, but limited
   diskspace

Typically those three options will each vary in price and quite commonly
overlap each other. In Australia it's common to have limited addresses
or at least mailboxes, in the US it's less common because their cheap
bandwdth forces the domain hosts to compete harder for the bottom of the
market.

-Mary


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