This section presents information on several different topics:

Personal Accounts

Q. What is a personal account?

A. A personal account is an individual user account, with disk space, webmail access, and shell account access.

Q. Must I use the shell?

A. No. You can access your e-mail via our Webmail interface, and you can place your files in your user area by using FTP, and never have to use a shell.

Q. Suppose I don't want to have a web page. Do I need to have one?

A. No. You can delete the public_html directory entirely, or just set the permissions so the directory and its contents are not world readable.

Q. What features come with my personal account?

A. Please refer to the Hosting page, as the details of the personal accounts are listed there, and that's the best place to get the most accurate information.

Shell Access

Q. What is a shell account?

A. In UNIX and Linux, a shell is similar to the "Command Prompt" in Windows systems, but much more powerful. A shell allows access to a set of commands, including command line based mail programs. Among other things, using a shell allows you to set and control access permissions to the files that you retain in your disk space.

Q. What types of shells do you support?

A. The default shell in Linux is the Bash shell, which is what your account is configured with when you first sign up with NetPRT. Linux also supports all of the standard shells, such as Korn shell, Bourne shell, C shell, along with many others. You can change your shell using the chsh command from the shell command line.

Q. How can I find out all of the different UNIX/Linux commands?

A. The short answer is buy a book and also use the man pages. For each command, you can find out how to use the command by using the "man" command, by typing "man <command-name>". If you aren't sure, or are nervous about using UNIX commands, a book on learning the operating system is always a good idea. Even for an experienced professional, a book detailing the use of the various UNIX commands is an absolute must.

For those of you who prefer classroom instruction, many community colleges, as well as some continuing education classes, offer beginners courses on UNIX. Some schools even offer courses on Linux. While it may seem like a lot of work to take a class to learn UNIX, the classes are structured and you can also get mentoring from the teachers and fellow students.

Other options include taking online classes or even week long intensive training classes from some of the UNIX suppliers or other technology learning companies. While their classes are generally good, they are often more expensive than taking classes from a local school or college.

Q. Do you allow telnet access to my account?

A. No. Telnet is not very secure, and your password would be sent unencrypted over the internet. This is a huge security risk, both to you and to NetPRT. We allow you Secure Shell (SSH) access to your shell account. You can find both commercial and open source versions of SSH, and can use either one. You can find a commercial version of SSH at www.ssh.com, and an open source version of SSH at www.openssh.org. At Powder River Technologies, Inc., we have found that putty, which is available via a link from OpenSSH, works well on Windows 2000. Putty provides both secure shell (SSH) and secure FTP (sftp) in command line packages.

If you have used other packages and would like to share your experience with us, please send an e-mail with your recommendations.

Domain Accounts

Q. What is a domain account?

A. A domain account is one in which we host your website and your domain. For example, if you had an original domain name, such as www.your-domain.com, everytime someone went to access www.your-domain.com, they would be sent to our server to access your content. In addition, virtual e-mail accounts are set up so that someone who sends an e-mail message to user@your-domain.com will have it delivered to our server.

Q. What kind of access do I have to my files with a domain account?

A. You will have FTP, Secure FTP (SFTP) and Secure Shell (SSH) access to your account, plus the account management and webmail screens for your account.

Q. What features come with my domain account?

A. Please refer to the Hosting page, as the details of the domain accounts are listed there, and that's the best place to get the most accurate and up-to-date information.

Q. Do domain e-mail users have access to their account directories?

A. No. Domain e-mail accounts are designed to provide e-mail access only, and the account's disk space is reserved only for mail storage. Domain e-mail accounts do not have personal websites.

Q. What is an e-mail alias and how does it work?

A. An e-mail alias is an way to route an e-mail from one address without a real mailbox to another address that has a real mailbox. This allows you to create generic e-mail addresses, such as sales@yourdomain.com, and have it routed to a specific person or employee.

Q. As a domain owner, can I resell my e-mail accounts?

A. No. Domain e-mail accounts are designated only for accounts related to a domain. If you wish to enter into a reseller arrangement with NetPRT, please contact us so that we can negociate a fair and equitable contract.

Q. What is a backstop mail account?

A. A backstop mail account is a default account that will receive all e-mail sent to your hosted domain which is not sent to a valid user. When NetPRT creates a domain account, it automatically creates the backstop e-mail account. As you add your e-mail accounts, NetPRT automatically creates a valid user account within the appropriate virtual mail domain. In other words, even though the user will be a valid user @ NetPRT, his or her e-mail account will be @ your-domain. e-mail aliases always point to a valid user so that the mail servers can place the mail correctly. Any user address @ your domain which is not a valid user, or an alias that points to that valid user, will end up in the backstop account. So you should check your backstop account regularly. The backstop account is specified in your confirmation e-mail once the domain has been correctly created on our servers.

Q. What is a domain registrar, and how does that work with NetPRT?

A. A domain registrar is a company that manages the registration of domain names and the information promoted throughout the Domain Name System (DNS). The Domain Name System is used to turn requests for a domain name, such as www.netprt.com, into an IP address that an application such as a web browser can use to connect to that server. Any server that has an Internet presence has been registered with a registrar, and that information is then sent down to all of the DNS servers that need that information. The nice part is that all of this work is hidden from the users.

As a prospective domain owner, you must register a domain in order to host your website or mail server. You must check with your choice of registrar to see whether or not your prospective domain is available. Once you've settled on a domain name, you then register your domain name with the registrar of your choice. Next, sign up at NetPRT to have your account configured and activated, using your new domain name. Finally, at your registrar, point your primary and secondary domain name servers to NetPRT's.

As a domain owner, you will already have registered a domain in order to host your website or mail server. If you already have an account with a registrar, sign up at NetPRT to have your account configured and activated, using your domain name. Then at your registrar, point your primary and secondary domain name servers to NetPRT's.

If you are a domain owner, but don't have an account with a registrar, then you can either create an account at a registrar and transfer management of your domain to your account, or you can ask your ISP (NetPRT) to take over management of your domain. There are normally fees associated with transferring a domain, whether you take over management, or your ISP does. Our recommendation is that you retain management of your domain registration so that as your business needs grow or change, you can manage your account as you need.