Knight Domains Vs Shared Hosting
Over the last several years there have been many pockets of Domain of One’s Own (DoOO) pilot programs across the College. These pilot projects usually purchased shared hosting for the pilot members (students and faculty) by providing them with coupon codes.
Knight Domains is our next evolution of DoOO at the college but how is it different and what should you do if you were provided with a coupon code and it is coming up for renewal?
What does Knight Domains offer over purchasing shared hosting?
Well, for one thing it is free for St. Norbert students, staff, and faculty! Additionally, it offers all of the same digital technology capabilities as purchasing shared hosting space from a hosting partner – that means that it affords all the same capabilities that build those digital literacies AND it is real-world digital technology.
How is it different from purchasing shared hosting?
Knight Domains offers 1GB of web server space and a subdomain of knight.domains (yourname.knight.domains). Most of the shared hosting accounts that were purchased as part of pilot programs provided 2GB of web server space and a top level domain registration. Those who choose to purchase a top level domain (yourname.com: or .org, or .info, etc. – typically starting at about $15per year) may point it to their Knight Domains space but Knight Domains does not include a free top level domain name. Users also agree to the College’s Computer and Networking Appropriate Use Policy as they do any time they use the College’s computing resources.
I was part of a pilot and was given a coupon code last year. What do I do now?
If you established a site on a domain as part of a pilot project through a coupon code you have a few decisions to make. Those coupon codes were good for one year of hosting and domain registration and they will come due for renewal at some point at which you can:
Let it expire
If you were given a coupon code to develop a site last year that is your site and you can choose to do with it what you would like – including just letting it expire. Reclaim Hosting will send you several reminders that your account is about to expire and if you do not respond to them … well it will; meaning that your domain name will come up for sale on the public market and Reclaim will reappropriate your storage on the server. Your site may be gone but the digital skills that you gained in creating it are still valuable and you can use those to create another site with any number of hosting partners.
Renew it
Again, if you were given a coupon code last year that is your site and you can choose to do with it what you please. If you have build a site that you love, have a domain name that is just stellar, and you can’t get enough of that awesome Reclaim Hosting service then you can continue your relationship with Reclaim Hosting starting at $30 per year. Reclaim is an amazing partner with awesome support and if you would like to continue with them we highly recommend it.
Move it to Knight Domains
Before we even start talking about moving your content to Knight Domains remember that Knight Domains is only available to those who are active students, staff, or faculty of the college – so if you are getting ready to graduate it will not be an option after graduation.
The content on your shared hosting space can be copied and moved over to our free space at Knight Domains. If you need help with this make an appointment at the Tech Bar. This will take care of your content but your domain name is another matter.
Keeping your domain name – small fee
Right now the Knight Domains project is not paying for domain name registration. So, if you want to keep your domain name you will need to pay for it yourself. What Knight Domains can do is accept that root domain and point it to your content. You can host your content at Knight Domains, pay for your own domain name and point it to the content hosted on Knight Domains. And of course if you need help with any of this we can help you at the Tech Bar.
Letting your domain name go but keeping your content – free
If you love your content but you really don’t care about your domain name you can let it expire with your hosting space (see Let it Expire above) and before it does so make a back-up of the content, claim a subdomain name on Knight Domains and move your content over to Knight Domains. Be sure that your content does not exceed the 1GB limit of Knight Domains. Again, make an appointment with the Tech Bar if you need help and for this one be especially careful of the renewal date of your account with Reclaim Hosting.
