Let’s face it–  the internet is a big, open, and sometimes scary place.  With all of it’s knowledge and  information sharing potential comes the threat of intellectual property loss, cyberattacks, and widespread security risks.  Still,  we rely on internet use every day for news, work and information of all sorts.  The rise of citizen and social media has created an open window to the state of the world we live in– Twitter has become our daily newspaper and blogs are the new memo pads.   Which is why (given the apparent risks involved) we can’t imagine completing many every day activities without it.

How would you feel if an organization had the power or authority to take control over or shut down this information for public safety?  What if they created a screen to protect us from explicit content like a parental control on cable tv?  Certain domains would be off limits like PG-13 or R ratings, or worse, the TV shuts off completely.  Would you begin to question the veracity or truth behind the internet?  Or wonder if our “open” web was starting to close?

These are questions many people are asking themselves as the recent “kill switch” bill works through US legislation.  The bill would essentially provide our government the authority to shut down the internet in times of crisis or attack.   It’s an interesting debate that has been brought up this year and continues to make headlines as new officials are voted into government this week.

Should we give up our web surfing freedom for protection from cyber attack?   What are your thoughts on issue of cyber security legislation?

Regardless if you have a dynamic or static IP address, No-IP DNS services ensure you reach your destination on-time, every-time. From basic website, blog or FTP hosting to remote device or PC access, the services are simple to use and difficult to ignore.

How do you benefit from using No-IP DNS services?

• Ease of telecommuting with remote access to PC
• Reliable hosting for my website, FTP site or blog
• Increased connectivity to devices (i.e. game servers, security cameras, handhelds)

Please take the survey or share your comments below.

A question we’re often asked by our customers is how does DDNS work?

Most people have dynamic IP addresses, which makes it difficult to access their network, website, or every-day devices (such as a home file server,  home automation system, or security camera).  To solve this issue, a DDNS service (Dynamic Domain Name Service) can supply a continually updated address, allowing the user to type in a constant, static, easy-to-remember name that ensures they will be connected.

What is a Domain Name Service?  DNS is like a white pages directory for the Internet. You supply a name, it supplies a number. The name, in this case, is specifically a hostname and the number is an IP address.

So how does it work?  Here’s an example:

John has a computer with a dynamic IP address running a webserver, and his friend Jane wants to see his web page.

1) John tells Jane that the hostname of his computer is john.ddns.net. Jane types http://john.ddns.net into her browser.

2) Her computer then contacts her ISPs DNS server to get the number for john.ddns.net.

3) Her ISP’s DNS server asks No-IP for the address of john.ddns.net.

4) She receives the number and connects to John’s web page.

5) To be sure Jane got the right number, John has an update client provided by No-IP running on his computer. This update client informs No-IP.com when his IP address changes so that Jane will get the right number. It assures that John’s often changing Internet address, his IP address, can always be found by Jane when she uses john.ddns.net. as the hostname.