Access Settings

Please find below our server access settings.

Primary and secondary DNS

DNS stands for 'Domain Name Server' or 'Domain Name System'. Domains are what we call the friendly Internet addresses that we are all so familiar with. A few examples of domain names are clara.net, microsoft.com. A Domain Name Server translates those friendly names into something called an IP Address, which is the numerical equivalent for a particular domain name. There are two Domain Name Servers so that if Primary Domain Name Server is not functioning properly, your computer will be able to use the Secondary server.

POP mail server

POP stands for 'Post Office Protocol' which is a very appropriate name for an E-Mail server. To be more specific, the mail servers we use are called POP3 servers, which just means POP version 3. A POP3 server works much like a real life Post Office. When someone mails you a message, it ends up at the Post Office, or in this case a POP3 Server. The Post Office or Server will then put that message into the correct Post Office Box, or POP Box. The message will then stay there until you go to the Post Office and pick it up, meaning open up a POP Mail program (for example : Outlook Express, Eudora Light, etc) and tell it to download your messages.

SMTP mail gateway

SMTP stands for 'Simple Mail Transfer Protocol'. Unlike POP3, SMTP does not hold or store messages indefinitely. Instead it will queue the message, or just hold it only long enough to successfully send the message to another server. Because the SMTP server does not store the message, it's usually seen as a place that you simply send mail through, like a pipeline through the internet. The SMTP server is the opening to that pipeline, thus why it's called a gateway.

NNTP news server

NNTP stands for 'Network News Transfer Protocol' and is the most commonly used protocol for Usenet Newsgroups. Newsgroups are somewhat like public E-Mail, much like a bulletin board you'd find out in the real world. Most anyone can 'post' a message to a newsgroup for others to read and perhaps reply to. The NNTP Server is the computer to which your computer must connect to access these newsgroups. To get an idea of what newsgroups are like, go to Deja.com.

E-Mail address

E-Mail is Electronic Mail. Just like your mailing address in real life, an E-Mail address is where people send messages to contact you. Unlike your normal address, an E-Mail address does -not- reveal your physical location. Like normal mail, you can contact people who are great distances away (another city, a different state, even another country), but unlike normal mail, you don't pay any kind of per-message postage; it's all free! You can send a quick note to someone or a fully composed document. You can even attach files from your computer, and it's all relatively instant!

Home page

A Home Page is really just some Internet jargon that has a loose definition. Many people say that their Home Page is 'the first page that shows up when I start my web browser.' This can also be called a 'Start Page'. More specifically however, a HomePage is just the first page that you see when you go to a particular web site. For instance, if you went to www.uk.clara.net/ you will see our Home Page.

FTP server

FTP stands for 'File Transfer Protocol' and is the simplest way to exchange files between computers over the Internet. FTP is commonly used to 'Upload' files from your computer to our computer (the FTP Server) to make those files available on the s web. FTP can be used through command line, like the old days of DOS, or though a program called an 'FTP Client' which helps to simplify the process. You can find a good collection of FTP Clients at: www.tucows.com.

IP address, gateway, dynamically allocated

IP stands for 'Internet Protocol'. When you dial into our service and establish an Internet connection, we automatically assign you a unique number called an IP Address. This number can be different each time you connect, so this process of assigning an IP Address is referred to as 'Dynamically allocating.' With dynamic allocation, you do not need to manually enter an IP Address in this field, as every- thing is set automatically for you. Once you've connected to our service, you'll need a pipeline to the rest of the Internet. This path is called the Gateway, and it also has an IP Address. Our Dial-up locations may have different Gateway's with different IP Addresses. For this reason, we also dynamically allocate the Gateway's IP Address for you. If you want or need a static IP address these are avaliable from us by contacting our business Services department on 0845 355 2000.