Who can sign up for the iRepublics.com free web hosting?

The iRepublics.com free web hosting package is available for corporate or business use only. If you are part of a registered business, corporation, organization, or society you can register for a free hosting account. You will be required to submit a copy of your official registration documents to us before your account will be activated.

What does 'web hosting' mean?

All web sites must reside on a host computer, (also called the web server). This host computer is connected to the internet around the clock and allows users to view your web site by simply typing in your web address (domain name).

How does iRepublics.com make money?

The bulk of iRepublics.com's revenue comes from web enablement and consulting services, Internet advertising and interactive marketing solutions. While we do not place banners on client's websites, advertisement banners are displayed on the webmail interface, iRepublics.com's homepages. Other sources of revenue include subscriptions services such as domain name registrations and optional features such as pop-mail accesses.

How much space will be allocated to me for the free web hosting?

You will be allocated 33MB per free hosting account for your web site, plus 10MB per email account (maximum 30 email accounts) for a total of 333MB of disk space. By purchasing your domain name from iRepublics.com or subscribing to our optional SPAM control services, your account shall be upgraded to 800MB web and email space, comprising 200MB of web space and 600MB of email space (30 accounts at 20MB seach).

Will that be enough space for me?

The amount of space required is dependant on the size and complexity of the web site. A site containing large graphics and numerous pages will take up more space than a simple text-only page.

An average page including graphics and 1 or 2 photos takes up about 30-60KB (.03 - .06MB). Thus, the 33MB allocated to you should allow your site to contain several hundred pages of content. An upgraded account of 200MB space shall be able to contain thousands of web pages.

Should you require more than the allocated space, you can purchase additional space at the cost of USD 47.62 (RM150.0) per year for each additional 200MB.

What are hits and transfers?

Every time a user views your web site, it is considered one hit. Transfer refers to the amount of data transfered to the user's computer.

Is there a limit to the amount of hits and transfers?

iRepublics.com will not limit the amount of hits and transfers for your site.

What do I have to pay for the hosting services?

There is no charge for the free web hosting from iRepublics.com. Additionally, you are not required to display any banner-ads on your web site.

Are there any other charges?

You are required to own a domain name to sign up for the free hosting. If you do not currently own a domain name, you will be able to select one during the free hosting registration process. You can choose to register a domain name with either INTERNIC ( for .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info and .us domain names) or with MYNIC (for .com.my, .net.my, .org.my, etc...) Charges for MYNIC are RM100.00 per year; INTERNIC fees are US$26.00 per year.

If you already own a domain name, iRepublics.com requires the domain registrar to be transferred to and the domain name be renewed for a further one year with iRepublics.com in order to qualify for our hosting services.

If your previous registrar were to disallow any transfer for whatever reason, the fee for the additional year of renewal with iRepublics.com remains payable and will be credited to a pre-paid account. In that situation, your hosting account shall be activated, while pending for a domain name release by your previous registrar and a domain expiry date extension by iRepublics.com

What techniques are iRepublics.com using to control SPAM?

SPAM control is now an optional and chargeable service by iRepublics.com and starts from only USD1.59 (RM5) per user per month. The many features that we have deployed in the fight against incoming spam include Premium Anti-Spam from Mail-Filters.com, connection filterings using real-time Blackhole Lists (RBL), reverse DNS lookup and Kill lists, and content filterings using Bayesian statistical filters, phrase filtering searches, trusted IP addresses & white lists and advanced HTML filtering.

PREMIUM ANTI-SPAM FILTER SYSTEM

Spam filters have gotten very good at catching spam, but they also sometimes catch important legitimate email, and missing a critical message can be worse than getting a thousand junk messages. The Premium Anti-Spam from Mail-Filters.com not only stops 95% of spam with just one click, but also generates only one false positive (real email tagged as spam) per million messages.

The Premium Anti-Spam Filter system works by creating and updating "Bullet Signatures" every ten minutes so you always have the latest and freshest anti-spam protection. These Bullet Signatures are targeted signature files created by proprietary technology and reviewed by multi-lingual human editors. Mail-Filters' Premium Anti-Spam can detect spam in 30 different languages.

Mail-Filters' STAR (Spammer Tricks Analysis and Response) Engine is next-generation spam filtering technology that seeks out the tricks that spammers use to identify the spam. The STAR Engine catches such spammer tricks as falsified headers and "snowflaking" where a spammer makes small changes to each message to make them appear as unique.

CONNECTION FILTERING

• Real-time Blackhole Lists (RBL) lists third party services that include domain names and IP addresses of known spammers.
  
• Perform Reverse DNS Lookup verifies the DNS record for the sending servers IP addresses.
  
• Kill Lists (block by domain or email address)

CONTENT FILTERING

• Bayesian statistical filters use spam's characteristics against itself. Words are analyzed based on how frequently they appear in good email versus bad email. Then the message is assigned a probability of being spam.
  
• Phrase Filtering searches for phrases in the body of the messages.
  
• Trusted IP Addresses & White Lists of trusted e-mail or IP addresses that will allow messages through, minimizing false positives.
  
• Advanced HTML Filtering

Our terms of services specifically state our zero tolerance towards unsolicited commercial emails (UCE) or SPAM. If any of our hosting members were to be found sending out UCE or SPAM, the domain name and email accounts shall be terminated immediately without notice.

Does iRepublics.com design pages as well?

Yes, iRepublics.com offers web design and development services. Please refer to our web development section for additional information.

What is the difference between MYNIC and INTERNIC?

Domain names registered with MYNIC (the Malaysian domain registration administrator) will end with .MY (i.e. contact.com.my). Only Malaysian-based organizations registered with ROC, ROS, MOE, or ROB are eligable to apply for a domain name my MYNIC.

Domain names registered with INTERNIC (the international domain registration administrator) will end with .com, .net, or .org (i.e. irepublics.com). INTERNIC registration is open to all individuals, businesses, and organizations.

How will I know if my choice of domain name is available?

You can use our domain name search located in our web resources section to see if your choice of domain name is still available.

Please keep in mind that domain name availablity can change quickly, as someone else could register the name at any time.

What are the valid characters for my domain name?

Your domain name may contain up to a maximum of 67 alphanumeric characters (A-Z and 0-9) each including the .com or .com.my extension. You may also use hyphens (-) in your domain name, but they cannot be at the beginning or end of the domain name. Spaces and special characters are not allowed.

We do not recommend very long web addresses, as they are difficult to remember and are more prone to typing errors.

What is the difference between .com, .net, .org, etc?

INTERNIC places no restrictions on the registration of .com, .net, and .org domain names. Domain names ending with a .com were initially intended for commercial web sites, but the popularity of .com has caused it to be used by all types of web sites. .net domain names imply a network provider, while .org implies an organization.

How soon will my domain name be activated?

All domain name registrations are usually completed within 1 or 2 business days.

Can I modify my mail exchange (MX) record to point to another provider but retain web hosting with iRepublics.com?

No, we cannot point your MX record to another server while providing free web hosting.

Can I access my mails using E-mail Clients (e.g. MS Outlook) via POP?

Pop-mail access is not available under the free hosting plan. The fee for pop-mail services is only USD 158.73 (RM500) per domain per year. You may subscribe for pop-mail services by logging into our member’s area.

What is the difference between POP3 email and web email?

The main difference lies in the method of mail storage. POP3 email will download directly into your hard disk, whereas web email will be stored in the web host's server.

As a comparison, POP3 email is similar to Jaring and TM.net email, while web email is similar to Hotmail.

What are the advantages of web email?

Web email offers several advantages over POP3 email:

• Web email is stored in the host's server thus freeing storage space in your computer.
  
• Web email allows the freedom to delete emails you do not want to read, for example junk email. For POP3 email, all email is automatically downloaded into your hard disk.
  
• You can access your web email from anywhere in the world via any web browser. To access POP3 you first have to configure your browser at the point of access.

What if I need more email accounts?

No problem. You may purchase an additional 30 email accounts for only US$26.00 per year.

Do you provide Microsoft Frontpage Extension?

No, the hosting plan do not provide MS Frontpage Extension. However, you can still use MS Frontpage to create your HTML pages and subsequently upload them using FTP.

Do you provide ASP scripting support on your servers?

No. Free pre-defined CGI scripts such as feedback/enquiry form and integrated collaboration tools are available upon your account activation.

What are your Terms of Services?

You’ll be presented with and have to agree to our terms of services agreement upon signing up for free web hosting with iRepublics.com. A copy of our terms of services agreement can be viewed at the following url.

Why do you need to have a business registration form?

iRepublics only offer free web hosting to valid registered businesses / organizations / government entities only. You will need to furnish us with your company/organization/business registration form/document/ as proof of your existence to prevent abuse of our services.