From: John Beckett 

RobertB  wrote in message
news::
> You mean I would have my own domain and it would point to
> www.mycurrentISP.com/robert? And the process would be transparent to the
> end user? I have already registered a domain name.

It all depends. Geo could be speak about the practice; I can tell you about
the theory.

I would have thought (no idea) that ISPs would use the "host
header" method. The web client sends this request::
 GET http://www.mycurrentISP.com/robert/

to the IP of www.mycurrentISP.com,

The ISP web server then provides the default page that corresponds to the
requested URL (robert).

That procedure will NOT work if the client sends request:
  GET http://www.robert.com

You could use your domain name if the ISP provided a unique IP address for
each client web site, or if you paid them to configure their web server to
recognise the host header you will use.

I know a guy in Sydney who hosts several web sites for various people,
providing a unique IP to each. He leases the servers from some US company,
then he sets up Linux/Apache, and the customer uses ssh or ftp to manage
their site. I imagine there are plenty of services like this that would be
better for you (i.e. I don't think you should use the Sydney guy)..

---One minute later---
I just read Mike's reply where he points out that some DNS services can
return the IP of a web server that will magically redirect the client to
the actual web page. Sounds as if it would work well, provided the service
had reliable servers and network, and wasn't overloaded.

John

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