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WEB HOSTING SERVICES OF NIC

NIC is providing Web Hosting Services to the various Indian Government Ministries / Departments / Organizations / Institutions as well as State Government Departments and District Administrations.

1. NIC Web Hosting Infrastructure:

NIC has setup a huge web hosting infrastructure in its state of the art IDC (Internet Data Centre) which includes a large number of performance tuned, hi-end and secured servers connected to a state of art SAN (Storage Area Network). The Data Centre is connected to Internet on a high speed/bandwidth (4 gbps).

Network load balancing and clustering solutions are also implemented on the infrastructure to effectively manage the heavy load on the websites / portals during peakhours and to ensure a high degree of availability and performance.

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2. Domain Name:

There are around 4000 Domain Names already registered in NIC.IN Domain, used by the Web Sites / Portals / Web Applications belonging to various Union / State Government Ministries / Departments / Organizations etc. As the domain name space under NIC.IN is owned by National Informatics Centre (NIC), NIC offers Domain Name Registration under .NIC.IN free of charge as a part of its hosting services.

The Web Hosting Services are also extended on other domains like GOV.IN, ORG.IN, AC.IN, COM, EDU, ORG etc... If the site has to be hosted on any of the above-mentioned Domains, the User Department has to get the Domain Name registration / renewal done through Domain Registrar. However, the NIC officials will extend necessary technical support for the above mentioned task. Once the registration process is over, the site will be hosted on the desired Domain Name. In addition to that the domain name registration for the site will also be done under NIC.IN domain, free of charge as part of hosting services.

For more details, please visit http://webservices.nic.in

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3. Hosting Platform:

Web Hosting services are offered on Linux & Windows Platforms and the servers are powered with the state-of-the-art web technologies such as CGI, Perl, PHP, ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, and Servlet etc.. All popular Databases like MS SQL,Oracle, MySQL & PostgreSQL are also supported.

Windows hosting platform support
	Service	Software	Tech. Support
1.	Web Application	IIS 6.0	ASP, ASP.Net (Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5)
2.	Reporting Service	SQL-Reporting	SQL 2005 Server Reporting
3.	Database	SQL Server	SQL Server 2005
		MS Access	MS Access
Linux hosting platform Support
	Service	Software	Tech. Support
1.	Web Application	Apache (2.0.52 & Tomcat (5.5.9)	PHP (4.3.9), Perl (5.8.0), JSP(1.4.2) (J2SDK1.4.2_4), Servlet 2.4
		Apache (2.2.23) & Tomcat (5.5.9)	PHP (5.1.6), Perl (5.8.8), JSP(1.4.2) (J2SDK1.4.2_4), Servlet 2.4
2.	Database	PostgreSQL	PostgreSQL 7.4
		Oracle*	Oracle 10g
		MySQL	MySQL 4.1

* Only available for already running web applications only not for any fresh distribution.

 

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4. Remote Publishing Facility:

This facility allows you to update and maintain your site at your own convenience from the comfort of your office or any other remote location through VPN (Virtual Private Network) or other secure channels.

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5. Security Audit:

• All Web Sites to be hosted in the NICNET domain have to go through an Application Audit for vulnerabilities in the Web Application as well as its backend Database.

• The audit procedure will take a minimum of one week’s time from the scheduled date of audit, which shall be notified to the user group.

• In cases, where the User department is itself developing the Web Site or getting it developed by third party then,
  the User shall get the Web site audited from any one of the Approved Panel of IT Security Auditors --- http://www.cert-in.org.in/ and provide the Audit-Cleared Certificate from an Auditor, to the NIC Web Coordinator - (Contact Us).

• In cases, where NIC is designing the Web Site audit will be coordinated by NIC. The number of audits depend on the complexity of the application designed.

• On the basis of the audit carried out the Auditor will provide a report to the user group. Rectifications for removal of vulnerabilities as per audit recommendations should be carried out by the user group within two weeks and the site referred for a follow-up audit. Only then will a clearance for the site be provided.

• Later after Clearance is given, if any website is found to be vulnerable after the audit procedure and the stipulated time for removal of vulnerabilities, the Cyber Security Group reserves the right to restrict web access to the same.

• The audit will initially be carried out on the version provided in the Cyber Security Lab or on temporary location provided by the user.

• Audit will not be done for quality of contents and appearance / presentation of the site.

• Code review for purposes of audit may be taken up on a need basis but will not be a general practice.

• Audit of the web pages are not done except in exceptional cases.

  E.g.

  In case, the User Department is itself developing the Web Site OR getting it developed by third party, then, the User shall get the Web Site audited on their own by availing the services of IT security auditors empanelled by the CERT.IN (List available at http://www.cert-in.org.in/) and provide the audit-cleared certificate from an auditor, to the NIC Web Coordinator

• Version of the site contents must be finalized before request is submitted for auditing. It should not happen that a request for audit is submitted and later a part of it is withdrawn mid way as it wastes man time in conducting repeat operations for varied versions of the site.

• In case of any addition of new applications to the site / scripts on HTML pages or modifications in the existing application / environment in the site, the site has to be referred for a re-audit. This does not include changes in the contents of HTML pages or addition of purely static HTML pages.

• The audit may bring about certain changes in the contents of the site or its database, which would be notified to the user group for immediate rectification.

• Backup of database for the production server based web-site should be taken, before requesting for final audit.

• Audit will be performed on the website hosted at the URL mentioned and not on URLs available as links from this website. Request should be explicitly be made for such URLs.

• All External Links in the Web Site are to open in a New Window and
• All External Links (Links going to external Web Sites which are Sites other than .nic.in domain) within the Web Site are to have a Disclaimer given below:-

  Disclaimer:

  “This Web Site has been developed by for (Owner Dept.). Content on this Website is compiled by and maintained by (Owner Dept. Name). This website is hosted by National Informatics Centre.

  Though all efforts have been made to keep the content on this website accurate and up-to-date, the same should not construed as a statement of law or used for any legal purposes. All queries regarding the content of this website may be directed to (the postal as well as email address of the concerned department).”

Prerequisites for Audit :

1. The requesting group must submit a site usage policy stating clearly the services offered by the site, target audience, restricted sections with URLs and the levels of security required for the restricted sections.

2. In case the site is hosted on a Windows server, request for final audit should be accompanied by a hardcopy of its MBSA report. This is in case of the final audit required for the actual production server and not for temporary/ staging servers.

3. Requests for audit should be accompanied with one account detail in each role category for web sites requiring privileged access. These accounts are to be strictly made available for audit purpose in order to test each of the role functionality. These are to be disabled or passwords changed in accordance with the password policy after the purpose is over.

4. The links on the web site submitted for auditing should be carefully examined by the user group submitting the request :

   1. These should not be linked to objectionable sites or non-existent sites.

   2. These should not be any broken links.

   The site should be checked for proper flow before submitting request.

NOTE : Any fallacy noted by any user / group in the functioning of a web application / database in a web site should be immediately informed to the Cyber Security Group.

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6. Value Added Services:

Following value added services are also provided as a part of the NIC’s Hosting services:-

6.1 Email Accounts :

Web based POP E-mail accounts are also offered with all Hosting Plans (Refer Point No. 7 - Web Hosting Charges) on the same domain as of your Web Site. The number of accounts are as per the hosting plans.
For example, 5 accounts with 25 MB, 10 accounts with 200 MB and so on.

This facility is available Only in case of Paid Projects.

6.2 Search Engine :

It helps in facilitating a comprehensive and powerful search facility on your website to help the visitors locate the desired information quickly. This search facility not only allows the visitors to search HTML Documents, but also allows them to search wide variety of documents published on your website such as  PDF, DOC, RTF, PPT, ASP , etc…. 

6.3 WebStat :

It provides access to on-line analysis of the  traffic received at your web site. It not only gives daily / monthly / yearly hit analysis reports of the sites, but also provides information on most popular pages, most often downloaded documents, least popular pages, top referrers / search engines, geographical distribution of visitors etc… and many more reports which helps you in developing effective strategies for your Web Site.

6.4 WebCast :

Streaming Media Services facilitates you to Live WebCast of the important Events, Conferences, Seminars etc… and it also allows you to stream pre recorded audio / video clips as a part of your website.

6.5 Publicity / Enhancing the visibility of the Website :

To increase the popularity and enhance the visibility of your website, it will be announced in the following popular web portals / directories under suitable sections by providing links and by placing banners (for a specific period) 

#  India Image (http://indiaimage.nic.in) :

A gateway to the Indian Government information on the Web, which is extremely popular among netizens and it, also receives 15 million hits every month.

#  GOI Directory (http://goidirectory.nic.in) :

A comprehensive directory providing information about websites of India Government including all its entities such as Ministries, Departments, States / Union, Territories, District Administrations Organizations, Institutions etc…

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7. Other Related Services:

7.1 Tenders Website :

https://tenders.gov.in - A one stop Web Site to get access to all Government Tenders.

You can now update your Tender details to this Web Site and provide a link from your Web Site to this link or your area on this Tenders Web Site. As of now this service is free.

In order to get an account for your Organization / or for any further query, please contact:

The Web Coordinator,
NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTRE,
A - Block, Third Floor, Kendriya Bhavan,
CSEZ P.O., Opp. CSEZ, Kakkanad,
Cochin, Kerala State.
Pin Code: 682 037

 

Phone: 0484-2423769 / 2425088

E-mail: ic-koch(a)nic.in
           Please note: (a) stands for @

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7.2 GOV.IN Domain Name Registration Website :

http://registry.gov.in - For more information, procedures and services related to GOV.IN Domain Name Registration.
The use of GOV.IN Domain is restricted to the constituents of Indian Government at various levels right from Central, State / UT, District & Sub-District.
National Informatics Centre (NIC) is the exclusive Registrar for GOV.IN domain names.

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7.3 NIC Certifying Authority Website :

https://nicca.nic.in - For information, procedures, forms and services related to procuring Digital Signature Certificate - Only for Government Offices or Govt. related Organizations / PSUs.

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7.4 Examination Results Portal Website :

http://results.gov.in - Single Point Source for Results of various Examinations conducted in India, plus lots of useful information.

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8. Terms & Conditions

The following terms & conditions are applicable to all the Shared Hosting Plans:

• User Department owns, updates and maintains the Content.

• The User Department has to update the relevant files / folders and transfer the updated contents to the server using the given Remote Updation Facility.

• Regular Backup facility will be provided.

• The E-mail accounts offered with Hosting Plans will be under the same domain of Web Site and they are Web based POP accounts. (E-mail accounts are provided Only where Web Hosting is Paid)

• The User department can report the errors / problems related to the hosted Web Site in Web Based Support center available at http://webservices.nic.in

• See also Security Audit (Point 5)

• Billing Cycle :
  All the rates are applicable for one financial year.
  New users will be charged pro-rata on monthly basis from the month of commencement of service till the end of that financial year for the first year.
  Second year onwards the billing cycle shall be from financial year to financial year.

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