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Your business needs to host
its Web site somewhere. Should you host it in-house,
or should you find an external Web host company?
We never recommend
that a business host their own Web site in-house. A
business Web site must have a high uptime - over 99%,
and needs to have a large bandwidth pipeline connection
to the Internet backbone. Companies do not have the
IT supervision or the bandwidth to support these needs.
So what does one look for in business
Web hosting? Here are some of the things to look
for:
Size of
Pipeline. The host computer is connected to
the Internet backbone typically by T1 and T3 lines.
A T1 can carry up to 1.5 mbs (megabits per second),
while a T3 can carry 45 mbs. Small ISP hosts sometimes
have ISDN connections to the Internet, or "fractional
T1" connections (part of a T1). Look for T3 if
you can, though a T1 isn't close to its maximum capacity.
The expense of
installing an adequate pipeline to the Internet is the
chief barrier to setting up your own Web server computer
in your office; telephone and other charges are pretty
stiff, unless they can be shared with other businesses.
Another alternative to explore is "co-hosting"
your computer at an ISP's location to take advantage
of his connection to the Internet.
Number
of clients per machine. Ask how many business
clients are assigned to each of the ISP's computers.
(Don't be surprised to find out that many good ISPs
use fast Pentium computers rather than something more
exotic.) You may not learn too much by asking this,
but you do learn if the ISP has any policy limits at
all.
Space.
ISP's usually assign you a certain amount of
space on their computer. 5 MB is plenty of space for
the Web pages and graphics for most business Web sites.
I once jammed nearly 800 files and graphics into 5 MB.
But ask if mail, log files, and system programs are
counted in the 5 MB; these can sometimes take up considerable
space. Web hosts which include mail and log files in
the count commonly offer 15 MB minimum.
CGI-bin
Access or Front Page Extensions. Business accounts
need to be able to reference programs in a cgi-bin directory,
which includes a cgi program which generates the e-mail
message sent out by Web page forms. So long as a good
forms-to-email program is available in the host's main
cgi-bin, that may be all you need. If you or your Web
site developer need to write custom programs, though,
you'll need your own cgi-bin directory. But here's the
problem. Most Web hosting ISP's allow FTP access to
a cgi-bin directory but not Telnet access. This can
significantly slow down programming development time.
If you don't have Telnet access, for example, you won't
be able to compile any programs written in C or C++.
You have to rely on the ISP's technical support to do
that for you -- when he gets around to it. ISP's say
that limiting Telnet access helps them keep out hackers,
which is true. But if it is at the cost of getting your
Web site working, the cost may be too high. Ask: "Do
you allow us Telnet access to a cgi-bin directory?"
Virtual
Hosting. These days nearly every ISP offers
what is called "virtual hosting" or a "virtual
domain." This allows you to have your own domain
name such as http://www.yourcompany.com rather than
use your ISP's domain name with a subdirectory designating
your site, such as http://www.isp.com/yourcompany/.
You definitely want virtual hosting. Sometimes an ISP
will offer something called a "vanity domain"
such as http://yourcompany.isp.com.
Don't bother.
Pay $100 to register a real domain name, and consider
that an investment in marketing your company on the
Web. E-Mail Aliases. Once you have a virtual domain,
ask your ISP how many e-mail addresses you are allowed.
Many ISP's allow you to set up multiple "aliases"
such as sales@yourcompany.com or info@yourcompany.com.
Also ask if different aliases can be forwarded to more
than one e-mail address.
Dependence.
How free are you to choose another Web hosting ISP if
this one doesn't work out? If your Web site developer
provides hosting, what kinds of contracts lock you into
using those services and for how long? So long as your
name is listed as the "Administrative Contact"
with InterNIC, you can transfer your domain to another
ISP, though your previous ISP can slow down the process
unless he cooperates. Make sure your Web site developer
isn't listed as the Administrative Contact or it may
be more difficult to switch to a new developer if the
need arises. You can see who is currently listed by
checking your domain at http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/whois.
Support.
How many hours a day are technical support staff available?
How quickly do they respond? How much help do they provide?
If you need 24-hour technical support -- and larger
companies and high-traffic Web sites do -- then expect
to pay substantially more. People are much more expensive
than machines.
With the help
of our strategic hosting partner, Computer eCommerce
hosts all of its clients' Web sites. Our ultra-fast
internal Ethernet network of high-end Unix and Windows
NT/2000 servers, running Web, FTP, Telnet, SMTP and
POP services, is connected to our private OC-48 peer.
CEC's hosting
service is NOT an ISP- our substantial bandwidth is
100% dedicated to serving our client's Web sites, not
compromised by dial-up access users.
Our integrated
hosting and development services provide the highest
levels of security and uptime, while ensuring that your
web applications are both scalable and cost-effective
to maintain. We have been proving enterprise-quality
managed hosting at wholesale prices since 1998.
Reasons why your
business should choose Computer eCommerce hosting include:
- Outsourcing
your hosting can result in immediate cost saving,
typically ranging from 25% – 90%.
- Outsourcing
allows you to focus on your products and your customers.
- Hosting is
fraught with risks and complications. Unless it is
one of your business's unique skills (or core competencies),
hosting should probably be outsourced.
Email us today
for more information. |
