Timothy
Parker Consulting Incorporated
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Web Hosting The last series of columns looked at setting up your own server and creating your own link to the Internet. An alternative is to employ Web hosting services, wherein you contract with an ISP or similar service to place all your Web pages on their server, and they manage your site for you. You usually have to design your own Web pages and upload them yourself, as well as check your own e-mail regularly, but otherwise you are freed of the maintenance routines, as well as the cost of establishing your server and telephone line to the Internet. The primary disadvantage of Web hosting is that you are at the mercy of someone else's system. You site is only as available as their server. Still, for most well-known ISPs, this isn't an issue. The most-often cited advantage of Web hosting is the lower cost. You don't need to pay for the initial server and monthly telephone connection (which for fast lines can become expensive). Instead, a low monthly fee to the ISP gives you a set limit of disk space on their server, usually a set limit on the amount of data transferred between your Web pages and the customers, and mailbox limits. Exceed the size limits on any of these items, and you run up extra bills. Web hosting can range dramatically in price depending on whether you go with small or large ISPs. Large companies like UUNET, for example, charge upwards of $500 a month for Web hosting. Local ISPs can charge as little as $25 a month! Shop around and compare features, as well as comparing speed to the ISP from the Internet and their reliability. Saving a few bucks on a Web hosting service that runs slowly or is out of service regularly is a sure way of alienating your customers. What's involved in Web hosting? In most cases after you select the ISP, you sign a contract with them that stipulates a monthly rate you will pay in exchange for limits on space and traffic to your site. Sometimes the hosting ISP offers additional services such as corporate e-mail boxes and domain registration for you: consider all these factors as they can help you save money and time in the long run. Most Web hosting companies require contracts of a year or two minimum, so you can't just try the Web experience for a couple of months and then back out if you're not getting anyway. (This is a bad idea anyway, as most Web sites take at least six months to build up a regular traffic pattern.) Find out how you get information to the Web server. Some hosting companies give you a special account that lets you log into their server and place updates to your Web pages on-line right away. Other companies insist you e-mail or FTP changes to them, and they post them whenever they get around to it. Since you will update your site regularly, you want to be able to change content easily. What happens if you need more space? A few Web pages may grow into dozens; are they additional costs or procedures you need to follow? How do you get your e-mail from the hosting service? What about sending replies? Check your Web host contracts carefully; the industry is full of stories of customers underestimating their requirements and then getting socked with huge extra charges. Also insist on performance from your host service, including a minimum down-time per month (any service that is down more than 1% of the time should be avoided) and a minimum connection speed from the Internet. Also add in performance of the server itself. Having a T4 connection from the ISP to the Internet doesn't help you if your Web server host is an old 80386 fully loaded with Web pages. Insist on references to other customers who web host from your prospective service provider. Check them out, as well, to make sure they are happy customers. How well does the service respond to complaints or concerns? Is there technical support? Is someone available most of the time, or is an answering machine your only contact with the service? Visit a few of the sites that are hosted by the ISP you are considering and carefully note the response time of different requests. Since your pages are likely to get the same response, use this as a good judge of whether the pages take too long to load or are served up quickly. Bear in mind most people use 38.8kbps modems now, so delays for Web page loading should be minimal. All this may sound daunting, but Web hosting is a popular and painless solution for some companies. They avoid the hassles of managing the server and can easily update their Web pages. Some sites even offer you free Web hosting, in exchange for the right to put advertising on your home pages. While these may be fine for some individuals, it's a bad idea to allow anyone's ad other than yours on your Web home page. If you do decide to use a Web hosting service, you may be able to have the company design your Web pages for you. This often costs a fair bit, and is usually a waste of money because designing Web pages is quite simple. And that's where we'll start next column, designing simple Web pages. |
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