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Web hosting questions & answers What is WWW & Web Hosting? The World Wide Web is simply a way of publishing information (such as documents) so that it is easily accessible by others connected to the Internet. This is accomplished by placing the information on web servers. This act of publishing any information on the Web by placing it on an adequate Web server connected to the Internet is called "Web Hosting". Web hosting is a service which essentially provides a home for the on-line content or applications you wish to publish. Space is allocated on the server and access is granted to individuals who will develope and maintain the Web site. A web server is a computer connected to the Internet and configured to make the information it stores available to other computers "through the web." Clients use software called a web browser (such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) to view information stored on any web server. What's in a Web Hosting Plan? While hosting companies vary greatly in the options they offer to web developers, a number of standard features can be found in virtually all hosting plans. Web space, e-mail capabilities, access to a CGI-Bin, FTP, Bandwidth and account maintenance via web control panel are the most common features among all reliable web hosts. Web Space Server space is basically the amount of hard drive space made available to the developer for publishing his files on-line. Developers opting for their own server will obviously have more server space than those who select to share space on a server with others. Most developers can estimate their required server space with some simple math. A developer must first estimate the file size for their average web page. The file size of a basic page with limited graphics often runs around 20 kb. Files heavy with graphics can run upwards of 50 kb. To calculate the amount of space a site will need, a developer will multiply the number of pages in the site by the average file size of the site's pages (Kling, 2001). For example, a site with 40 pages of moderately sized pages (30 kb) would require 1.2 MB of server space. Server hard drive space is relatively inexpensive for the hosting company. Developers should not be swayed by offers of hundreds of megabytes of server space for a single account. Bandwidth Bandwidth is a measure of how much data the server serves (McFedries, 1999). It is the lifeblood of the Internet and should be accorded the appropriate consideration (Putting the Focus on Bandwidth, 2001). It’s important to consider how much bandwidth you will need. Suppose a company put a 2500 MB per month limit on your account. Now suppose that your site is exactly 1 MB. To reach your limit, 2500 visitors would have to visit your site and view everything on it. A company's advertising of unlimited bandwidth is misleading according to Burnham (2001). While the allowable bandwidth may seem endless, there is a physical limit to any server and thus a limit to the bandwidth. E-mail Services Another nice option is a number of free POP3 accounts. This means you are given an email address at your domain such as myname@example.com. Hosting sites vary on how they charge for POP3 accounts. They may charge for each POP account, look for free POP offers. CGI-Bin Thesedays, almost all paid hosting services come with your own CGI-Bin to run various scripts. FTP It allows you to upload your files on the web server. Advanced Features Server-side functionality including SSI, JavaScripting, Active Scripting, and PHP capabilities are among the added features Burnham recommends for more advanced sites. User logs and error tracking along with daily site back-ups are also important components of a quality hosting solution. Control Panel Some hosts give a special administrative page to each of their clients. This enables the client to adjust certain attributes and check the status on certain parts of their account without having to contact their host. Upgrading Choices This is important if you plan on your site growing overtime. Hosting sites tend to offer packaged deals that include specific limits. These are nice if you know how much of a particular resources you require for your site. It is important however to see what types of charges a site might add if you exceed your limit on these resources. Price Price is not necessarily a factor on performance, however. You may find a site that charges $2 a month that is just as good if not better than a $20 a month site. This links back to the web hosting industry analysis section. A hosting firm that is just starting out might need to build a client base and if you join at the right time you might obtain an excellent rate. What to look for in a Web Host? To evaluate a web host, the price is not the only important factor, the client will need to take consideration about other characteristics. Host's Connection to the Internet One of the most important features is the quality of host's connection to the Internet. There are a bunch of variations T-1, T-3, OC-3, OC-256, etc. (Fig 5) A company that offers a T1 connection to the Internet can only allow 1.544 Mbps (Megabits per second) a T3 can allow up to 45 Mbps. Then again an OC-256 can allow 13,000 Mbps, giving the ability to transfer much more information at a higher rate of speed before getting bogged down. Internet Connection Type Bandwidth DS1 or T-1 1.544 Mbps DS2 or T-2 6.312 Mbps DS3 or T-3 44.736 Mbps OC-1 51.84 Mbps OC-3 or STM-1 155.52 Mbps OC-12 or STM-4 622.08 Mbps OC-24 1.244 Gbps OC-48 or STM-16 2.488 Gbps OC-192 or STM-64 10 Gbps OC-256 13.271 Gbps Speed Customers that are seriously worried about speeds that a viewer can see their site, need to consider how fast the servers are. Although bandwidth and connections are major factors, server speeds are equally important. A server that is a host to many sites that are being accessed simultaneously may get bogged down. No matter how fast the connection is this can seriously slow down a viewer’s speed to surf through a site. A simple way to test the speed at which a server responds is called "pinging" a site. This will determine how quickly a server can receive and send back a small piece of data through the connection you have to it. Processor speed is also important. Certain sites will make greater demands on the host's CPU and will consequently run slower - and slow down every other site on the server as well (Beginner's Guide, 2000). Streaming video and audio, discussion forums and message boards, online surveys, and high-level animation all require huge amounts of memory and fast access to the main server. Overloaded processors can slow down a site's transmission considerably. Server Software Server software can also affect a site. UNIX and Windows NT are the most common server software environments. Advanced developers should be aware of what applications they will be using and assess which software environment will best suit their needs. Some hosting companies only offer one of the two software options. Security Protecting a site's data from unwanted intrusions is another key consideration for the web developer when selecting a host. The hosting company's security protocols should be outlined. Protection from everyday denial of service attacks and the various hacks and cracks that will be attempted on your server is essential. The hosting company should be responsible for upgrading and maintaining these security measures. "The only thing worse than having no security is thinking you have some" (Finding the Host, 2001). Customer Service Service is another important aspect to consider when shopping for a host. Hosts offer a variety of customer service options. Services offered can be 24-hour toll free number, 24-hour email help, Frequently Asked Questions pages and help forums. The amount of help you might need depends mainly on your experience and problems you encounter from the server. Reliability Checking out the reliability of a service is also very important. Hosts usually have several backup systems in case something goes wrong with the main servers. They also can promise less "down time" by backup power systems such as a diesel generator. What is Virtual Hosting? Virtual reseller hosting offers the appearance of a company's own server but the technical aspects of space sharing. Through virtual hosting, a developer can secure space on a server and have shared access to the server's features. Hosting companies provide this service by maintaining a large server and on that large server they maintain a number of virtual web hosts. The machine examines which "name" it is being called by and then responds appropriately. Thus, visitors to the site enter through the domain name of the developer and therefore cannot recognize that another company's server in fact, hosts the site. Simply stated by Crowder and Crowder (2000), virtual servers are "nothing more than directories on a hard drive. The webmaster can make each one of the directories seem as though it were a fully functional web server". With a virtual web host, you will have your own identity, but you will not be required to maintain the equipment. Virtual hosting packages are the most common on the Internet and offer a professional and well-established look for personal and small business web sites. Financially, the average virtual hosting account runs between $15 and $30 per month. Ample space and bandwidth for small businesses, multiple email accounts, cgi-bin access, and a T3 connection are common account features. Additional fees are often required for more advanced features including database software or SSL (secure server) functionality. What is Colocation Hosting? Colocating the server gives you the greatest flexibility. You get to choose the hardware configuration of the server and the software that goes on it. The hosting company maintains the connection to the Internet and deals with environmental details such as uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), fire controls, and air conditioning. On the other hand, you're responsible for that server's upkeep. Companies that offer colocation say they're moving away from this service and encouraging their customers to rent a dedicated server. This means renting an entire server from the hosting service, but having the hosting company service and maintain it. When you opt for dedicated server colocation with the hosting company, you pay for the physical space that your server takes up. Colocation hosting usually requires a higher startup cost than renting a server from a hosting company, according to figures from Digital Nation. The server itself will cost around $4000 for a low-end model, and $9000 for a midrange server. A half-rack of space at a colocation facility will cost between $500 and $700 to start up and the same amount each month. Finally, you'll have to purchase a switch or a router, which will cost between $1500 and $2000 at the low end. This would result in an initial outlay of at least $7500 -- and it doesn't include the costs of staff time for setup and configuration, or the cost of equipment depreciation, insurance, and the standby equipment. Not all colocation service providers require the same capital outlay, however. Concentric Networks' colocation plan includes connecting to a monitored network, fire suppression, redundant power, and redundant air conditioning. Most companies that offer server colocation service also sell service contracts to maintain the server and its connections. These service contracts will guarantee a certain percentage of uptime per month, and the fee will increase as the guaranteed uptime increases. What is Dedicated Hosting? A dedicated web server hosting involves the leasing of an entire server from a dedicated server host company. The hosting company owns, maintains, and backs up the server while providing all the security, power management, and other aspects of maintaining a data center. The site developer is responsible for all web server software issues. The demand for dedicated hosting arises out of the expansion of the site with web developers often moving to more advanced technologies which require extensive use of system resources and increased bandwidth to serve the technology to a web browser. With this increased need for resources, having an entire server for your site is often the answer. A dedicated web server is also an option for reseller hosting businesses. A dedicated server is the best solution for traffic-heavy businesses who lack the staff, resources, and security to build, install, and maintain an in-house solution. With a dedicated server, leasing saves on network administrator position for a company (Crowder & Crowder, 2001). A dedicated hosting account is usually cheaper overall than an in-house solution, and businesses can reap savings of up to 85% on a per month basis (TopHosts' Guide, 2001). Financially, a dedicated server runs a few hundred dollars per month. Hosting companies often offer packages based on server configuration (space, processor speed, IP addresses, CPanel) and bandwidth allowances. How big is the Web Hosting Industry? The Yankee Group, a leading technology market research firm, projects that by 2003, the market for web hosting services will grow to $14.4B, at a compound annual growth rate of 48%. A Rapidly Growing Market The growth in the popularity, size and use of the Internet has been staggering. It has changed the way people communicate, learn, and most of all do business. Consequently, the need for enhanced web services, like web hosting, has exploded in recent years, and it represents the fastest growing segment of the Internet services market. IDC predicts that the United States market for web hosting will grow from $806 million in 1998 to $18.9 billion in 2003, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 85.4%. IDC also estimates that the international market for web hosting services will grow at a faster rate, from $16.5 million in 1998 to $1.3 billion in 2003, a compound annual growth rate of 138.7%. According to IDC, small businesses, those with less than 100 employees, accounted for 46% of the total web hosting market in 1998 in the U.S., and IDC predicts this percentage will grow to 61% by 2003, at which time small businesses are projected to account for $10.7 billion of the total $18.9 billion U.S. web hosting market. In addition, IDC predicts that the small business segment of the market will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 96% between 1998 and 2003, versus 73% for medium and 78% for the large business segments. According to IDC, at the end of 1998 only 17% of an estimated 7.4 million small businesses in the U.S. had web sites. IDC predicts that by the end of 2003, the number of small businesses in the U.S. will grow to 8.2 million, 62% of which are estimated to have web sites. What is Multiple Domain Hosting? Multiple Domain Hosting is like web hosting business on a shoe-string budget. The first step is to get yourself a multiple domain name hosting account. For example, if you take out an account that allows up to 6 websites (or domains), you can use one of the domains for development of your own site; and, still have 5 domain names to allocate to your clients sites. All you need to do is pay your regular fee to your web host; then, you can charge your clients what ever you like. It is preferable to have full administrative control over your client’s web sites. Make sure that, not only does your web host provide you with a control panel that includes full administrative facilities to easily manage your multiple account, but that your host provides your clients with their own control panel too. In short, hosting multiple domain, is a system where web designers can buy a single "Plan" and sub-divide their storage space into multiple accounts.... one for each website they develop. This significantly decreases the costs to the web designers, putting more money in their pockets when they sell the hosting service to their clients. What is Reseller Hosting? A reseller is a middle-man who sells web space on somebody else's server. Reselling schemes vary widely. They fall into the following categories: (a) The reseller acts as an agent for the web hosting company. The service is advertised by the reseller as being with the actual web hosting company. People buy direct from the web hosting company but the reseller gets a cut if customers mention the reseller's name. (b) The reseller acts as a marketer for the web hosting company. The service is advertised by the reseller as being with the actual web hosting company. People buy the service from the reseller but all further contact they have is direct wih the web hosting company. (c) The reseller appears to be a web hosting company in his own right, handling sales and support but 'rebadges' somebody else's service. A customer buys web space from the reseller who buys web space (at a lower price) from the actual web hosting company. Customers contact the reseller for support. A variant on this scheme is that customers are invoiced by the web hosting company in the reseller's name and the reseller gets a cut. Support will usually be via the reseller in order to keep up the pretence that the reseller is a web hosting company in his own right. (d) The reseller purchases a large chunk of web space and bandwidth from the web hosting company and can then carve that into individual chunks of space/bandwidth for sale to customers. Customers contact the reseller for support. Special Thanks To Web Hosting Q 'n' A For This Article |
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