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Web Design, Hosting and Related Services

There are many things to consider in finding the right web hosting service. They are discussed below. Scattered through the text are many links to web hosting services. Which one is right for your company depends on your needs.

Type of Operating System
This is the biggest division between web hosting services. There are two choices:

• A UNIX/Linux server. This is usually the least expensive. This choice will be running an Apache web server.
• A Windows 2003 server. This choice will be running an IIS web server.

Development Language
Each of the above servers supports different development languages. You may wish to pick the language and then pick the operating system for the server. (If your website does not support a database or you don't plan to do server-side development, then this may not be important to you.) While there are other development languages for the web, the most used choices are shown below:

1. ASP - Windows 2003 server
2. ASP.NET - Windows 2003 server
3. PHP - UNIX/Linux server
4. JSP - UNIX/Linux server

Built-In Components
This is more of a question on the Windows host. You need to determine before choosing the web hosting service what components you will need to use and whether or not they have them pre-installed. The most used components are for sending emails and for supporting the uploading of files to your site by your customers.

Components You Build

If you need to construct your own custom components and have them installed on the web hosting server, you will need to know this up front as VERY FEW web hosting services support the uploading and installation of your custom components. If you find a web hosting service that allows component upload, consider this: do they inspect the code before allowing the uploads (good)? or do they allow anyone to upload anything (bad)? Often the better services that test the code before allowing the upload set a monthly limit on how many custom component tests they will do for free each month. This encourages you to have your code correct before submitting it.

Shared -v- Dedicated Server
Do you need a shared server or a dedicated server. Generally if your site is small, a shared server is much cheaper and, best of all, the web hosting service takes care of all aspects of the server operation, software updates and problem resolution. However, if you have special needs such as multiple IP addresses (for multiple SSL certificates), a large application, the wish to resell web space to others or many custom components, you might consider a dedicated server. They are generally most expensive - usually 10x a shared server or more. If you do shop for a dedicated server, be sure and compare the memory and processor speeds offered by the different vendors. If you are looking for a UNIX/LINUX based dedicated server, some vendors offer a third option called Managed Server. This is like the shared server in that they run the server for you but like the dedicated server you have total administrator access. Database Support

MySql This is the kind of database you need for PHP but it can also be used from ASP or ASP.NET. Ask what kind of tools they provide for database administration, if there is a limit on the number of MySql databases on your site and whether or not you can create a new database or whether the hosting service must do this.

SQL Server Some hosting services allow you to have one or more SQL-Server databases on your site. Be sure and check out what utilities they provide for designing/building your database structure and for testing it.

The better Windows hosting services provide you with SQL-Server space in addition to your web site space with the SQL-Server space residing on a separate database server which should be must faster than having it on the same server as your website-especially if that server is a shared server.

MS-Access Generally you simply copy MS-Access databases to your site, as many as you wish and set the IUSR permissions to modify on the directory the database is located in. Check to make sure you are not limited on numbers and that you can simply upload a new one or a revised database via FTP.

Services Provided
Bandwidth How much bandwidth is provided? What all counts in it? Some hosting services count the network protocols running to keep your site connected. Can you be notified if you go over? Can you check how much has been used this month? Some vendors provide as little as 100Mbtyes of bandwidth for a month. This is too little. Others provide as much as 200GB/month. You will need more than you think if your site gets even moderate traffic. Remember every page loaded counts, every graphic, every email, every FTP session.

Hard Disk Space How much is enough? Generally unless you are going to be a reseller, have large numbers of graphics, slide shows or huge downloads, or large databases, 100MB should be enough. Personally I prefer a little more than this.

Server Speed How fast is the server? If it is not a dedicated server, the speed may vary depending upon the demand on the other sites on the server. Does it change by time of day? Is the response time, i.e. the time from when a link is clicked until the page is server up adequate for the users of your website? (You will only be able to determine this during the trial period.)

Emails Things to check about email: how many accounts are allowed per domain? Can you check your email via the web? How about forwarding your email accounts to another account not on the web hosting service? Do they support POP3/SMTP so you can download your email to a PC based email client (most do).

If you anticipate sending a lot of emails, then you should check how many you are allowed a month for free and what the cost is per 1000 when you go over that. You should also check if they support bulk email or if there is a daily maximum that you can send through their mail servers.

SSL Certificate Does the service provide you with a shared SSL certificate or a dedicated one or none? Dedicated is the best because the certificate will have the name of your domain on it. A shared certificate will have the vendor's name on it and may require reprogramming of your site if your site is used to having a dedicated certificate.

FTP is a must and all web hosting services have it. However, do they support Front Page extensions if you need this? What about allowing you to setup multiple FTP accounts, say for each of your customer's websites so they can do some of the administration?

Do you need your FTP to be secure? Normal FTP does not send things in encrypted form, not even the password. (So it is good to use a different password from your administrator one for your FTP.) If you do a secure version, better check as not all vendors support this and, if they do, it will probably require that you purchase a dedicated SSL certificate and also check that they support your having a dedicated SSL certificate.

Statistics Most web hosting services provide some kind of statistics about visitors to your site. Careful analysis of the statistics can help you spot problem pages, the pages people list the most and help you tune your website. Shown below is an example of statistics on pages that had an error during the period:

But, remember not all hosting service statistics are created equal so check them out.

Software What software does the hosting service provide you with? Some give a software bundle worth several hundred dollars for signing up.

Graphics Doe the hosting service provide any images that you can use royalty free in building your site or the sites for your customers?

Growable If you max out your bandwidth, email, ftp, database(s) or database space, or hard disk space, is more space available? And how much do the increments costs? Is it time consuming to get more?

Backup Does the hosting service automatically backup your site? Or do they give you space and expect you to do it? Or are you completely left on your own for this? The better hosting services automatically backup your site. Also check at what frequency the backup if performed.

Reseller Some hosting services allow you to divide up your space and sell some of it to your customers. This works especially well when you are developing websites for others - you might as well host them and collect a monthly fee for this. Some web hosting services will even bill your customers for you and collect your monthly fees.

Tech Support
Cost Is tech support free? It should be. If not, how often do you think you might have a problem or need some help? Hard to predict isn't it?

Responsiveness Is the tech support available 24x7? How many minutes does it take to respond to a technical question or problem? The author was with one service that would take up to 2 weeks to respond to technical questions even though they claimed a fast response. I am now with a web hosting service that averages under 45 minutes response time 24x7.

Costs
You will probably notice that this is listed almost last. This is because, within reason, it is the least important thing about selecting a Web Hosting Service for your commercial site. If you are going to have a commercial site, it must be up, have consistent performance and you must be able to resolve issues quickly OR your customers will go to another site to do their business.

Setup Fees Many services charge a one-time setup fee. Often this will be waived if you pick a billing cycle other than monthly.

Billing Cycle and Savings Generally the larger the billing cycle time, the larger the savings. The author saved 20% by selecting annual billing cycle. But beware, this means that you pay in advance for the entire billing cycle. Expect to pay by credit card and to have to agree for automatic billing of your credit card at the beginning of each new billing cycle.

Services Overages and Notification Generally web hosting services charge for any overages in terms of bandwidth, HD space, or emails sent. Be sure that they have a mechanism for notifying you when you do go over so you can take the appropriate action. Most good services provide a way for you to monitor your site's resource usage at anytime for the current month, which is how resources are allocated - by the month.

Trial Usage or Refund Period It is very difficult to tell from all the literature whether a web hosting service is the right on for your website. It is easy to eliminate those that don't fit but it is difficult to tell if the fit is correct - even by talking to the web hosting service's tech support and customer support. However, most hosting services provide for a trial period wherein you can sign up, put up your website and still get a refund if you are not satisfied.

So, during the trial period you need to have your site up and running with a load on it. This is no small task. Plan ahead and have your SSL certificate, if any, your domain registration and code prepared so that you can bring the site up as fast as possible and take advantage of the trial period to see how it performs under load at that web hosting service. If you are using a database, be sure that it is being used during the trial period.

Discontinuing Service Generally web hosting services require some kind of advance notice to discontinue the service. Check this out so you don't end up paying for an extra billing cycle you don't want.

Wrap-up
Tired yet? You should be! Picking the right web hosting service for you is not an easy task but the effort will be worth it when you find the right match for your domains and your business! Corporate Web Consulting can help you with finding the right service to match your unique requirements. For custom web application development, we also provide web hosting.

Our Recommendations:

UNIX or Windows Hosting Aplus proves a wide range of hosting on both UNIX and Windows servers. They also allow a HUGE number of email addresses once you get into their business class hosting plans. This is clearly the winner in the bandwidth category. They allow up to 15,000 Gigabytes per month in some plans. This provider offers many hosting solutions and included dedicated hosts. They have also won many awards for service and have 24/7 support. This firm is strictly oriented towards small businesses and features many software additions for websites that are included. Wall Street Journal has given them a good write up as well.   Dedicated Servers This website contains dedicated server solutions starting at a low starter cost up through enterprise solutions. We like providers who have an upgrade path as your business grows. This is where we host our customer web sites. We are here for security, reliability, scalability and support reasons. One time, we needed a server reboot at 10:30PM on a Saturday. Time until the server was back up = 20 minutes from placing the support email. It was a Windows (tm) 2003 server so at least 10 minutes of the response time was the server rebooting. Please use our referral code GLNF-3797 if you sign up for Max.   Domains & SSL Certificates This provider offers domains, SSL certificates and Ecommerce Site solutions. We use them for many of our SSL certificates.