web services

Tips for finding a Web Hosting Provider
Selecting an appropriate Internet Presence Provider for your Web Site is not a simple task. Recently, there has been an explosion in the number of companies offering Web Hosting services. Rates and requirements can vary wildly making your decision more complicated. Hopefully, we will try to explain and clear up some of the myths and unknown facts of this industry.

Resellers
The best kept secret among the web hosting industry. There are only roughly 100-150 ISP's dedicated to web hosting that actually own their own equipment. Everyone else is a "reseller". While this may not be a bad thing, it can have its complications. Let us explain: The cost of one server can range from $500 to $1000, they usually have upwards of 30-100. Access lines: one T-1 cost's on the average $1,800 a month, a T-3 is $45,000 a month, that's right, on the average $45,000 a month. Now how many $20.00 a month web site plans will they have to sell to just cover their costs? They need to sell in volume, so they recruit "resellers". These resellers in turn to make money must sell in volume so most also recruit "resellers" and so on and so on, to the point where it's almost a multi-level marketing plan. The bad part is after the 3rd or fourth "level" they have no administrative rights. What this translates to is that when you have a problem or want a CGI script installed or an email account added this "reseller" must contact the person above him, and so on up the chain of command, just to see if your request is allowed, then get them to take care of the request.Ê Support? They will have to contact their provider to give you the answer to your question. The only way to find out if they are a reseller is to ask, and if you find them to give you an honest answer, consider going with them. At least you'll know they probably won't lie to you when problems do arise.

Server Hardware
Does it matter what type of hardware the server is? Materially, no. However, you may have business or personal reasons for a preference. UNIX has an incredible record of reliability. In fact, there are UNIX-based presence providers who will guarantee 99%+ uptime. The primary reason to opt for NT server is still database access. If you want or need database capabilities, it is simpler to implement those database capabilities in an NT server environment. If the provider hedges on what there server is running find someone else, chances are they are just a reseller or they have no knowledge and can offer no real support.

Monthly Charges
Prices vary greatly from provider to provider. Computer equipment and internet access fees have dropped dramatically over the past two years. Today's average cost is $19.95 - $40.00/month for a virtual Web site (www.yourdomain.com) with around 20 MB storage, 500 MB - 1,000 MB data transfer (bandwidth) with E-mail. Features can vary greatly. It is be to ask if you are not for certain.

Domain Name
Make sure that you are the Administrative contact on the interNIC application. If you ever want to change service providers, your domain name can go with you if you are listed as the Administrative contact. When you want to move the domain, you simply contact the new service provider who, in turn, contacts InterNIC. InterNIC then E-mails you (the Administrative contact) a form to OK the transfer. Transferring a domain incurs no charge from InterNIC. Some providers charge for domain registration and transfer.

Web Site Size
Sales Hype:
Unlimited storage space-$9.99 a month.
350 megs-$19.99 a month.
Web pages themselves are very small.Ê An average business web site is 2-5 megs. The site you are now viewing has over 50 HTML pages, not to mention a large number of graphics, and is less than 4 Mb. All ISP's know this. they are counting on the fact that 90% of all web sites are smaller than 10 megs. If you need this size of site make sure you get it in writing and read the fine print. On the other hand, Multimedia, graphics, sound, animation, movies, etc. generally is quite space-intensive. One movie segment of a couple of minutes can easily run upwards of 10 MB. A 20-second sound byte is often in the range of 200 KB. If you do exceed your storage limits what are the charges that are incurred? Rates vary widely. Charges generally vary from $0.50/MB to $2.00/MB over the allowance. There are some providers who offer no extra space charges, if your space utilization goes over the limits of your plan, you automatically get bumped to the next higher plan. This can be a nasty surprise. For instance, if you sign up for a $19.95/month plan, and the next plan offered is $50/month, getting bumped up costs you $30/month. Be sure to ask.

Bandwidth
Providers will advertise various types of communications lines: Analog, T1, T3, OC-3, OC-12, Shared, Dedicated. It is a very complex process to determine if they're telling the truth. There are unethical sales people and advertising practices in every field of business. Also they might be on a OC-3 but sharing it with 200 other web hosting or ISP companies. Management practices, not raw bandwidth, determines the performance you will get from the access lines and provider. For instance, we could get a OC-12 line. That sounds great!. But if its a shared line with 50 other ISP's, or I connect it to a 486-33 machine as the server, the bandwidth won't help much. Likewise, I could get a gigantic server, but load it with a few thousand very interactive Web sites, (Yahoo, cNET, chatrooms...) and performance would suffer. Performance results from a blend of available bandwidth, server management, and Web site design characteristics.

Bandwidth -
Data transfer limits or restrictions
This is the volume of information that moves to and from your Web site. Limits vary from 200 MB/month to "Unlimited" transfer. No one has true unlimited bandwidth, this is another sales pitch, the average web site gets roughly 20-100 hits a day, ISP's on the average normally allocate 1000-1500 hits a day per web site, go over this and you will get charged or asked to upgrade your services. Try this: tell them you have a site that averages 70,000 hits a day, watch them cringe. If you know your goal, method of operation, and the provider is not giving you a sales pitch, these bandwidth limits are not a problem.

Typical line designations
and what they mean
33.6 - this is a standard analog phone line transmission rate. Fine for a single user. 28.8 line will generally support several concurrent users if the Web site itself is not high on interactivity. ISDN - This is a 128 K digital line. With roughly five times the capacity of a 28.8 line, a dedicated ISDN line can handle 10-20 concurrent users on an average site (no heavy graphics concentration) with little problem. T1 - 1.544 Mbps (1 Mbps = 1,000 Kbps) - 50 times the capacity of the standard 28.8 analog phone line. Each T1 has 24 "channels" (i.e. voice circuits or lines) each carrying transmissions at 64 KB. T3 - 44.5 Mbps (28 times the capacity of the T1). Each T3 has 672 "channels". OC-3 - 155 Mbps (100 times the capacity of the T1, more than 3 times the capacity of the T3)

Security
There are many valid reasons for needing secure portions of a Web site. While password security is standard with most Web servers, some providers disable password security. Some providers don't allow customers to use it all. Some have very low limits. Does the provider offer a secure server environment (SSL)? If you are considering on-line transactions, you should offer that capability via a secure server. Secure servers greatly reduce consumer and seller fears of "stolen" information. If this an issue with your site, ask the provider about the password policy.

E-mail
E-mail capabilities are also different. Some advertise E-mail accounts but all that they do is redirect mail to your local ISP E-mail account. Some hold the E-mail until specific times when they send and deliver. This could create surprises if you are unaware of the polices. You should at least expect a full send and receive account with a Domain Name Web Site.

Support
Support comes in all flavors --- E-mail only, phone support, newsgroups, chat groups, etc. Support is more important if you are just starting out, but support is important to everyone. The Web still holds frustrations, and good support people can keep those to a minimum.

Long Term Contract
There are a few presence providers who offer greatly discounted rates on the condition that you sign a twelve-month contract. In a fast-moving technology area, twelve months is a long time. Often, the discounted rate is only the same as any number of providers who have no such 12-month minimum. The minimum may be fine, or it may be an indication that the provider needs money "up-front" to keep going. You have to ask how you would feel about committing to a one-year contract on any service without first trying it. And this type of commitment is worse, because wholesale changes in the technology infrastructure can occur within a matter of months. Also if you decide to leave, will you get a refund? Get this in writing!

CGI, Java, Front Page
Is CGI supported? Is Java supported on the Web server? CGI and Java is already becoming a requirement for an advanced Web site. Double-check. Front Page extensions are very popular, and is a good indication if the ISP is keeping up with new standards.

Adult Sites
Does the provider allow adult-oriented sites? This is important for two reasons. If you personally disapprove of adult-oriented material, you may not want to do business with a provider who offers such services. On the operations side, adult sites can have enormous hit rates that can easily consume a whole server making your site slower to your customers.

References
Don't be afraid to ask for references. Your Web site will be part of your business. Your customers ask you for references. You may be more comfortable getting references as well. Just be sure to find references that have something in common with your situation. If you are just starting, it does you little good to talk to a happy customer named "UNIX Acess" as a reference. Likewise, if you are an experienced Web developer, you may have little in common with "Ken and Karen's Wonderful Web Page."

Connection
There is no requirement that one service provider handles your connection, E-mail, newsgroups access, and Web site. Geography doesn't matter here. You can have a local connectivity provider in New York with a Web site presence provider in California. In fact, this may make sense for support hours. You are not limited to having one service provider. I would recommend disentangling these functions. Find a good local connectivity supplier (ISP), and then look for a presence provider who specializes in Web presence sites. You generally get more capabilities for less money, and bandwidth will not be tied up with dial-up accounts!

Conclusion
Treat this like a business deal, not a toss of the coin. Your Web site is your image to the wired world. What may seem like trivial issues may be enough to keep your visitors from returning. Do things right and, like any business, you will prosper. However, unlike any other business, Web services and quality may be totally unrelated to charges. Shop carefully!

There is no reference for our services on this page. Our intent was not to sell you on our services, but to give you some general information on this industry so you could make a more informed decision. If you would like to know about this industry or our services please see the rest of this web site or e-mail us.