We discussed
domain names, their significance, IP numbers,
key points to remember while selecting a domain
name etc. last week. This week we discuss the
next step - how to find a physical space in the
Internet that will host your webpages under your
own domain name (yourdomain.com)
The domain name is an intellectual
property, you may or may not use it to build a
website. However, if you decide to build a website
named after your selected domain name (yourdomain.com)
- you need physical space in a web server or Host.
Host is a computer with special features (notably
a 24-hour telecom connection with Internet called
backbone). You have the options of:
-
Have your host or web server
at your premises, get leased telecom lines,
hire programmers and maintenance staff etc.
It gives you unlimited freedom but costs huge
sum of money.
-
Place a dedicated server at
a data centre, hire programmers and other
maintenance staff. Suits large websites with
dynamic content and considerable programming
input.
-
Hire space with others in a
shared-host. Most economical and popular option
- more than 90% small and medium enterprises
use this option. (We focus our discussion
on this option here)
The next decision you need to take
is the platform or operating system of the server.
There are largely two options :
-
Unix / Linux host supporting
open source
-
Microsoft supported platforms
(Windows NT, Windows 2000) supporting ASP
and other Microsoft suits
There are pros and cons for both,
no such thing as one best solution. While Unix
/ Linux option is cheaper and faster, Miscrosoft
supported options provide user friendliness, flexibility,
regular upgrades etc. The best solution depends
upon your actual requirements - something your
technical expert is better placed to decide.
The third and final decision is
the location of your server. Earlier, options
were limited - USA or Europe as there was hardly
any data centre in India. However, many Indian
data centres and web hosts have come up during
last two years. The ground rule is to select a
location that is nearer to your target audience.
What
To Look For In A Web Host
There are plenty of vitally important
things to look for in a host OTHER THAN PRICE
. Do not get carried away by price alone - check
how competent is your host and what features are
offered. Some of the features you may look for
are:
-
Speed & Reliability
Quality of backbone connection
to the net, Server configuration, how fast
? What is the uptime, do the host guarantee
99.99% or above uptime ?
-
Customer Service
How competent, fast and friendly
is the customer service ? Is it 24 hours x
7 days a week ?
-
User Friendliness
How easy to set up and maintain
various facilities. Do they provide web based
control panel for setting up mail lists, add/delete
autoresponders, edit html pages etc. from
your browser ?
-
Global Hosting
How many clients ? which countries
? User satisfaction level ? Are they able
to host domains with extensions from your
country ?
-
Back Up Routine
Frequency of systems back-up,
hourly ? daily ?
-
Price
How competitive is the price
? How much disk space ? What are the payment
options ? Do the host accept credit card ?
In addition to above general selection
criteria, you should also be looking for:
-
e-commerce support including
secure-server
-
Support for your application
programs (Java, PERL, CGI, C++, TCL, Python
etc.)
-
Microsoft Front Page Support
-
POP3 e-mail accounts
-
Infobot support
-
List Server support etc.
You must be sufficiently confused
by now !! Well, in next issue we shall discuss
how to get best advise from the web free of cost.
We shall list web resources that will help you
compare and decide the best host for your application.
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