Your website needs to be hosted on a web server in order to make it available on the Internet. Hosting involves housing, serving and maintaining files so that visitors are able to view the content of the website.
Your website is the shop window of your business, so the hosting solution selected must be able to provide a fast, secure and reliable service. You can opt for an in-house hosting solution or go to an external Internet service provider (ISP). Key factors to consider include cost and the level of technical expertise and resources your business has.
This article explains basic website hosting considerations. If you have are about to start a new e-commerce business, read on.
What does hosting a website involve?
Hosting a website involves a number of different factors, each of which can have a significant impact upon its overall success:
Functionality: the range of features it offers, the ways in which it presents content to the user, and how the content is kept fresh and updated;
The functionality of a website is largely dependent upon the software used. Unless you have in-house technical experts, you will probably need advice from your Internet service provider (ISP);
Performance: the speed at which it loads pages and responds to user requests;
Your website will need a fast connection to the Internet. This is determined by the bandwidth - the amount of data that can be transmitted and received by an Internet connection. If your connection is not fast enough, pages will load slowly and sometimes not at all. This of course means customers will go elsewhere.
The website will require a dedicated web server – the more powerful the better. Also consider processor speed and the disk space needed for the website to operate effectively;
Reliability: how high the availability of the site is and how frequently it suffers from down time (hopefully rarely);
Your website should be available 24 hours a day. The more you rely on your website, the less you can afford to wait until the following morning until you fix problems;
Security is an ongoing concern on the Internet, so any solution you opt for should demonstrate that it is secure and able to withstand hackers, fraudsters and denial-of-service attacks;
Using an ISP for hosting;
Using an Internet service provider (ISP) means the ISP is responsible for providing your business with connection to the Internet. ISPs can provide different types of hosting services;
Shared server: the server is owned by the ISP and is located in its offices. The server is used to host several other websites as well as yours.
This represents a cost effective approach, but may not be an option if you want to use complex technologies such as customising WebPages for different users. This is a good option if your business is a bricks and mortar establishment with an additional e-commerce outlet but not if you rely solely on the Internet.
Dedicated hosting:Your website is the only one that is hosted on a dedicated server. This option is better suited to large websites with high user traffic, or those requiring special software or particularly high levels of security. Of course this comes at a price.
Co-location:You place your own server, that you own or rent, at the premises of the ISP to take advantage of their better technical infrastructure. You are generally responsible for maintaining the actual data and the website components.
Advantages of using an ISP:
You do not need to invest in your own web server;
Most ISPs have very fast connections to the Internet;
The ISP's server usually offers a high degree of availability (up time) and reliability;
The ISP should have a secure operating environment, high quality virus protection and the latest software patches to ensure the security of your site.
Disadvantages of using an ISP:
You need to trust your ISP to maintain the availability and security of your website;
Your website's performance may be compromised if the ISP is hosting too many other sites on a shared server basis;
You could be affected if your ISP becomes blacklisted as a result of the actions of other sites they host, or the content of those sites. For example, if they host sites containing adult material or sites for companies that send out spam emails.
Many ISP provide standard terms. Before you sign up to any agreement, make sure their terms are fair. Whilst they will only occasionally accept your new terms, you can have a say about what is agreed by using a template hosting agreement and comparing their proposed terms with your terms in the hosting agreement.
In-house hosting
Hosting your own in-house website is always an option. However it does require significant resources.
Not only will you need a web server, but you'll also require a high-speed connection to the Internet, and you will be directly responsible for its day-to-day operation and 24-hour support. You will also have to take account of the cost of software licences.
Advantages of the in-house approach:
You have complete control over access to the website, choice of hardware, including the ease and expandability of upgrades;
You also have control over the operating environment: the software and systems that run on the web server;
Web storage space and performance can be more effectively managed;
You do not have any of the contractual or legal issues associated with using an Internet service provider.
Disadvantages of the in-house approach
The cost of purchasing your own web server hardware, associated software and high speed Internet connectivity (typically using leased lines)
You will need to employ technical staff who can offer the support you need, or learn to do this yourself
You will need specialist security expertise in employing tools and techniques to maintain the security of your website.
The in-house option is best suited to larger companies, and/or those with a specialist IT department, as considerable resources are required to handle the ongoing development and support activities.
Technical talk
Server operating systems: the most common types of core operating systems that enable the web server to run are:
Microsoft NT or Windows 2000;
Unix;
Linux.
Web server software: this software sits on top of the operating system and actually runs the web hosting services. It deals with all elements of hosting the web pages, including requests from visitors to view them, and running programs or scripts. The most common types of web server software are:
Apache;
Microsoft Internet Info Services (IIS).
Web authoring languages: these are the software languages used to develop applications on the website and include:
HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) a programming language used in the creation of simple web pages;
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripts that are used to produce dynamic and interactive web pages. Examples include JSP, PHP, ASP, Cold Fusion and Perl.
Application development tools: types of web editor software used to design and develop web pages incorporating features such as graphics, multimedia and user interactivity. Examples include Microsoft FrontPage, Macromedia Dream weaver and Adobe Go Live.
Databases: database technologies are used to store large quantities of information that can be used to update information on your website. The solutions available to you will depend upon the volume of information you wish to hold and the likely web traffic that the system will have to support.
Examples of high volume, high traffic database systems include:
Microsoft SQL Server;
Oracle 10g;
Postures.
Examples of smaller volume systems handling lower web traffic are:
Microsoft Access;
MySQL.
E-commerce software packages
An e-commerce software package can be used for the development of an e-commerce site, on either a third party or in-house basis. These are based upon templates that can be adapted to meet your own requirements. The resultant code and pages are then uploaded onto the web server and provide a cheaper and quicker option than bespoke development.
Content management software is also available. This lets users across your business to easily add or modify their own web content without the assistance of specialist web staff or detailed knowledge of HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language). It will also help ensure that such contributors adhere to the standards of your website while keeping security and navigational elements intact.
Web server monitoring
The performance of the web server needs to be monitored - including its CPU, memory, disk usage, network performance and back-up utilities. From time to time, you will also need to install new versions of the server software or upgrade hardware components. If you have opted for an Internet service provider (ISP) solution, it will be their responsibility to ensure that these issues are addressed.
Monitoring the website usage
Visitor statistics should be gathered to assist in marketing activities and the ongoingdevelopment of the site.
This is typically done through the use of site analysis software that measures the usage patterns of the site. It does this in terms of statistics such as the number of visitors, new visitors, returning visitors, which search engines they are using to find the site, and which parts of the site they are making particular use of. This information can also be used for marketing purposes.
Security
Websites are likely to come under threat from hackers, viruses, and fraud and denial-of-service attacks. You can use firewalls, anti-virus software, and authentication and access controls to help protect your website.
If you decide to use an ISP to host your website then security will be its responsibility. However, if you host your website in-house then it is your responsibility.
Customers are notoriously fussy (rightly so) about security and privacy issues. To show that you care, use a comprehensive Data Protection Policy and a Website Privacy Policy.
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