Business IT Articles

Hosting Packages Explained

If your business already has a website or is planning to get a website built in the near future one thing that you won't be able to do without is hosting. This article explains the fundamentals about hosting as a service and the different kinds of packages that are available.

Getting the website designed and built is one step along the road to getting that new or enhanced web presence out to your potential customers ... albeit a big step! Once that is nearly complete then you will need to ensure that users around the world are able to see your website at any time of day and also send you an email if they have any queries or questions about your product or service. To achieve this you'll need hosting.

If you are having your website built by a professional company then they will more than likely offer you a hosting package that is suitable for your website. This is bread and butter work for them and you should listen to their advice. However, it's still worth understanding what they are recommending if only so that you know what you are getting for your money.

All of the hosting packages that we talk about here are provided by companies that are professional and dedicated to the task of website and email hosting. While it is possible to host your own website it is not easy to set up a robust and secure system and, even if you do, there are many potential problems that you need to keep your eyes open for on a day to day (if not an hour by hour!) basis.

When looking at the hosting packages it is worth keeping in mind some features that as an end user will be of most use to you. Here are a few

Support

You need to be able to contact your hosting company if there is a problem with your website. Sometimes things go wrong and websites disappear or show an error. It happens, but knowing what to do about it and who to contact is very important as having an inaccessible website will affect your sales.

Statistics

Server companies keep a track of who is visiting your website and when. From this it is possible to provide you with statistics that show how busy your website has been. A busy website may lead to more sales and knowing this kind of information is absolutely critical to understanding how effective any sales campaigns have been.

Email management

Don't forget that your hosting will not only deal with your website but with your email too. You need to be able to manage email accounts such as adding and deleting accounts. It might also be beneficial to access your email when you're out and about using Webmail.

Customisation

You may need to run a special script or piece of software on the server. Some websites require this so that certain functions can be performed on the site itself for the benefit of the customer. An example might be allowing a customer to download a customised product image which would require a bespoke graphics library. While most host packages will come with what you need your web developer will know if anything extra is required.

Addons

As part of the package that you have you may benefit from add ons such as chat rooms, shopping carts or the like. These may or may not be integral for the operation of your website but it's worth seeing what is offered as it may allow for future development.

Now that we know what we're looking for let's see what forms of hosting package are available. Let's start at the top with the one that offers you the most but also costs the mosts.

In a small business (or even many medium sized business) environment you wouldn't need to have a dedicated server. With this package you are leasing for around £100pm hardware that you can customise however you want, within the terms of the agreement. You also rent the connection to the internet "backbone" making it very fast.

Note that because it is customisable the ability of it to provide you with statistics and email is entirely up to you; you need to place the necessary software on the server for it to work.

The level of support that you receive is for the system only (and it may even be chargeable). Any software that you put on the system is for you to support yourself.

So if you don't want a dedicated server your next option might be to opt for a Virtual Private Server which you will see is cheaper but still offers you a certain amount of flexibility on the customisation front.

You are now effectively sharing your web and email space with other users on a dedicated server. However, because the environment in which you work is virtual there will be no problem with any other accounts interfering with your account in terms of speed or bandwidth. Other users on the same server can even shut down their own private server without affecting yours.

VPS systems give you both power and flexibility but you will still need to do a certain amount of support yourself. Tech support offers you help and advice on applications that come pre-installed and on the interface itself but anything else may be chargeable.

So if you have got a site that is going to have a demanding amount of traffic or that needs to run specific software but don't want to pay the dedicated server price (and get a little extra tech support to boot) then this might be the one for you.

Many small (and even medium sized businesses) opt for a shared hosting package which provides everything that is required in an average website for a reasonable annual fee.

Here your website and email is sharing a server with maybe 80 other customers. While your data is secure and separate from each other there is a slim chance that any massive amount of traffic being attracted by one account may slow yours down. Similarly, if a script written by a user on another account causes the server to crash then it will affect your account too.

Don't be too alarmed, however; these situations are rare and, even if they do occur, there is a technical support system that allows you to report the problem (if it hasn't already been noticed) and the system can be brought back to life quickly. This tech support can also be used for help with any hosting queries or for guidance on how to achieve technical changes.

While the hosting packages generally come with some addons and statistic reporting the trade-off is that it may not be customisable. Because there are many people on one server the running of server software is generally not permitted. The other thing to consider is that your account's bandwidth (the amount of traffic you can attract per month) and the disk space you have will be fixed and smaller than in a VPS or dedicated package.

Shared servers are often the choice for new or small businesses.

Let us also mention the use of free hosting. This might be hosting that is provided by a company for their own reasons or by your Internet Service Provider as part of your broadband package.

Either way, start with caution in assessing whether it is the right package for you. Because it is free support is generally slow or non-existent and bandwidth and space will be limited.

That said, such accounts are a great starting point if you are developing your web presence and you have little or no budget.

Backup

If something does go wrong you will want the reassurance that you can restore your website and email. This can only be achieved if your account has backup facilities.

Shared hosting accounts generally keep a 24 hour backup (ie to yesterday) while other accounts may be customisable and/or automatic depending upon your account. Beware of relying on the free hosting service to provide any disaster recovery or backup support.

We hope that the above has been some help in getting to grips with the different hosting packages that are on the market. Obviously everything has been written with a very broad brush and you will find variations in both prices and features.

Good luck with your website and your business.

« Read more articles