FINDING THE RIGHT WEB-HOSTING SERVICE

Whether you operate a small, large, or enterprise e-commerce business, shopping for a perfect fit for your specific e-commerce needs can be complicated. Start by browsing the web-hosting service’s website.

• Is there a phone number, a real mailing address (not a P.O. Box)? If the service does not have a telephone number posted on their site as well as their hours of operation, ask yourself “why”? Maybe they do not want their customers to contact them. Reputable hosts will have their telephone number and other contact information posted on their site in a very visible location.
• Is their FAQ (frequently asked questions) section comprehensive, i.e. does it answer most of your questions?
• Does the site host an online users’ forum for discussing the host’s services? If so, read a sampling. This allows you to gauge what problems other websites are having and how responsive the host was perceived to be to those problems. Then go to a search engine and look for any other information (e.g. reviews) that might be available.

With a little more research you can whittle down your list of viable web-hosting services even further. While costs are important, don’t let it be the only deciding factor — many low-cost web-hosting services are simply not worth the money. You get what you pay for!

Look for a hosting provider that has quality equipment and offers a variety of features as well as the technical expertise to support their customer base. Consider choosing a web-hosting provider that offers features that you plan to add to your e-commerce site in the near future. Switching hosting providers takes a reasonable amount of effort and is not something you want to do simply for the sake of saving a few hundred dollars.

Find a company that has a few years of web-hosting experience. Ask when the business began its web-hosting operations, not its web design business, nor its ISP services

Avoid web-hosting services that:

• Have daily data transfer limits (transfer rate fees should be based on monthly usage not daily).
• Hide the fact that they charge a setup fee (virtually all hosting services charge a fee).
• Offer PayPal only accounts (some, but not many, accept payment by PayPal only; credit cards are non gratis).
• Limit file size (not the total disk space but maximum size of a single file) to discourage downloads and large graphics.
• Flat out don’t allow downloads.
• Have an FTP transfer limit.
• Don’t provide an emergency telephone number.
• Place severe limits on resource use. While most hosts impose CPU limits on shared plans, be sure the proposed host doesn’t forbid resource-intensive scripts such as message boards.
• Provide no technical support on weekends.
• Offer no control panel (especially if you are new to the Web).
• Place a limit on monthly site hits (some hosting services do this in addition to data transfer limits).
• Require that you sign a long-term commitment.
• Offer no money—back guarantee.

Now it is time to create a list of your website’s specific requirements. Be sure to consider each of the following topics.

Windows or Unix?

Most, but not all, web-hosting services support only one operating system family either Microsoft Windows or Unix (which includes Linux). If you use or are familiar with Microsoft’s IIS web server, Active Server Page, VBScript, SQL server or Visual Inter-Dev then you probably want to go with a Windows shop. If you lean toward Linux, FreeBSD-based operating systems, Apache web servers, or already have a good understanding of Unix-based solutions, then find a web-hosting service that uses Unix.

NOTE
Your business’s internal operating systems don’t need to match your web host’s systems. If you run Windows XP and want your website to run on Apache or if you find a good web-hosting service that operates Linux, there will be no compatibility problems.

Size of Pipeline

The pipeline connects your server to the Internet — the bigger the better. But the more bandwidth provided, the more it costs. It is the mind-boggling expense of installing an adequate pipeline to the Internet that prohibits most web-based businesses from setting up their web servers in-house. High-speed access is obviously the key to a responsive website. If you expect your website to experience heavy traffic, find a provider that offers a minimum of T-3/E-3 (45 Mbps) connectivity and verify that there is sufficient bandwidth available for each client. This bandwidth should preferably be connected directly to the Internet’s backbone (the worldwide structure of cables, routers and gateways that form the Internet). The more direct access your web server has to the backbone the less likely your website will suffer from a “data traffic jam.”

The way these services charge for bandwidth varies. Most web-hosting services will charge you a monthly fee based on the amount of traffic your site receives. But some will connect you as directly to the backbone as possible and provide you with all the bandwidth you can use for one set fee.

While some small local web-hosting services (including web developers that provide hosting services) might offer just a DSL or “fractional T-1/E-1 connection to the Internet, most web-hosting services offer much more. The typical hosting service’s computers are connected to the Internet backbone via a T-1/E-1 (at a minimum), T-3/E-3 (the majority of local services), or some type of OC line (mainly those catering to the enterprise crowd). For a complete discussion on connectivity, see Chapter 6.

All things being equal, your best bet is to look for a hosting service that offers at least a T-3/E-3 connection (unless your website serves a small niche market with limited traffic).

NOTE
One common problem is data traffic jams. Ask a potential web-hosting service what options are available to you if you find your website’s bandwidth (speed of connection to the Internet) is compromised by another website’s high volume of traffic.

Know Your Traffic Limits

Find out how many page hits (the number of times someone transfers one of your web pages to his/her browser) are included in the basic price quoted. This will probably be stated in terms of megabytes of file transfer (amount of data transferred out of your site); if so, ask the host to translate it into an average hit rate. Although some web-hosting services have no limits, others will apply a surcharge if you go beyond a pre-determined limit. Some hosting companies charge for the number of hits (the number of times someone transfers one of your pages to his browser). Others charge according to the amount of data transferred out of your website. Either way, the busier your site, the more you’ll be charged under these kind of pricing schedules.

NOTE
You can estimate your data transfer needs by looking at your average web page size (including graphics) and multiplying that number by the number of page views you expect to have in a month. For example, if the average web page size is 50 KB, and you expect 2000 page views per day, your average data transfer rate will be about 3 GB per month. But in such a case, you should get a plan with a 4 to 5 GB of monthly data transfer limit to avoid overstepping your account’s limit in case your calculations are wrong or your website’s traffic increases. Moreover, if your calculations indicate that your site’s average data transfer rate will be over 50 GB per month, look into dedicated servers rather than virtual servers.

Unlimited use may not be the nirvana you think it is. Furthermore, unlimited or unmetered accounts are usually just a gimmick — a web-hosting service would quickly go out of business if they didn’t charge something for data transfer because they have to pay from $1 to $5 per GB of data transfer. However, that’s not to say that a good web-hosting service won’t provide a certain minimum data transfer for free. Most do and for many smaller e-commerce businesses, that figure is more than adequate. As a rule of thumb, a small e-commerce site will need, on average, less than 100 MBs per month.

Compare traffic allowances. Hosting services that limit the amount of material that can be downloaded from your site each month may hit you with a large surcharge when that limit is exceeded. If your site offers products/services that require download (software, music, white papers, tech support information), you need to find a service that doesn’t set limits. Some offer huge traffic allowances (several thousand MBs per month) for the same price as others that limit you to a few hundred MBs per month.

Finally, be advised that if you sign with a web-hosting service that offers an “unlimited” plan, read their “acceptable use policy” very carefully. You will find that most state that if you use too much disk space, bandwidth, or CPU time, you must upgrade your service or leave. And remember to plan ahead — allow for future growth of your site and its traffic.

Space

Web-hosting services usually assign a client a defined amount of disk space for “virtual” service. In other words, when you’re using a web-hosting service, most of you are buying space on their server’s hard drives. You don’t want to handicap your site with too little disk space, but at the same time you don’t want to pay for unused disk space.

As little as 5 MBs may be plenty of space for the web pages and graphics of a brochureware site, as long as email, log files, and system programs are not counted in the 5 MBs. Otherwise, more disk space is needed because those items take up considerable space (as much as 15 MBs more).

As a rule of thumb, 10 MBs of disk space equals about 100 web pages, which is more than enough for the average small business site. Of course, if your website offers lots of images, sounds, animation, or applets, you’ll need more space. Again, plan ahead — it can save you money later on. If you expect to grow, look for a place that offers sites of 100 MBs or more. Ironically, some web-hosting services offer 300 MBs sites for less money than others offering only 30 MBs.

Ask the hosting service how many websites are hosted on each of its computers. Although most hosting services are not too forthcoming about this information, you should be able to at least learn if the host has any policy limits.

Uptime

Check the hosting service’s reliability or “uptime” — the percentage of time the web-hosting service is up and running. Most claim 99.9 percent uptime, but ask around. XO (previously known as Concentric), claims to have never been down. Digex also has a top-notch uptime rating.

Multimedia

If your website utilizes multimedia, look for a web-hosting service that supports the technology used by your website. This is important. You want your customers to be able to listen to audio or to watch video without the necessity of fully downloading the file.

CGI Scripts

Before signing with a web-hosting service you must know what server-side languages (also known as CGI scripts) will be required for the optimum operation of your website. Server-side languages enable dynamic websites. Perl is the most popular scripting language, but others such as PHP, JSP, Tcl, Python, Miva Empressa, server JavaScript, and even compiled C/C++ are some of the other server-side languages utilized in the operation of a dynamic website. Windows-based hosting services will usually offer ASP, VBScript, Jscript, PerlScript and ColdFusion.

Specific CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripts (small but highly potent bits of computer code) are important for an email response form, a site search engine, and e-commerce support. It’s a way to provide interactivity to web pages, such as the handling of the input from forms, like using specific code to enable information to be taken from a web-based form and sent to your email account. CGI scripts enable your website to accept credit card orders, and track everything a visitor does once he gets on your site. It can also automate otherwise tedious processes such as signing customers up if you have a “registered users only” section on your website.

You will find that all web-hosting services are not constant regarding CGI script policy. Some services:

• Offer libraries of CGI scripts (CGI-bin directory) for your use.
• Offer libraries of CGI scripts (CGI-bin directory) for your use and let you install your own CGI scripts (your own CGI-bin directory).
• Don’t have a library but allow you to install your own CGI.
• Don’t allow you to add any CGIs.

Find a web-hosting service that supports the server-side language you need to operate your website and, at a minimum, allows you to install them in your own CGI-bin directory.

NOTE
You will need to reference server-side scripting code that reside in a CGI-bin directory. This directory will include code such as a program that enables an email message to be sent out by a web page form. Thus, for most e-commerce sites, it is absolutely essential that you sign with a web-hosting service that allows you to have full control over your own CGI-bin.

Telnet Access

A shell account is a login account on a UNIX server and is based on a UNIX operating system. A telnet shell account allows you to interact with your site in a multitude of ways. Telnet is a common way to control web servers remotely. Think of it as if you were sitting behind the keyboard of the server. It lets you change, remove, and make new files, you can check your disk usage, clean out your server logs, read files, test scripts, and FTP files from other servers. With telnet you can change the permissions of a CGI file, change your password, create new directories, or just use programming tools such as C and Perl. That’s the capability a telnet shell account gives you.

Telnet is a powerful tool. It is a terminal emulation program (a program that makes your computer respond like a keyboard) for TCP/IP networks such as the Internet. The Telnet program runs on your computer and connects it to a remote computer (your web server at your hosting service). You can then enter commands through the Telnet program and they will be executed as if you were entering them directly on the server console. This enables you to control the server and communicate with any other servers you might have at the hosting service.

The ability to modify files and directories is very useful for an active site. Windows95/98/NT comes equipped with a built in Telnet program. To start a Telnet session, you must log into a server by entering a valid username and password. Web-hosting services are split down the middle as to whether they will provide their clients a shell account or not (and with legitimate reasons — the most prominent being that Telnet access give hackers another avenue for attack). Without Telnet access, however, you can incur longer programming development time, which adds to your overall development costs. Also, without Telnet access, you can’t compile programs written in C, C++, Perl, etc. Instead you must rely on the hosting service’s technical support staff, which usually results in irritating and expensive delays.

So while it is relatively easy to find a web-hosting service that allows FTP access to a CGI-bin directory, it is more difficult to find one that allows Telnet access. Telnet access is not a do or die requirement. Still, if you find a web-hosting service that offers it, and you are satisfied with the service’s security set-up, it is an added bonus.

E-Commerce

When considering a web-hosting service’s e-commerce offerings, please follow the advice set out in Chapter 9. As a “quickie update,” remember:

• Before putting your e-commerce in the hands of a hosting service, look closely at the critical components. The software should be intuitive with some kind of “wizard” to assist you with the set up, such as tools that provide category pages with links to individual items along with “Buy” links that can take the customer straight to the shopping cart.
• To look at the catalog builder. Can you create your product catalog offline and then post it to your website and link it to the database you use to track inventory?
• The web-hosting service that offers an e-commerce package also should be able to help you with setting up a merchant account — the agreement between your web-based business and your bank that allows you to take credit card orders.
• Do you need real-time credit card authorization (see Chapter 3)? If so, this will be an extra cost.
• Look at how the web host handles security for its clients’ order processing. Are all credit card transactions conducted over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) server? If not, what security does your web-hosting service offer for order processing, especially credit card data? (See Chapter 7 for a detail discussion of security considerations.)

Technical Support

First-rate technical support should be your primary consideration, especially if you’re not a technical wizard. The Internet has no down time. Your server must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the event of problems, immediate contact and assistance from your web-hosting service’s technical staff is mandatory. Look for a hosting service that provides automatic monitoring of your website. This way, if there is a problem with the site they will be able to respond to it immediately. Ask if the web-hosting service’s stated “24x7” service policy means that server support, server monitoring, and server availability are all covered.

But still, that doesn’t answer the question of just the quality of the hosting service’s technical support. Customer support can make or break your hosting experience, so test their support before making a commitment. If the host has a 24/7 live chat, check it out. The best and easiest way to check out a potential hosting service’s technical support is to check out the service’s procedures for handling problems with your server. Try to determine how much help they actually provide individual clients. Ask:

• What type of technical support is available?
• Is 24-hour tech support available?
• Is there a separate tech support line for hosting customers?
• What is the average hold time before a technician picks up the phone to serve you and what is the average time for response to a client’s inquiry?
• Are technical support calls toll-free or a local call?
• What is their time limit on response to customer inquiries?

Make sure you get thorough answers to your questions. Then, actually check out the potential hosting service’s technical support. Here’s how:

• Place a few telephone calls to technical support. Place calls at all hours of the day and night, and on different days of the week.
• With each call, ask the technical support personnel questions that would represent some problems you might incur while using the hosting service.
• Send them a question by email and see how long they take to respond.
• Check out the quality of their online documentation.

If you get the right answers stated in language you understand (i.e., not technospeak), and you didn’t have to let the phone ring a 100 times or hold for 15 or more minutes, you’ve hit pay dirt.

Web-hosting services handle technical support in a variety of ways. Some hosting services have a policy of handling all their support through email. The problem with this is that it’s too easy for them to ignore email or to delay responses. You will find that 75% of the time you will need to talk to someone.

A few low-cost web-hosting companies have telephone support, although many will not offer toll-free numbers; but at least you get to talk to a “live person.” Other hosting services, some with toll free numbers, charge for telephone-based technical support. Just be sure you know where you stand before signing on that dotted line.

If you need 24-hour technical support — and larger companies and high-traffic websites do — then expect to pay substantially more. People are much more expensive than machines.

The best practice is to find others using the service and ask them about their experiences.

Value-added Services

All quality web-hosting services have a library of scripts that you can use to add forms, guestbooks, forms, statistics, and so forth to your site. Your web-hosting service also should provide e-commerce capabilities, e.g. shopping cart software, merchant account setup support, real-time processing availability, and more. Furthermore, some e-commerce operations may need support for Java, Shockwave, Cybercash, Real Audio, Real Video, VRML, secure transactions, and other utilities. It is important that the technical staff of your chosen web-hosting service be familiar with the applications you plan to use. For example, if you’re planning to use an application that requires special setup parameters, make sure your potential host is familiar with the application. If not, you just might end up spending an enormous amount of time trying to figure out how to configure it, or perhaps never figuring it out!

Site Administration

Quite a few quality web-hosting services offer web-based site administration. While not an essential requirement, the proper web-based administration tools allow you to do things such as easily set up POP accounts and configure autoresponders through your web browser (i.e. the tools are basically all point and click). Even if the site administration tools are not web-based, you will still need to update your pages, manage files, collect orders, retrieve data from forms, get statistics, make counters, and perform other housekeeping chores to your site. So find out how secure and user-friendly is the software that you’ll be using to do these things.

Also ask the web-hosting service:

• Can you make changes anytime you want?
• Do these changes need to be audited?
• Can you place custom ASP scripts on the server?

Remember that your website is a direct reflection of you and your web-based business. As such, you want to have sufficient control of your website so as to portray your business in the best “light” possible.

Flexibility

As with everything in life, flexibility is a nice perk. Ask if the web-hosting service will accept special requests or instructions.

Another concern is the ability to upgrade services. As your web-based business grows so will your hosting needs. Ask if you can start out with an economy package and then upgrade as your needs and budget increase. Also check out how much it will cost for you to add more disk space, transfer more data, create more email accounts, and so on.

Security

Security is of paramount importance. As such, find out what security features your web-hosting service offers or supports. Although many web-hosting services claim to be secure, when closely examined they fall far short of their claim. Find out if your web-hosting service can actually protect your data from the growing menace of outside threats and hackers. For example, the hosting service should have an expert security staff on call to dispose of any potential threats.

Some key security and reliability issues you’ll want to cover with a web-hosting service include:

• What kind of Internet firewall does the web-hosting service have in place to keep uninvited visitors out of its servers?
• How often does it conduct security audits and what other proactive steps does it take to address potential security holes?
• How are hackers kept out?
• Are back-ups performed daily to ensure data is never lost?
• Are all servers on an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) so data is always available even when there is a power outage?
• Since you will be taking orders on-line and perhaps transferring sensitive information, you’ll need a secure server (often referred to as an SSL server — a Secure Sockets Layer server). For instance, credit-card information typed into a form will be encrypted before being sent to your web server. Some web-hosting services charge an additional fee to use their secure server, so ask. Look for hosting services that support transaction encryption standards like SSL and SET (See Chapter 7). You don’t have to have a secure server to take orders on-line, but many people won’t place orders unless you do.
• How does the web-hosting service get sensitive information from your web server to your back-office in a secure manner?
• Does the hosting service use redundant connections so your customers can access your website even if a line goes down or is cut.
• Is the site physically secured so that only authorized personnel have physical access to servers?

Finding a web-hosting service that will maintain the integrity of your website is nearly as important as maintaining its availability. Having your server “hacked” is not something you want to experience so find out if the web-hosting service has taken the necessary steps to secure your website. In addition, ask about partitioning of users on shared servers, ability to encrypt user access, and how the software security of the server is set up to prevent unauthorized access.

Email

Almost all web-hosting services provide their client websites with at least one email account, although most will provide several accounts. However, some hosting services charge extra for an email account, so ask. Also determine if there is POP access to the emails since some web hosting services only offer web access to the email accounts.

Ask the web-hosting service how many email addresses you are allowed since some services allow you to set up multiple “aliases” such <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]>. Another feature web-based businesses might find useful is the ability for different aliases to be forwarded to more than one email address. For example, you might have stores in many different locales, with email aliases for each of them.

Another mail forwarding feature offered by some web-hosting companies is the ability to automatically define certain types of incoming email messages that are to be forwarded somewhere else. For instance, messages to <[e-mail]> could be forwarded to <[e-mail]>. Remember to ask if there is a limit on how many accounts can be forwarded.

Another feature you might need is POP (Post Office Protocol) email boxes on your web-hosting site, although for some smaller web-based businesses, the POP email box you have with your local access ISP probably covers your needs.

Larger web-based businesses will need a minimum of 10 POP mailboxes. In addition to unlimited email aliasing most will want the option of designating a catchall POP account so that any mail sent to <[e-mail]> will be forwarded automatically to the catchall account when a customer incorrectly addresses an email message.

Autoresponders

You will also want unlimited autoresponders. They undoubtedly will be an important part of your marketing strategy.

A mail responder, or autoresponder, is a program that automatically responds to incoming mail sent to certain addresses. Autoresponders let you to specify email addresses that allow for automatic and immediate posting of a pre-determined reply. For example, if someone sends email to <[e-mail]>, a brochure-type email message can be sent back.

Among the many useful attributes of a good autoresponder are that it allows you to:

• Save the incoming message.
• Copy the email address from the incoming message and put it in a text file, which is important since that allows you to easily collect email addresses.
• Quote the incoming message in the autoresponse.

Mailing List Management

A mailing list is a discussion group based on the email system. You can also use a mailing-list program to distribute a newsletter. A web-hosting service that offers the option of mailing list software such as Majordomo, is a bonus for all web-based business and a must have for others. Ask your web-hosting service if a mailing list option is available and if so, the cost, how many mailing lists are permitted per site, and if there is a limit on the number of members per list.

Online Promotion

Some nice perks that numerous web-hosting services offer involve help in promoting your website. For instance, some help with the registration of your website with the leading search engines and directories. Others may offer to help promote your site. And some web hosts will even assist your website with online advertising.

Access/Traffic Reports

The reason you are putting up a website is to attract customers. Find out what access/traffic reporting services your web-hosting service provides. For instance, do they provide access to raw logs and statistical reports to help you determine who is visiting your e-commerce site? It is vital that any web-based business knows:

• How often its website is being accessed.
• What web pages are most popular.
• Where its customers are coming from (i.e., search engine referrals).
• How the customers are viewing the website (i.e. browser type, connection speed).

If you have access to the raw server logs, you have the tools necessary to make sure that the site is functioning properly.

A good web hosting service also will provide software that tracks all the traffic to and from your site with the necessary statistical data on that traffic (your customers). Some hosting services will automatically email reports to you at pre-determined intervals. There are hosting services that even provide nice graphics showing the break down of a number of detailed categories with charts and numbers.

Even if you are satisfied with the access/traffic reports provided by the web hosting service, you still need to find out a bit more. For instance:

• Ask the service to provide sample access/traffic reports so you can determine if the information provided suits your needs.
• Ask if the reports are accessible online, at anytime.
• Find out if the reports held in archive for later reference and for how long.
• Ask how often the reports are compiled.

Multiple Domain Names

Ask your web-hosting service if it charges a fee for extra domains. Extra domains are very useful. Your primary domain is for your main web-based business but you could use additional domain names to promote specific products. You can structure this in various ways. For instance, all the domains can point to the same directory; you can have separate directories for each domain; or a specific group of domains pointing to a single directory. Web-hosting services have a variety of billing methods for this option. Some charge an additional fee for each extra domain; others allow a set number of domains and charging for any over that limit; still others charge nothing at all for domains. You have to ask.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

You don’t want to be restricted in any way when it comes to updating your web pages. Look for a web-hosting service that will provide unlimited FTP access since that is how you upload your web pages to your web server. Most web-hosting companies provide this service.

Another type of FTP service you will need, if your website offers software downloads, is anonymous FTP (sometimes referred to as ”public FTP”). This is different from FTP access to your website. Although it is possible to transfer files directly from your website, customers that don’t have decent web access will want to use the anonymous FTP option. Another feature of some anonymous FTPs is that an interrupted download can be resumed, i.e., if a file transfer stops somewhere in the middle due to an ISP or telephone line problem, the customer can continue the transfer where it stopped when he/she is able to get back online.

Server Performance

Another must is a high performance web server. Do not compromise on this issue.

Find a web-hosting service that offers high quality server hardware with fast CPUs, a lot of memory (the more the better), high-speed disk drives, and redundant T3 connections or better. Ask the brand names of the servers, the operating system loaded thereon, and the web server software provided. Also determine how often the web-hosting service updates and replaces their servers’ hardware and software.

Test the servers. Measure the speed of access for all facets of access (network speed, DNS lookup, connect time, download time, and absence of timeouts). Be sure you run tests during both peak and non-peak times.

One of the easiest ways to test your web-hosting service’s servers is to use Net Mechanic’s Server Start (wwww.netmechanic.com). This is a nice free tool to use to measure a server’s access speeds. This product allows you to watch server performance for 8 hours and will send you an email report.

Password Protected Area

Portions of your website can be password protected so that access is limited authorized personnel only. Password protected areas is one of the best ways to keep unwanted cretins out of your website.

Unfortunately, these protected areas can be problematic to set-up. Most web-hosting services will either assist in the creation of these protected areas or take care of all of the technical aspects of setting up your password protected area(s).

Backups (Server and Power)

Information on your servers will be in a constant state of change. Making daily backups is essential in case of a major server crash. Ask the web-hosting service if it provides off-site storage of the backup tapes. If you also have your database on the web host’s servers, talk to them about their procedure for backup data or if they can help you backup the data yourself.

Another important issue is a power backup system. Most web-hosting services do this as a matter of course, but it doesn’t hurt to check that your web host provides UPS and generator power backup.

Redundancy

The ability to be up and running no matter what is of critical importance. There are many elements to redundancy — see Chapter 5 for the full picture. However, a good web-hosting service will have redundant Internet connections, which are essential for providing uninterrupted service to your customers. With only one connection point, if the service’s pipe to the Internet goes down, then your website is down.

Scalability

The best thing that can happen is that your web-based business experiences a giant spurt of growth due to its popularity. However, can your web-hosting service handle such growth? If you feel that increased traffic on your website may become an issue, find a hosting service that quickly can add bandwidth and processing power to meet any level of demand. A good quality web-hosting service will automatically monitor on a 24x7 basis, both the servers and the Internet connections so that it can respond appropriately to any traffic or congestion problems, without any action on your part.

Databases

As discussed in Chapter 8, databases have their own issues. If you use a database to store your data, or your website is database driven, you need a web hosting service that offers database servers. Most Windows-based services will offer Microsoft Access and/or Microsoft SQL Server. Most Unix-based services will offer some form of SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL MS SQL Server) and/or Oracle. Be very careful to place your website on a web-hosting service that offers an operating system compatible with the system you use to maintain your database.

Other Items

Other features to consider when looking for a web-hosting service include:

• A static IP address. If not, go elsewhere.
• Provide sub-domains for creating sub-sections to your website without the necessity of using directories in URLs.
• A control panel for graphical access to your account settings.
• Guaranteed uptime that includes a refund for times when your host is down.
• Find out if the hosting service has larger plans available so you won’t have to deal with the task of changing hosts if your website requires more space, features, etc. in the future.
• Is the web hosting service offering any special deals, discounts, promotions?
• If you want a specific version (or the latest version) of a web server, shopping cart program, database, and/or server-side language, ask if that version is available, don’t assume it will be the version provided.