lern web hosting part 3three

Free Hosting Some ISPs offer free web hosting. Free web hosting is best suited for small sites with low traffic, like personal sites. It is not recommended for high traffic or for real business. Technical support is often limited, and technical options are few. Very often you cannot use your own domain name at a free site. You have to use a name provided by your host like http://www.freesite.com/users/~yoursite.htm. This is hard to type, hard to remember, and not very professional. Good: Bad: Low cost. It's free. No domain names. Good for family, hobby or personal sites. Few, limited, or no software options. Free email is often an option. Limited security options. Limited or no database support. Limited technical support. Shared (Virtual) Hosting Shared hosting is very cost effective. With shared hosting, your web site gets its own domain name, and is hosted on a powerful server along with maybe 100 other web sites. Shared solutions often offer multiple software solutions like e-mail, database, and different editing options. Technical support tends to be good. Good: Bad: Low cost. Cost is shared with others. Reduced security due to many sites on one server. Good for small business and average traffic. Restrictions on traffic volume. Multiple software options. Restricted database support. Own domain name. Restricted software support. Good support Dedicated Hosting With dedicated hosting, your web site is hosted on a dedicated server. Dedicated hosting is the most expensive option. This option is best suited for large web sites with high traffic, and web sites that use special software. You should expect dedicated hosting to be very powerful and secure, with almost unlimited software solutions. Good: Bad: Good for large business. Expensive. Good for high traffic. Requires higher skills. Multiple domain names. Powerful email solutions. Powerful database support. Strong (unlimited) software support. Collocated Hosting Collocation means "co-location". Collocated hosting lets you place your own web server on the premises (locations) of a service provider. This is pretty much the same as running your own server in your own office, only that it is located at a place better designed for it. Most likely an ISP will have dedicated resources like high-security against fire and vandalism, regulated backup power, dedicated Internet connections and more. Good: Bad: High bandwidth. Expensive. High up-time. Requires higher skills. High security. Harder to configure and debug. Unlimited software options. Your Checklist Before you choose your web host, make sure that: The hosting type suits your needs The hosting type is cost effective Upgrading to a better server is possible If needed, upgrading to a dedicated server is possible Before you sign up with an ISP, surf some other web sites on their servers, and try to get a good feeling about their network speed. Also compare the other sites against yours, to see if it looks like you have the same needs. Contacting some of the other customers is also a valuable option. Example: eUKhost eUKhost is a leading web hosting company in the United Kingdom. eUKhost offers services including: Shared Hosting Reseller Hosting VPS Hosting Dedicated Servers 24/7/365 Support on Linux and Windows platforms, powered by control panels such as cPanel/WHM, Plesk and DotNetPanel. An account can be setup within a few minutes. If you are selling a product or a service, e-commerce might be a smart way to do business. Internet E-Commerce E-Commerce is about selling products or services over the Internet. E-Commerce Systems It is not a very good idea to build your own e-commerce system. Building an e-commerce system is a complicated process, with the potential for a lot of errors. You might buy a ready-to-use system and run it on your own server. Many systems are available on the market today, and most of them will cover your basic needs for order management and processing. But again, if you are not familiar with hosting your own web site, starting with an e-commerce site is not the right thing. The best solution, in our opinion, is to find an ISP that offers an e-commerce solution. E-Commerce and Hosting Providers E-commerce covers a huge range of products. With different ISPs you will find anything from very simple to very complex solutions. Most ISPs offer a simple and inexpensive solution, that allow you to run a "virtual store". Your Checklist How does it handle customers? How does it handle product catalogs? How does it handle orders? How does it handle inventory? How does it handle back orders? How does it handle shipment? How does it handle accounts? How does it handle billing? How does it handle payment? How does it handle foreign currency? How does it handle credit cards? How does it handle taxes? How does it handle security? How does it handle integrity (encryption)? Also check if the most time-consuming tasks are automated. Look for automated billing, invoice handling, accounting, and report generation. Before you sign up with an ISP, surf some other e-commerce sites on their servers. Find out how it works. Try some shopping, and see if you get a good feeling. Also compare the other sites against yours, to see if it looks like you have the same needs. Contacting some of the other customers is also a valuable option. Tax Issues Taxes is a complex issue for on-line stores. Especially VAT (Value Added Tax). If you are selling on-line, you will most likely be in the export business. Exporting goods may not be the subject of VAT in your country, but often your customers will have to pay their local VAT when they pick up the goods. In addition, there will be the issue of income tax for your shop, depending on how you report your income from sales. Before starting an on-line store, be sure to consult a tax adviser.