Deciding what Web hosting options are necessary

by Tony Patton | Mar 13, 2007 7:16:00 AM

Tags: Tony Patton, hosting solution, Web hosting, server, Web Development Zone Newsletter

Takeaway: Tony Patton explores the many factors you need to take into consideration when choosing a hosting solution for your Web application. This includes disk space, e-mail requirements, supported technologies, domain name, performance, and so forth.

An important aspect of a Web application is making it available to users; that is, installing it on a Web server connected to the Internet or an internal intranet. This week, I examine some of the issues you should consider when evaluating Web hosting options.

What do you need?

Before you search for a provider, it's critical that you evaluate a Web application's needs. This includes disk space, e-mail requirements, supported technologies, domain name, performance, and so forth. After all, the requirements for a basic, static site are drastically different than an e-commerce Web application featuring a MySQL backend. Here's a closer look at some of the common requirements.

Cost
The overall cost of a hosting solution can be major factor in what you choose. You need to determine the setup costs, along with the recurring charges and any other extra fees that make up the overall pricing structure for a solution. Another cost may be incurred for setting up and registering a domain name or migrating from one solution to another.

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Performance
The days of sitting and waiting for a page or application to load are long gone. Users expect reasonable application response times, as well as overall uptime. Given this requirement, the server hardware is just one aspect of analyzing a hosting provider. Network bandwidth and transfer rates greatly affect application performance.

System downtime does not discriminate as Flickr will attest, but hosting solutions should have uptime guarantees. It is important to carefully review these guarantees to ensure they meet or exceed your expectations.

Look for offerings such as daily backups, redundant servers, firewalls, and uninterruptible power supplies. Another factor with uptime is support in terms of people available on-site, as well as the security of the hosting facility.

More support
In terms of support, you should be aware of a potential provider's staffing policies. Do they offer 24/7/365 on-site technical support? Do they promise a certain turnaround time for all support inquiries? Are there different levels of support contracts? Who do you call when particular problems occur?

E-mail
Most hosting solutions provide one or more e-mail accounts as part of their hosting options. Based upon application needs, this may or may not be necessary. If needed, you should expect POP3 e-mail accounts, as well as unlimited aliases and auto-responders. In addition, mailing list features are often available for a nominal fee.

Supporting technologies
The technologies offered by a provider can be a critical factor depending upon application requirements. A Web application can often narrow down provider options simply through its technology requirements. That is, an application based upon ASP.NET technology requires the host to support ASP.NET. The same is true for applications using Java, PHP, and Perl to name a few.

Additional application requirements include backend database connections (MySQL, SQL Server, PostGres, etc.), multimedia components like streaming audio or video, directory security, electronic commerce components, CGI scripts, and so forth.

Logging
The activity associated with a Web application can be used to measure its success (in terms of hits or user visits), as well as gauge what users are doing and what technology they are using. These logs contain valuable information on traffic, page views, referring sites, keywords, and time spent at your site by visitors and how they navigated it. With that said, logging is available with most hosting solutions, but some offer more powerful logging options via reports and analysis software.

Numerous options

A simple Google search yields an overwhelming number of hosting options currently available. Upon evaluating possible solutions, you may decide to go with a provider in your area since it provides local access, or you may opt to go with a national hosting company such as GoDaddy.com.

Another option is actually hosting the application yourself. In this scenario, all aspects of support and the technical options fall on your organization. The responsibility can be overwhelming, which is why many organizations choose third-party companies to handle all aspects of hosting.

Up and running

Your Web application is developed and ready to go, but now you need to make sure it is up and running for your users. The number of hosting options available can be a bit overwhelming, so devising a plan before shopping around will help you determine which solution meets your needs. The plan should include what options you need, pricing limitations, technical support, and so forth.

What hosting solutions do you recommend? Share your experiences with the community by posting to the article discussion.