By James Harvey Stout (deceased). This material is now in the public domain. The complete collection of Mr. Stout's writing is now at http://stout.mybravenet.com/public_html/h/ >

Jump to the following topics:

1. What is a website-hosting service?  
2. Features of website-hosting services.
3. Free website-hosting services.  

What is a website-hosting service? It is a company which "hosts" people's websites on its server (i.e., its computer). Most Internet Service Providers are website hosts; ISPs offer dial-up service for access to the internet, and usually they allow us to put our website onto their server. But there also companies which offer only the website hosting; they do not offer dial-up service, so we would have to have both the ISP and this other website host. A website-hosting service generally offers more features (which are described below).

Features of web-hosting services.

1. Costs.
   • Setup fee.
   • Monthly fee. The company might charge one amount to everyone, or it might offer various options depending upon our requirements for disk space, amount of data which will be downloaded by our customers, etc.
   • Other fees. For example, we might be charged extra if we want a particular feature, e.g., a secure server.
2. Length of time in the contract. With some hosts, we simply pay month-by-month, with no long-term obligation. Other hosts require a commitment of six months or one year.
3. Amount of data on our website (in megabytes). This data includes our html pages, graphics, sound files, etc.; it can also include our system programs and other files. When we register with a host, we agree to pay for a particular amount of space on their server (e.g., 15 Mb); if we exceed that amount, we pay extra. The extra charge might be calculated in various ways:
   • We might have to pay "per-megabyte. For example, we would pay $1.50 per month, for every megabyte which exceeds our limit.
   • We might have to upgrade to a more-expensive tier in the host's price-structure. For example we might be required to upgrade from "$25/month for 15 Mb" to "$35/month for 20 Mb."
4. Amount of data transfer (in megabytes per month). This is the data which would be downloaded from our website to our visitors; the amount includes every html file, graphic, sound file, software program, etc. Hosts offer various options:
   • Unlimited transfer. However, this claim is often untrue.
     • We can look for contract clauses which say that we are indeed restricted. The "small print" might say that our account can be cancelled if our website uses "an excessive amount" of the system's resources. This excessive amount might occur if the website has many graphics (particularly at a pornographic website), or any software programs which our visitors will download, etc.
     • We can expect an email from the hosting service if our visitors download many gigabytes of data per month: "Yes, we said 'unlimited,' but we didn't mean 'unlimited.'"
   • Limited transfer. If we exceed the limit, we might be charged extra:
     • We might be charged for each additional megabyte.
     • We might be asked to upgrade to a more-expensive tier in the host's price-structure. For example we might be required to upgrade from "$25/month for 500 Mb of transfer" to "$35/month for 700 Mb of transfer."
5. Tech support. By phone and email? Quick response? 24/7?
6. Connection to the internet. Our computer is connected to the webhosting service; the webhosting service is connected to the internet "backbone." We can look for:
   • The type of line which connects the host to the internet. T1 lines carry a relatively small amount of data; in contrast, a good webhosting service uses T3 lines (which are also called DS3 lines).
   • Redundancy. Sometimes a connection fails (and thus our customers cannot reach our website), so the host should have two or more connections to the internet, using two or more backbone providers (e.g., MCI, etc.).
   • Peering. This means that the host's system continually checks the speed of its various connections to the internet, and it automatically switches to the fastest connection.
   • The number of users. A T3 line is adequate for a limited number of users -- but one T3 line might not be adequate if it is supporting many thousands of users.
   • Some hosts will tell you their "average bandwidth saturation"; for example, if the figure is "less than 40%," that means that their members are usually consuming less than 40% of the line's capacity -- with a big 60% available for peak hours.
7. Speed. While the speed might be determined somewhat by the host's equipment (e.g., a T3 line), we want to know the real-life speed in bringing up a web page to our computer. We can test the speed by visiting some of the websites at this hosting service, during various times of the day.
8. Reliability. No system is 100% reliable; computers do fail, and the server's software might contain bugs which have not yet been repaired. But we should allow no more than 1% or 2% down-time (during which our customers cannot access our website). Ask the host (and some of the current members): What is the percentage of up-time for the server and the system in general (including time for regular maintenance)? How many times has the system failed during the past three months?
9. Number of years in business. In "internet years," one year is probably enough time for a host to have proven its viability.
10. Recommendations. We can send emails to people who are using this hosting service. In these emails, we can ask about the people's general experience with the host, and the specific points which are in this list (e.g., speed, reliability, etc.) We need to ask people whom we select -- not the people who are suggested by the host; those hand-picked people would probably give an excessively positive evaluation of the host.
11. Virtual hosting (i.e., the hosting of a virtual domain). In virtual hosting, we can:
    • Use the host's domain, e.g., http://www.virtualis.com/jstout.
    • Use our own domain (if we have registered a domain name with Internic), e.g., http://james-harvey-stout.com.
12. Prohibitions regarding content and activities. These prohibitions will help us to avoid various problems, if we are using the same domain name as that of our host. (The problems will not occur if we have our own domain name, unless we personally commit these offenses.)
    • Prohibitions against email spamming. If we have the same domain name as a known spammer, our email might be refused by other hosts and ISPs and by spam-blocking software.
    • Prohibitions against pornography. If we have the same domain name as pornography websites, people who use porn-blocking software will not be able to visit our non-pornography website. Porn-blocking software is used not only by parents, but also by some corporations, to prevent employees from visiting porn websites during the work-day. Thus, even if we have a non-pornography website, we might be inaccessible to many potential customers.
    • Prohibitions against "hate" websites. Some porn-blocking software blocks more than just pornography; it also blocks domains which host other types of "offensive" material, including material which expresses hatred toward various groups in society.
13. Security. If the host has inadequate security (including firewalls, etc.), our site might be mutilated by hackers.
14. Daily backup of the server. Like any other computer, our webhost's server can crash, wiping out all of the data (including our website). If the server has a backup, it can replace our website. (If it does not have a backup, we will have to ftp the files to the server again.)
15. Y2K compliance. Will the host's server be functional on January 1, 2000?
16. Opportunities for reselling. Some hosts allow their members to act as sales agents. If we find people who want to use the host's service, we receive a commission.
17. Special features. In addition to the general features which have been listed, we can look for the features which our company might or might not need:
    • Secure server. If we will have an order form on our website, we need to protect our customers' data (including credit-card numbers) by having the order form on a SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) server. Many hosts offer SSL security, but we might have to pay more for it -- perhaps $20 to $50 extra per month.
    • CGI bin. CGI scripts are programs which are commonly used for creating forms, guestbooks, counters, and other activities on a website. The website host might provide:
      • The CGI scripts themselves.
      • Our own cgi-bin. If we have our own bin, we can install the scripts which we acquire or write. Some hosts require us to submit our scripts for approval before we can use them on our site.
      • FTP access or telnet access to the cgi-bin. We might be allowed only one or the other.
    • Mailing-list programs. These programs allow us to create a mailing list, for sending emails to multiple recipients.
    • Autoresponders. These programs automatically email a pre-written response to people who request particular information.
    • Email POP accounts. A POP account is an email mailbox, like the one which we might currently have at our ISP. Our email is sent to that account -- and it is stored there until we download it.
    • Email aliases. Aliases are different email addresses which direct the email to one POP account; for example, I have used the following email aliases: james@james-harvey-stout.com and feedback@james-harvey-stout.com. An email which addressed to either address will be re-directed to my POP mailbox at my ISP. A host might allow a limited number or an unlimited number of aliases.
    • FTP capability. If people will be downloading large files (e.g., software programs) from our site, we might want to have "anonymous FTP" capability. However, I do not have FTP capability with my current webhost, so I use an alternative; the code is <A HREF="http://www.james-harvey-stout.com/book-hh.exe">Download a copy.</A> . This code allows the same type of download which we would expect if we were downloading a software program from any other site.
    • Traffic analysis. Some webhosts provide traffic analysis, i.e., records regarding hte people who visit our site -- their origin, their path through our website, etc. (We might have to pay to see these records.) Other webhosts provide only a counter, which reveals the number of visitors.
    • Frontpage Extensions. The webhost might allow these extensions for Microsoft Frontpage™.
    • Onsite search engine. This is not the type of search engine which searches the entire internet. It searches only our own site; for example, we would type the word, "autoresponder," and the search engine would tell us where the word occurs on our website.
    • Guestbooks. Some webhosts provide them. Otherwise, we can acquire them from other sources.
    • Bulletin boards (also called message boards or discussion boards). Some webhosts provide them. Otherwise, we can acquire them from other sources.
    • Shopping carts. Some webhosts provide them. Otherwise, we can acquire them from other sources.
    • Support for RealAudio™ and RealVideo™. This support is not necessary; I have RealPlayer on my site, using .ram files which preclude the need for RealPlayer support.
    • Password protection for the pages. These passwords will keep out unwanted visitors.

Free website-hosting services. The obvious advantage is the price, but there are some disadvantages.

1. Free website-hosting services have a reputation for hosting fly-by-night and get-rich-quick companies. (Of course, some of the other companies are legitimate.) If we have the domain name of a free hosting service, many prospective customers will question our credibility, our honesty, and our staying-power.
2. Some free web-hosting services don't allow paid advertising; this includes banners.