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"What Web's up, must download".
  Ragmar Bosephus, Web Designer

What to Look for in an ISP/Web Host
No, not all web hosts and ISP's are alike. In fact, no two are alike. Many ISP's offer web hosting services but they vary in cost and in fullness of services as well as quality of services. Your needs in a web host are related to and derived from your ISP connectivity choice, dialup access, wireless connection or LAN (Local Area Network, aka Intranet) connection.

Web Hosting

One of the most important choices you will make is the choice of where to host your website. You may choose the same company that you chose for Connectivity to the Internet, your ISP to also host your site. However, not all ISP's provide hosting services.

As noted above, all hosting services are not created equal. A good host will provide you with a fast backbone connection to the Internet, bandwidth (usually measured as total bandwidth capacity per month) lots of services, and a variety of servers.


Servers - Up to this point, we have focused on web page servers, servers that primarily serve up a certain type of file format, html files predominatley and and few other types such as jpegs and gifs (graphic formats). The browser then displays the file as a formatted web page and places the graphics on the page.

The web server can also send a few other formats if the browser happens to have the correct applets (plugins) to display or run the format. Besides html tagged text documents, browsers can read unformatted text (aka ASCII or DOS), sound files, video files, streaming audio and video filesd, animation files, and PDF files. http://www.udel.edu/interlit/chapter12.html

However, you may need several other types of servers to make your website run and deliver all the types of information and content that your customers desire and need:

Types of Web Host Servers User Tasks for Server Info

DNS Servers
  • Database servers for naming servers and websites on servers and finding them

Webpage Servers
(aka IP Servers)

  • Catalog Inventory and related Info - products, price, sizes, availability, etc.
Secure Servers
  • Process real time payment systems
  • Store encrypted information
Database Servers
  • Store & Retrieve Order Info
  • Track Orders and order status
  • Customer History - recognize customer, shopping cart info, past pages visited, customer delivery and order data, etc.
FTP Servers
  • Transfer large files on the Internet but don't open and display the files

Email Servers

  • Pop = outgoing
  • SMTP (or Mime) = Incoming
       
  • Suggestive Selling - coupons, discounts, communications, autoresponders, etc
Chat Servers
  • Customers exchange information
  • IT Site support

Usenet Newsgroups
(aka Bulletin Board Servers)
  • Customers post and respond
  • Website information posted

Listserv Servers
  • Website distributes Newsletters
  • Coupons
Applications Servers
  • a server computer in a computer network dedicated to running certain software applications
    more information
 
So, what can you ask for in terms of service and Web Site hosting? Try this list for starters. It is asking a lot but isn't at all unreasonable.
Web Hosting Criteria:
  • Access connection from anywhere in the USA
  • multiple Email accounts (10-100 or unlimited)
  • unlimited Email aliases
  • many autoresponders - email and dynamic
  • Online Email maintenance
  • 50-500 MB disk space, more available
  • FTP to and from: FTP (for you to upload) and anonymous FTP (customer downloads)
  • Frequent backup (daily?)
  • customer connections: DSL access, 56K modem, ISDN, Cable
  • A fast, Broadband backbone Internet connection: T1(1.544 mbps =million bits per second) T3 (44.736 mbps)
  • Full CGI script support and a good library available
  • Support Java, PERL, C++, TCL, SQL Server, 
  • authoring tools support (e.g. FrontPage)
  • Traffic logs
  • Page and transfer statistics
  • Referrer logs (where the user came from)
  • Site Search Engine
  • Shopping Cart
  • Secure Server and Merchant Service setup (domain registration, digital certificate, a merchant service account, etc.)
  • limit on number of sites hosted per server
  • Additional servers added to maintain server speed when needed


For Example...a initial setup may show
Resource
 Used Allowed
Validity period
Disk space
Traffic
Subdomains
Web users
Mailboxes
Redirects
Mail groups
Autoresponders
Mailing lists
Databases
Java applications

May 21, 2009
1.30 MB
2.88 MB/Month
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0

 Unlimited
342 MB
33.3 GB/Month
17
Unlimited
Unlimited
84
42
84
Unlimited
5
4


The following is a guideline for looking at the ISP/Web Host company and its staff.
  • Get current customer recommendations - both provided and visit member sites and ask via eMail
  • Ask for their track record of service and downtime
  • Fee structure - is it clear? Are there options? Competitive?
  • Connections available and Internet connection speed; user-to-modem ratio
  • Do they allow pornography? It draws a lot of traffic and slows down the service
  • People - staff, owners
  • 24/7 service? Multiple ways to get help
  • Look at their site

Some additional things to ask for might include:

  • Disk space available
  • Discounts for non-profits
  • mailing lists and listserv support
  • Shell Account (Telnet Access)/FTP - permissions modifications for CGI scripts, rename files, etc.
  • Server-side includes (embedding a web document into another Web document, e.g. the results from a form display as a Web page
  • Password protected pages
  • Resell Web Space - set up your own Web hosting company
  • workshops, training, promotional and design services
  • How many servers? what type?