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Self Hosting Is No Party

Published Saturday, August 2, 2008 by bloggerblognet83460 | E-mail this post

The bill for corporate, or even large marketing sites can run into hundreds, or even thousands of dollars a year. As major business sites grow larger by the day, the need for fancier features like interactive databases and video or audio options increases the costs of staying current in today's rapidly changing hosting scene.

One of the financial solutions online businesses, both large and small, are looking at is self hosting, or setting up your own server and operating it yourself.

Larger businesses would need to consider adding a department of creative employees to handle the technical aspects and the constant need for new content. Smaller, personal online businesses, like skillful Internet Marketers, could do with a scaled-down version of the same processes and run it themselves.

Here's two basic concepts you will need to thoroughly understand what is involved before jumping into self hosting for yourself:

** You need to have more than a basic understanding of how websites and
email processes work and, definitely, some of the hidden requirements
of the Internet that you never thought about before. You will need to
totally understand the intricacies of using email, uploading with FTP and
how your website functions in the background. Some study will be
required if you want to keep customers visiting your site.

** The first piece of hardware you would need to research and select is the
server. You could probably use one of the mid-range "over the counter"
home computers currently made by any reputable computer company. It
doesn't have to be a high end, big bucks box.

What you do need, though, is a fast Internet connection to handle the
amount of traffic you expect to have on your website. The faster the
Broadband Internet connection, the better your incoming traffic will be
handled by your server. Based on what you anticipate for high traffic on
your site, you might actually need a higher specification computer.

The more memory you have the better your server will perform. The
applications you run on your server to attract your clients and keep them
happy will often require large amounts of memory. If you run out of
memory, your computer will slow down considerably and start using your
hard drive to run the applications your customers want to access.

These two points of concern are not the only considerations you will need to think about before and overcome when you start to host your own websites, but they do give you a good start to understand what is required. The main point to keep in mind is that everything you select for your server has to be chosen to benefit your customers.

Dan Thompson is a veteran website designer and has used numerous web hosts in his time. Dan specializes in writing web host reviews, his latest article is a Hostmonster Review. You can view Dan's latest web hosting review at http://www.hostmonster-the-review.com