Web Hosting: Should we do it Ourselves?

Many small to mid sized businesses are confronted with the question of whether they should host their own web hosting service (bring it in-house) or pay for a web hosting service. Most companies attempt to host their own web hosting site in an effort to save money and further utilize services and equipment. However in reality this effort can cost a tremendous amount of time and money.

Setting up and maintaining a web server and web connection for the service of providing web hosting is an extremely complex undertaking. There are several areas of information technology which you must be familiar with in order to properly setup and maintain a web hosting platform. Let’s look at each of these areas and discuss what you need to know in order to provide web hosting services.

Domain Name Service
Domain name service or DNS is the heart of the internet. It is the system by which complex internet addresses become easy to understand and logical names. For example 209.73.186.238 becomes www.yahoo.com. In order for you to establish web hosting for your company you must work within the DNS system to get your web address pointed at the proper internet address. You must also maintain MX records, A records, CNAME records and a myriad of other DNS settings.

Internet Protocol Address
In order to provide a reliable web hosting experience your web hosting platform should be located at a static Internet Protocol or IP address. This means that your computer must be at the same address always. This often means that you must purchase a more advanced internet connection from your provider. It also means a far more complex configuration on your router and firewall.

Obtaining a static IP address is also costly. All Internet service providers charge a premium for services with static addresses.

Security
Providing your own web hosting service means that you must open your server to the entire internet. In order for people to access your web hosting platform your web hosting server must be accessible to everyone on the internet, including web hosting hackers. This means that any information on your web hosting platform is vulnerable to security threats. If your web hosting server is your main office server this means that your entire company network can be compromised.

Web Server Software
If your company is going to do web hosting it also must have a server with web server software. Web hosting software can be extremely complicated. You must work with things like sub domains, virtual domains, and SSL certificates. Web server software from many popular vendors is prone to crashing. This means that web hosting on your main network server could disrupt your entire computer network.

There is often added cost because of the need to purchase additional software to support web hosting services. These costs can run into the $1000’s of dollars for Microsoft web hosting products.

As you can see providing in house web hosting services is a very difficult and expensive task to accomplish. Many Internet consulting companies agree that utilizing a customer friendly web hosting company is the best way for a small to mid size company to get its web site on the Internet.

Presented By:
Ironkeep Technologies LLC
Albert Steed

Ironkeep Technologies is a technology provider located in the Traverse City, Michigan area. We have over 10 years experience delivering a wide range of consulting, web design, web hosting, programming, networking and other services to a variety of businesses both large and small.