How to Find a Home for your Web Site

Module W52c

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What do you need in a Web Server?
As the Web has developed, many service providers have emerged. Some are free, some more costly. Many are local, while many others are national or international. How can you decide on the best place to host your Web site? It depends on what you need! Consider these factors:

How Much will This Cost?

For individuals and small businesses, the amount budgeted for Web service will be relatively small. But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for: though there are "free" Web hosting sites, many of them entail costs that are not necessarily monetary.

Where can I access it from?

All World Wide Web sites are available from any computer connected to the Internet, anywhere in the world. (The exception is Web sites intentionally set up as part of a corporate "intranet" - a local area network using TCP/IP, the "language" of the Internet.)

This question addresses the issue, where do I need to be to update my Web site? Most individuals and organizations will update their Web site from a fixed location, but those with special mobility needs may wish to choose a national or international Web service provider with "Points of Presence" (POPs) in many locations.

How much traffic will my site generate?

Well, we all hope to generate lots of traffic on our Web site! But realistically, the more traffic you generate the greater the capacity of the server and its link to the outside world need to be...and potentially the more expensive it may become.

The amount of traffic a site can handle is called its bandwidth. A high bandwidth carries more traffic than a low bandwidth.

What Server-Side features will I need?

"Server-Side" features include many of the special things you do to get feedback from or about your site visitors. They require the Web server to run a program. For example:
  • Counters to keep track of how many visitors you have
  • Receiving information from forms your visitors fill out, usually using the Common Gateway Interface, "CGI"
  • Setting and reading "cookies" - little information packets left on the individual visitors' computers, which can help you identify and (hopefully!) serve your visitors better
  • Making database queries possible for your visitors

How much help will I need?

Another consideration is how much you will be depending on technical help from the people who maintain your server. In general, local service providers are more accessible - but all rules have their exceptions!

Free Servers

Pros and Cons of Free Servers
Advantages:
They're free! Need we say more?

Disadvantages:
There are free servers open to the general public, and others that serve special groups, such as churches, clubs, or charitable organizations. They differ somewhat in their character...

  • Public free Web services
    • Most show advertisements when people view your page
    • Many have well-known names that are not "prestige addresses"
  • Special free Web services
    • You may not be eligible for one
    • Their bandwidth may be relatively low
  • Most free Web services
    • Limited help
    • Limited server-side abilities

Lists of Free Web Servers, Community Networks, and Freenets
Yahoo has one of the most widely respected and frequently updated listing services. This part of their directory lists free services. You may get some different perspectives from the following lists, though.

NetUtopia's list of free Web-page hosts: Go to the very bottom of this page where there is a large array of list-boxes. The very last box on the list has free Web space listings.

The Free Site: Free Web Pages: In addition to freebies of many kinds, this site lists free Web servers with brief reviews.

FreeWebSpace.net: Has both categorical list of free sites and a searchable index.

A list of sites where you can get Free Web Pages by Jon Pennycook. Questionable how up-to-date this is, but useful none the less.

Freenets and Community Networks by Peter Scott. This page is huge and slow in arriving; it's also  old and poorly maintained. But with all the information on this page, it's hard to imagine that you won't find something useful!
Organization for Community Networks
A list of FreeNets and other Affiliate Systems

Local Servers

Why not stay local?

Staying local means you're in closer touch with your host administrators. But if you need to update your site from multiple places outside your local area, it might not be what you need.

Where to find local Web providers

Yahoo and Mecklermedia are among organizations that list Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These almost all provide Web hosting service as well.

National and International

How much do I travel?

So how much do you travel? And do you need to update your Web site while you're out of town?
Or how spread out are the people who need to update your Web page? Do people from various parts of the world need to edit and refresh your site?
If so, you may find it convenient to use a national or international service provider as your Web host. Here's a list of providers and places where you can find more.

Finding the Big Guys

America Online
AOL claims to be the largest value-added computer service provider in the US. 
AOL provides its own access software, and millions of people and organizations have their Web pages on AOL. Reports mention occasional slow access problems because of crowding.
Most AOL access numbers are in the US, which it covers quite thoroughly, but they are expanding into Europe as well.

Visit America Online

CompuServe
CompuServe is one of the original online service providers, and is still growing strong, though part of is holdings were recently purchased by America Online. Its availability in most of the world makes it an attractive service provider for travellers who need to stay in touch on the Net. 

CompuServe Web site maintenance is through a somewhat clumsy proprietary access system that works best with CompuServe-specific software like CIM (CompuServe Information Manager). 

Visit CompuServe

Hundreds of other service providers have national and regional access points, and could serve as your Web host. Check out Yahoo's database of service providers

 


 About this document...

Audience:

 This is for people who are familiar with the Internet and its terminology, are interested in creating a Web site for a small to medium size organization, and want to know the options for Web hosting.

Objectives:

When you successfully complete this lesson, you will be able to...

  1. Analyze your Web site's hosting needs
  2. Discuss the advantages of local vs. national vs. world-wide hosts for different circumstances
  3. Check various sources for information about Web hosts

Module W52c:

 This document is part of a modular instruction series in Computer Information Systems. For more information, see the overview or the list of modules in this series, W: World Wide Web. This document has been used in the following classes: 

Author:

 Laurence J. Krieg

Institution:
Department of Computer Information Systems / Internet Professional
Washtenaw Community College
History: Original: 29 Nov 1998
Last modification:  Sunday, 06-Feb-2005 18:28:49 EST
Copyright: Copyright © 1999-2005, Laurence J. Krieg, Washtenaw Community College.
Instructors: You may point to this file in your Web-based materials.
Students: you may make a copy for your personal use.
All other uses: contact the author, Laurence J. Krieg for permission. Email krieg@ieee.org