W75pF - Web Site Plan: Web Hosting Report

W75p - Web Site Plan and Specification Project

Details for Part 15: Web Hosting Report

The Web Hosting Report is the result of research into available Internet Service Providers that have Web servers meeting the needs of the client. The needs of the client include technical, geographical, and financial constraints. In addition, the level of user support and potential for growth of the Website may be important to some clients.

The best way to research these needs is to prepare a spreadsheet that allows available hosting services to be compared and ranked according to the client's needs.

To find hosts: see Module W52c for suggestions on what to look for and where to find it.

Prepare a spreadsheet using the example below as your model. Don't hesitate to change it to suit your client's needs.

Example:

Web Hosting Report

We have investigated a number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which host Websites. The spreadsheet below summarizes the five of these which most closely meet the needs of the Stony Creek Historical Museum. Notes on each ISP are given below.

Key:

Company: Corporate name of ISP
Domain Name: URI (Web address) of ISP
Technical Notes: Information about technical capabilities of the ISP
Tech Rank: Of the ISPs investigated, how this one ranks technically
Geographical Notes: Information about the location of the ISP and its "POPs" (Points of Presence, where clients may access them by telephone)
Geog Rank: Of the ISPs investigated, how this one ranks geographically
Fee Structure: Information about fees, charges, and other costs
Fee Rank: Of the ISPs investigated, how this one ranks in terms of costs
Overall Rank: Average of the three ranks

Company	Domain Name	Technical Notes	Tech Rank	Geographical Notes	Geog Rank	Fee Structure	Fee Rank	Overall Rank
Willis Internet Link	www.willislink.net	Connects to backbone via SDSL; no database service	5	About 2 miles from SCHM; POP local to immediate area only	2	$75 Domain name; $29.99 for 30 Mb; $49.99 for 100Mb	3	3.3
Provident.Net	www.provident.net	Connects to backbone via T1; database available; canned CGI only	2	About 6 miles from SCHM; POPs local to SE Mich	1	$35 Domain name; $19.99 for 20Mb; $39.99 for 80Mb	2	1.7
Compuserve	www.cs.com	Connects to backbone via multiple T3s; no database or CGI	5	Columbus, OH; POPs local in most of USA, Canada, and Europe	2	No domain name service; $9.99 for 5Mb	1	2.7
etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.

Notes:

Willis Internet Link: Run by a local family as a hobby, this offers very modest home-town service at fairly high rates. Poor potential for growth of the Website, but close-by and friendly.

Provident.Net: Near-by local business with reputation for good support. Reasonable rates and good potential for site expansion. However, they are protective of their system and do not ordinarily allow CGI written by unknown parties for fear of accidental damage to files.

Compuserve: One of the oldest ISPs, Compuserve has a very wide network of POPs, but does not offer technical features or support. Rates are very low, but the distant location and poor technical profile make this an unlikely choice for future growth.

etc.

This document is part of instructional module W75p: Web Site Plan and Specification Project
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