At its most basic, getting an Internet project up and running requires two essentials: access to hardware and access to the Internet. Hardware and bandwidth are a major consideration in light of both the potential expense and the issue of quality of service. This is one of those areas where you can pay as much or as little as you like. There is a correlation between what you pay and the quality you get, but there are plenty of good deals to be found in the current market, so shop around.

Let’s take one step back and make sure everyone shares some common ground, in terms of terms.

“Servers” are the hardware that holds and distributes information to people via the Internet. A small site may reside on a server with a number of other sites, a large site may require hundreds of separate servers in a variety of physical locations, all connected together and running as one cohesive system.

Servers can handle a wide variety of functions, from housing websites, to running mailing systems. For a quick rundown of server terminology check out the Webopedia server listing.

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It’s the role of any reliable hosting firm to take full responsibility for its hardware, software and operating environment so that webmasters can focus solely upon running their business.
If a hosting company is truly committed to this objective, their technical support must be stellar. Customer care therefore is always a major consideration before you chose a Web host.

Since it is a major loss leader, many hosting firms don’t invest in the labor and equipment required to maintain their operation. It is thus the task of wise webmasters to size up the expertise of a hosting company’s support staff before making the fateful decision concerning where to host their Web sites.

Determining whether technical support is dependable is important, because if anything goes wrong with your site, who are you going to call? In an ideal world, it would be your knowledgeable customer care representative. However, in the real world, we know that knowledgeable customer care is hard to find.

Hosting companies claim that they have technicians working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year in their operation centers maintaining mission-critical systems. While this in fact may be true, the most unqualified people in the hosting industry sometimes work in support call centers. Due to the unprecedented demand for IT professionals, many Web hosts can’t find employees that are formally trained in Operating System and network technology. Other firms allot so much money to advertising and marketing that technical support becomes a secondary priority. In both instances, customers suffer because they cannot access immediate or useful assistance. So before you select a host, make sure that you put their support to the test.

First, call up technical support and ask them to walk you through the basic routines needed to maintain your site. Ask the technical support technician whether he or she is available at the office at regular intervals. Ask the technician whether he or she went through a corporate or professional training program in order to qualify for the job. If the technician is assisting you with a Windows NT-based request, make sure to ask whether he or she has a MCSC, or Microsoft certification. Ask the support technician how long he or she has been working with the company.

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What’s your web address?”

From small “mom and pop” home-based businesses to mega-stores, people ask this question in business every single day. Even if you only operate a small, local business, if you don’t have a website (or at least email) people honestly look at you funny.

A few years ago, website hosting was one of the largest expenses connected with setting up a website. Now, with dramatic drops in pricing, website hosting can actually present the least costly component of operating a website.

However, before you run out and sign up for $2-a-month website hosting and wake up tomorrow filled with regret, take 5 minutes right now and learn the main points to consider when evaluating any website host.

Most of your customers are not unreasonable sort of people. They understand that problems crop up and mistakes do happen. I don’t know about you, but I know that I am a MUCH more reasonable customer when the company I am purchasing services or products from promptly communicates any problems that arise.

The web is all about communication, so you would assume that any company that makes web hosting its primary business should really understand this and put measures into place that allows for the most reliable and uninterrupted communication with their customers. We talked about this a bit in our last article and promised to give you some tips about methods we have implemented to increase our ability to communicate with our customers during emergencies.