Hosting

What is hosting?

A web site needs to be placed on a server that is permanently connected to the internet and accessible so that visitors can surf your site. Typically this done by a specialist company running a large number of servers with high speed connections to the internet hosting thousands of web sites. They will handle the maintenance, management and security of the servers and connections to the internet.

Hosting Options

The standard options are to share the use of a server with many other sites or have a server dedicated to your site. We also offer a popular solution which sits between these giving the benefits of a dedicated server but at a reduced the cost by sharing this amongst a small number of our clients.

Shared server

Space on a large shared server (shared with many other sites who are not customers of Epsilis - so we are not in control of what sites or software sits on the server).

Suitable for:

  • a straight-forward web site which is not mission critical
  • small companies where economy is more important than performance
Dedicated server (shared use)

Space on a dedicated server shared with a limited number of other Epsilis customers. We have direct control over all sites and software sitting on the server.

Suitable for sites with:

  • a high reliability requirement
  • expecting a reasonable level of traffic
  • do not contain any processor intensive applications
Dedicated server (exclusive use)

A dedicated server for the exclusive use of your websites.

Suitable if you:

  • have a high reliability requirement
  • are expecting a high level of traffic, or
  • high processor intensive applications such as significant database searches or circulation list processing
  • have a portfolio of sites

All options come with service and performance guarantees and a variety of support and backup options if required.

Alternatively source your own hosting at 1and1. They are very competitive and provide a large range of extras with many of their shared hosting packages.

link to 1and1

Regards

Michael Spencer, Managing Director.
michael@epsilis.co.uk
Epsilis - Website Designers
47 Farthing Drive
Letchworth Garden City
Hertfordshire (Herts)
SG6 2TR
UK

Your Domain name (eg www.epsilis.co.uk) is your web site address. Name servers around the internet are catalogues of where web sites are hosted so visitors can find your web site. It is a good idea to keep your domain name separate from your hosting arrangement as this provides you with the flexibility to move hosting easily when required. We recommend you purchase your domain name from 123-Reg. They are very competitive and provide you with a control panel to manage your domain name.

link to 123-reg

Windows or Unix server? The main difference between these platforms is the programming languages used. We specialise in the windows technologies therefore most of our sites would use a Windows server.

Email: limited email provisions are normally bundled with Shared servers but not with Dedicated servers. Typically businesses make separate arrangements for their email requirements. The same domain name can usually be used for both your web site and email.

Bandwidth: a generous monthly allowance for traffic at your site is included within the hosting contract. However a very busy site (or a site containing large files for downloading) may require more than the allowance included and therefore incur additional charges on a metered basis.

Site statistics: are available as an optional extra.