When it concerns ecommerce web hosting you can expect to come across five different methods including in-house, shared, co-location, dedicated and one that is both managed and dedicated. Which one you choose will depend entirely on the type of skills that your staff has and also will be based on the special needs of your business.
In-House Option
In-house ecommerce web hosting simply requires that the business purchases both hardware and software along with leases an internet connection (high-speed). However, it also means having to employ special staff who will maintain the ecommerce web hosting solution including performing tasks such as looking after security, reliability, monitoring as well as taking back-ups.
On the other hand, co-location ecommerce web hosting means that you can locate your server in the location used by the hosting company that in turn will provide the necessary bandwidth as well as provides IP address and power for running the server. The main benefits of this type of plan are that the costs are lower; there is more control over hardware while disadvantages include not having physical access to the server.
Another ecommerce web hosting option is that of shared web hosting in which the server needs to be shared amongst different users. It means that more than one website will be located on a single host’s server and the internet connection too will need to be shared amongst different users. However, if you are looking for a low cost ecommerce web hosting solution then this option may prove to be the best despite getting lower bandwidth and also not having control over the OS (operating system) used.
Dedicated ecommerce web hosting is perhaps more attractive as it involves getting exclusive use of the server and related software as well as gets a separate Internet connection. All it requires is that you lease the server from the ecommerce web hosting company though at the same time you will also have control over the type of operating system used as well as the software applications used. Dedicated ecommerce web hosting is ideal in case your company gets a lot of traffic and when the need to get maximum reliability is great and you also need better bandwidth as well as more competent response times.
With the relative ease today in setting up an online business, you would, besides choosing an ecommerce web hosting solution, also need to look at ecommerce software so as to ensure that such software is not of inferior quality as that can lead major headaches in running your online business.
As far as selecting the most appropriate ecommerce web hosting solution you need to consider factors such as cost, bandwidth, and expertise of in-house staff as well as type of service provided by the hosting company.
