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| 08 | 2007 |
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| Connectivity: Parsing Data Transfer Terms, Part II |
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In Part I of "Connectivity: Parsing Data Transfer Terms," we took an in-depth look at data transfer terms and analyzed the different benefits offered by the most popular types of broadband solutions. Based on their features and flaws, we also established which choices may benefit home and business connectivity. In Part II, we expand this line of thinking to include selection of an internet service provider (ISP) to host your website.
The same data transfer rates outlined in Part I are also important when considering where to host your website, and there are several elements you should review to determine what bandwidth will be sufficient to handle your site’s traffic. There is a big difference, for example, between hosting a small, static site versus hosting an e-commerce site. “Bandwidth… is particularly important for e-commerce sites because it is used every time a visitor views the images and text on Web pages. With 750Gb a month, a business whose site is laden with images and videos could serve more than a million visitors a month. A text-only site could serve billions,” according to a recent Business Week article. The top three things you should consider are:
1. Amount of traffic – how many visitors does your website receive per month? This can easily be determined by implementing one of the many free or inexpensive site stat programs available. The higher the traffic your site receives, the more bandwidth you’ll need to support it.
2. Site content - does your site contain a high number of images, audio or video files? The more your visitors download, the higher the bandwidth you’ll need.
3. Site functionality – will your visitors be searching? Buying? Viewing products? Accessing accounts? All of these functions require bandwidth, and your visitors won’t be willing to wait long for a page to load.
When selecting your website host, like selecting your internet access provider, the most important items are bandwidth and uptime. But, unless you are hosting your website in-house, you won’t be restricted to utilizing only the providers in your area. In fact, Network World recommends that "small companies not host their own Web servers for two reasons: bandwidth and security."" For a fraction of the cost of paying for high bandwidth to be brought to you, "you can rent outstanding Web hosting service from any national provider, and let it worry about downloading all the security patches and monitoring all the hacker alerts each week."
So, what specs should you be scrutinizing the most when selecting a Web host?
1. The highest bandwidth necessary to handle your site traffic, content and functionality. If you’re unsure, consult the tech support departments and provide them with these details so they can determine the minimum bandwidth requirements you’ll need.
2. Guaranteed uptime. Make sure your Web host guarantees at least 99.9% uptime and offers superior customer service.
3. What tier level is the provider? If they are not a Tier 1 ISP, then they’re reselling their hosting services. And although you may get a lower price, you may also experience latency and therefore slower speeds.
For small to medium size business, the ISP choices are almost unlimited. If your site requires extremely high bandwidth to handle a high amount of traffic or a high rate of downloads, you may need to consider a custom hosting solution that enables you to have more than one dedicated T1 line, usually networked over several servers in order to provide load balancing – which is essentially a fancy term for having multiple servers juggle your website’s traffic in order to insure that your transfer speeds are fast and that no data bottlenecks occur. You’ll also need to be more scrupulous in your selection. Companies such as The Brookfield Group are a prime example of some of the features you should require: the company is large enough that it owns its own data center, which means they’re a Tier 1 provider. At the same time, they aren’t so large that you’ll be speaking with a technician in another country when you call tech support – you’ll get a live person in the data center locale to answer your questions. In addition, because they’re a Tier 1 provider, you’ll not only get direct access to those high speeds, but because they run their own data center, you’ll find that your requests are accomplished expeditiously because they are not reselling solutions and relying on their own provider to make the changes.
With the arsenal of definitions and terms outlined in Part I, along with this guide to determining your website’s bandwidth needs and what to look for in a host, you’ll be sufficiently armed when selecting the appropriate features to meet your needs. And, in effect, securing the best bandwidth and uptime guarantees to insure that your website stays up and running and at optimal speeds for your users.
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About The Brookfield Group
The Brookfield Group has become a leader in IT, ISP, ASP and web solutions by providing next level technology solutions managed by experts who give you peace of mind without the tech-talk. The company's services are customized to fit any enterprise-size businesses and include: IT project management; hosting solutions and maintenance; systems security and patches; telecommunications services, server and desktop setup, repair and applications; network infrastructure design; audio visual products; surveillance and security solutions; as well as a variety of other software, hardware, services and accessories. Located in Carmel, Indiana, more information about The Brookfield Group products and services is available at www.thebrookfieldgroup.com or by calling 317.524.6000.
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