Archives for October 2005

The Future for the smaller web hosts

October 27, 2005 By Christoph Puetz Leave a Comment

The Future for the smaller web hosts

What will the future of web hosting look like? At the moment it looks like the growth for Internet business is still very consistent and the overall future looks bright. More business will go online if terrorists continue to pose a thread when being in public places. Climate changes and events might also be a mitigating factor when it comes to online growth. The future for web hosting businesses should be a bright one, right?! But how bright is the future looking for the average web host out there?

About a year ago consolidation on the market was a hot topic and I think it still is. Especially the smaller web hosting businesses will see pressure in regards to keeping prices high enough to make a fair living and to be able to invest for future growth at the same time. Pressure will also come if another large market player enters the market or would expand its efforts to get more business. As an example – search engine providers are already looking for more ways to diversify business. Yahoo made the step into web hosting already – others like Google.com might follow. Every once in a while rumors already have it that Google’s debut as a web hosting provider is not that far out. So far this has not proven to be true, but who knows. If Google follows "1&1" business model and arrives with a fully automated hosting platform the smaller market players would likely feel the heat. Google is a trusted brand name with great products. A web hosting offer from Google for a low price might just what many folks would be waiting for. eBay could also be a potential candidate for this kind of service. A large established user base with a large connection to web hosting in a certain – who knows.

Automation and self-service options could also be a problem for the smallest of the smaller web hosts. If larger investments into new technology are needed the cash-strapped smaller web hosts will eventually hit a show stopping event and have to decide to either risk not following the market or to eventually sell their business to somebody with enough cash.

Overall smaller web hosting business should carve out a niche market and serve that market with full force to make sure that they do not open a back door to failure. If serving a niche market is not an option for a web host he should consider aggressive growth to be needed to stay competitive in the long run. Market consolidation might happen upon us faster than expected. "Expect to be eaten ….!"

Server Build Standards

October 26, 2005 By Christoph Puetz Leave a Comment

Server Build Standards

Once a hosting business reaches a certain size things might require to take different turns. Procedures that were easy to maintain and to decide on, suddenly require more administrative overhead to keep the business running. More personnel requires a little more management, more servers require a different take on server building and administration.

For a web hosting business the servers are pretty much the foundation of the business from a technical standpoint. If the servers go down the impact for the business can be severe. As soon as possible a web hosting business should establish certain standards that apply to all servers to reduce the administrative overhead for the administrators and to make it easier to troubleshoot problems.

Server Build Standards should contain requirements for hardware and software. Hardware is upgraded over time and newer machines come with faster CPU’s and eventually more disk space and memory. But by using a certain server model of a certain brand a minimum level of consistency is maintained and things like power supplies, memory, or drives are interchangeable. Technicians or admins will be familiar with the hardware and do not have to acquire and maintain knowledge about several different models with different the associated different issues.

Server software should be installed following the same steps and procedures on each server. Disk partitions, page file/swap file settings, user accounts, software settings and installed software in general – if this matches through-out the entire environment it will be very beneficial in the long run. Training of new employees does not require them to learn 25 different versions of a certain software. Troubleshooting will be made easier as the number of components on a system is limited and standardized through-out the environment. Server patching and updates/upgrades will be more smooth as testing will cover the entire environment. Different server builds would require additional testing to make sure nothing breaks. A standard level for security makes sure that all systems are secured. Standardized security also makes it easier to respond to security threads.

Servers could be build from a jumpstart server with all the right settings applied right when it comes online. One single server image needs to be maintained and new servers can be online within one hour if needed.

Overall – a standardized environment reduces the cost to maintain the environment. Web hosting businesses can save significant amounts of money and time and become more efficient.