By Julian Sher, technical director at Internet Online
The South African Web hosting market resembles a plethora of companies that are chasing down potential clients with variable offers that range in price. So what? - Well, the potential online customer must exercise caution and be discerning in his or her choice of host. The end result could mean the difference between a symbiotic or parasitic relationship.
Generally, web-hosting companies charge in the region of between R50 and R450 per month for services. Most of these companies are what is commonly referred to as `resellers`. The reseller`s business is based on renting space on a web server belonging to another hosting company and reselling that space to clients.
Resellers tend to rent space from overseas hosting companies because bandwidth or web traffic is cheaper than it is in South Africa. This is where the customer must take a step back and evaluate the set-up, infrastructure and service level. In some cases, if one delves a little deeper into the dynamics of the contract, it is possible that several cracks begin to show in the armour protecting the effective online presence of a client.
There are a few glaring disadvantages facing a reseller renting space overseas. Firstly, an international Internet line can go down and this obviously directly affects a clients web page. If a line goes down it will cause a web page to cease until the connection is restored.
Secondly, there is often a delay in communication if the reseller has to initiate a support question with his supplier. In addition, web sites hosted overseas are considerably slower than locally hosted sites and most international hosting companies charge for extra services such as Frontpage extensions, extra mailboxes and new domains.
Then, of course, one has to consider the exchange rate fluctuations.
In the end the online client of a reseller hosting overseas could easily face long delays in service, great deal of downtime and unforeseen expenses.
So, what should one look for in a host? If a hosting company is not renting off an overseas server, it does not necessarily mean the service level automatically improves.
Most companies do not offer a control panel to manage web sites. If they do, they are in all likelihood Unix control panels that are not the most user friendly. Hosting companies that are not hosting overseas generally have a leased line to their home or office. This is not optimal because speeds are considerably lower, the line goes down, power failures and much more.
Internet Online views any person who has a product to sell, or a story to tell as a potential hosting client. The majority of these people, who mainly fall into the category of small-to-medium sized businesses and individuals, cannot afford the prices of high profile companies.
Cape-based Internet Online owns its own technology and servers. These are housed locally within UUNET`s data centre. The company`s Windows-based control panel is generic software that can be accessed through the browser and provides users with full control over all the aspects of online domain management. This includes the addition and administration of e-mail accounts, aliases, auto-responders, database connections, file and directory permissions and live statistics.
The company has been in the domain registration and web site hosting market since 1998. Full support and services are included in a broad offering including web hosting solutions at www.digitalhost.co.za, instant domain registrations at www.digitaldomainz.co.za as well as corporate and personal dialup connections at www.y.co.za.
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