Gozooko

We just got back from the ILS and it was great to see so many of you!  As usual Mike and Jeff put on a great show and we are already looking forward to the April show!

We love the ILS it gives us an opportunity to hear first hand the challenges people are facing in the industry.One of the biggest challenges facing organizations today is how to
choose an ecommerce solution.  Once again we heard some unfortunate stories of good people being taken advantage of by unscrupulous people.  Having paid 10's of thousands
of dollars and having nothing to show for it.To better understand exactly what to look for in an ecommerce solution we are offering this  multi-part  series on the components
and features of ecommerce.
So let's start off with the basics of hosting services:
Shared Hosting - This service means you are on a server with other hosting clients.  You share the same CPU, Memory, Operating System, Applications.  Not usually used for ecommerce.
Pro: Inexpensive
Con: Not good for ecommerce, not flexible, limited system resources, one client can effect the performance of others on the system.
Dedicated Hosting - This is a service where you have a complete server dedicated to you.  You have access to all the resources on the system, and can usually do as you wish with it.
Pro: Access to the complete server resources.  Can be designed to fit your needs of CPU, memory, hard drive, etc...
Con: Expensive.  May require skilled resources to manage.
Managed Web Hosting - This is like the dedicated model but with added services such as a system administrator to manage the server.
Pro: More customized service.  More accessibility and flexibility.
Con: Higher cost than dedicated.
Server Co-Location - This is where you purchase the server and provide it to the hosting company to put in their data center.  Usually the hosting company is responsible only
for the connectivity.  This can be combined with other services such as administration, security, etc...
Pro: Allows the most customizable flexible solution. 
Con: High level of skills and management required.
The next installment will cover availability, disaster recovery, and business continuity.