Does Your Company Need Its Own Web Server Computer?

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Web Marketing Today, February 8, 1996, Issue 6

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The short answer is "not likely." You'll save lots and lots of money by leasing space on your Internet Service Provider's host computer. In-house Web servers cost money for hardware, software, system administrators, firewalls, leased T1 lines, and the list goes on. We're easily talking about $20,000 and up and up and up. Compare that to paying a $100 set-up fee and $100 per month to an ISP (and usually you can get those services for considerably less).

Don't be talked into it by a computer systems person who wants a new toy. Make sure you need it. You MAY need an in-house Web server computer if:

• You are getting tens of thousands of hits a day
• You need access to sophisticated programs your ISP won't install
• You need to provide direct Web access to data from your mainframe

Even then, investigate keeping your hardware physically located at your ISP's physical location (called "co-location") to save money, and share the services of a systems administrator and a fast T1 line with other such businesses.

What I like about the Web is the low entry fee. Don't make it higher than it needs to be for your company.