web hosting how-to - Help!!

First you need a web hosting company. You can get setup with a good company for around $25 a month. There are many people here that can refer you to their host.

Second, you need to design the web site. You can do it yourself or hire someone. I know of a few people that do a really good job at reasonable prices. Email me and I will be glad to help you.

Third, you then need to promote your web site. This can be done by so many ways, explore this forum for starters and start surfing.

That is basically all.

HTH

Curtis

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Take your business to the next level for [red]free[/red]!
Internet Marketing Success: http://www.imsnewsletter.com

I agree with Curits ... Also to get everything started, it takes a while and most average cost spend would be near $25 to $2,000 depends on what you want. If you want everything, it cost more than you expect. It is not that easy.

I hope you best of luck!

Cheers,

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Carolina Web Net
www.carolinaweb.net

OK, thanks for the responses, but I guess i was not clear, so let me try again.

this client already has a web site--which we built for them, and which is being hosted by a local ISP. they have their own domain name and have a nice "presence" on the web.

however!!!-- they want to host themselves. they want to become a host, and connect directly to the internet -- not through an ISP or hosting service. you might say they want to be their own ISP, offering service only to themselves.

so, . . . now the question is, where can i find documentation on how to become your own host on the internet? step by step so it can be costed out.

thanks for any assistance.
jeff.

Hmm, if they want to only offer service to themselves, then they would not be called a web hosting company. I'm not sure what you are saying. But they might want a dedicated server. The only way they could not go through a hosting provider, is they need their own server, and a T1 line. But they are still going to go through someone above them, we all do. I don't see why they want all of this and not sure what exactly you mean by your question. If they need faster service and such, they might want to go with another hosting company. The only thing a hosting provider does is share space to you from their servers that are connected to the backbones, with whatever customer service they offer. The best way to go is with a dedicated server from a hosting company, any other way would just be a waste of money. Plus you get extra software, features and support for free for about the same price with a hosting company.

HTH
Curtis

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Take your business to the next level for [red]free[/red]!
Internet Marketing Success: http://www.imsnewsletter.com

Curtis --
thank you.
suppose i have a dedicated server. if i don't connect through an ISP, how do i get connected to the Internet backbone? who do i call / get permission from / pay / etc.
thanks for your time and patience.
jeff.

OK, here I go

In order for your company (or the company you work for) to run their own servers, you would basically need a qualified systems administrator to begin with. Someone that knows how to run the operating system that they will be using (Windows NT, RedHat Linux, FreeBSD, etc.). I am not sure if that is you or someone else, or if they even have someone qualified, but they cost a lot of money (usually $60,000+ per year for a good one). The person maintaining this machine is going to have to know a great deal unless all the server is going to be hosting is one static site which you WOULD NOT want to be doing by investing the type of money you will have to invest into this... I am assuming this company has quite a number of powerful sites, right?

Next, you are going to need a server. Depending on the type of applications you would like to run, you will need Windows NT or RedHat Linux probably. FreeBSD is also an option as well as Solaris and Mac to name a few more. This server is going to cost upwards of at least $3,000 and possibly closer to $10,000, depending again on the applications that you would like to run.

Than of course you need the applications. If you plan to run Windows NT, you are looking at several thousand more just for the applications. If you are running any UNIX based server, your costs are going to be reasonably lower in this area because UNIX is open-source so most of the applications are free.

Than the big item and the one I think you are really looking for. How do you connect to the Internet??? Well, you have quite some amount of choices. You could easily hook this up to your local ISP with a 56k modem and watch your site do basically nothing... Or you could go with a different type of service altogether. Say DSL, and you could still watch your site do nothing when 1,000 people want to access it at once. Or, you could purchase your own dedicated fiber line (which is what you would most likely have to do). Now, for a T-1 (the minimum you could purchase), you are looking at an approx. $5,000 installation cost... Depending on your location to the nearest backbone, who installs it, who owns it, who maintains it. Than, you are looking at approx. $1400 per month for the capacity of that line.

Well, I think that pretty much does it. As you can see, it definitly isn't going to be cheap. I would highly recommmend you find a host, like Curtis said. I am very curious as to what types of and how many sites this server will have to take care of? And why on earth does your company want all their own stuff when they pay a fraction for someone else that specializes in this to handle it?

(NOTE: As fast as I was typing, I know there is most likely grammatical and spelling errors so please forgive me )

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Dynamic Internet Solutions : http://www.dids.com
UNIX and Windows NT Hosting

lanmanagers,

I would suggest you to buy a server machine and co-locate at an ISP that offers co-location services such shown below:

AboveNET (www.above.net)
9NETAVE (www.9netave.com)
C I Host (www.cihost.com)
digitalNATION (www.dn.net)
RackSpace (www.rackspace.com)

And Much More to name it !

Then you will be paying less than what Chad just said eariler about investing over $85,000 maybe more to start an ISP business and it's a risk to do.

Co Location is the best thing becuase your server will be plugged in the ISP's backbone such as DS3, OC3, OC48 etc so you just pay the transfer packages like 25GB for $1000 or whatever the ISP charges you then you can sit and watch your site grow and start doing business online.

I hope you will learn alot and try to success your journey. Also if you need any questions or anything, you can ask the guys here who can answer your questions.

Or you can start become a reseller and start your own profit and once you grow your business and you can always feel free to upgrade to an Dedicated Server or purchase your own server and co locate it so you would be able to afford it unless you have enough money to support it. I know you will feel that reseller is really in an pain becuase some ISP won't do any good such as real time activation accounts, lousy Technical Support and other to say but that the best I can know. You can try find a best ISP for a reseller program. I know one called iServer who is owned by VERIO and they are the best you will find on the internet.

Once AGAIN, if your business is all settled down, you still have to do things such as:

1) Register County Number for License
2) Register your business with Better Business Buerau
3) Register with Chamber of Commerce
4) Setup Merchant Accounts
5) Find a suite building for your staff if you want operate your own Sales, Billing, Technical Support Centers for your clients.
6) Hire an attorney in case
7) Buy office supplies for your office building
Register Fictitious Name for bank to open Business Checking Account and Chamber of Commerce requires this.

Now you see? it cost alot of money to start an business unless you run it off at your home, that is wonderful but you still mujst do few things above to start business.

Chad did a good job giving "How To Start Up" then I added some other information that people didn't think about so I decide want to tell you about it so it saves you time to get in trouble. Hope this helps!!

Cheers,

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Carolina Web Net
www.carolinaweb.net

I would just like to say that those were three very detailed and helpfull posts, so much so that I even read them twice to make sure I took it all in (and I thought I would know most of it already!)
JP

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[red]The Next Step in Website Development [/red] - http://www.what-next.com
The Webmaster Promotion and Resource Center

4) Setup Merchant Accounts

If you need help with this, I have an article that might be very informative on this subject. Let me kown and I will send it to you.

Curtis

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Take your business to the next level for [red]free[/red]!
Internet Marketing Success: http://www.imsnewsletter.com

Chad/Curtis/Carolina, and all--
thanks very, very much for the time and effort to post responses. they have moved me further down the road.

you have asked a few questions, mainly about "why would you want to do all this"? I'm not certain they really DO want to do this, and they aren't either. my assigned task was to find HOW you do it, and once the task list was assembled, to price out what it would cost. From that solid evidence, the client can make a good decision -- do it or don't or do something different.

This business client (a bank) already has an excellent network administrator and good staff. They already know about the required servers (they support 18 file servers now) and operating systems and are well versed in those aspects, including the costs, etc. They already have a ~760K connection to the current ISP who hosts their web pages, for I-net access by their employees.

What they asked for was, 1. how would i do this myself (host my own site) without an ISP, and 2. what would it cost me. Whatever their reasons are for "why", they will be incorporated into the facts that i gather and then an intelligent decision which suits this client will be made.

You have helped me somewhat with the "how-to". If any of you can direct me to a document or procedure, or white paper, which has even more details, i would, again, be grateful.
Curtis - if you would email me the article, i would appreciate it.

Again to all of you who contributed, thank you very much. If you can add anything else, i'm listening.
jeff.

You can get the article online here: http://www.imsnewsletter.com/merchant.shtml

HTH
Curtis

Jeff, whatever you do, STAY AWAY from CI Host! I'm one of their former "victims."

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