Hosting Your eCommerce Website        

Anybody who wants to put a website on the Internet must decide where and how the site will be hosted.  To better understand what hosting is, it first helps to understand what a website truly is.  In basic terms, a website is a collection of files stored, or hosted, on one or more computers (generally called servers).  In the world of eCommerce, finding a hosting provider is somewhat like finding a physical location for a brick-and-mortar business.  Not all hosting options are equal, and for the most part, you get what you pay for in terms of security, reliability, speed, etc.

The key to deciding what you need in a hosting provider is to understand the nature of the website you are planning to put on the Internet.  For instance, if you are posting just a few personal web pages that hardly anybody will access, a very basic, perhaps even free hosting service may be just the thing for you.  In fact, you could even host such a site yourself without much equipment or hassle, because if your server were to fail for one reason or another, you wouldn’t have much to lose.

On the other hand, if you are posting a full-fledged eCommerce website that you hope will attract a lot of visitors, then you must find a hosting solution that offers a high level of security, reliability, traffic accommodation, and more.  Hosting services suitable for an eCommerce business typically range in price from tens to hundreds of dollars a month, while businesses that choose to host their own websites must incur dramatic expense to acquire enterprise-level equipment, facilities, software, and networking – not to mention highly trained IT personnel and monitoring systems.

When looking to host your eCommerce website, there are several key issues you must take into consideration.  Each of these matters has a direct bearing on the success of your business, as website downtime and insufficient security can cost your business significant amounts of money.

Uptime
One of the most important things to look for in a hosting provider is its ability to ensure maximum uptime.  In simplest terms, uptime is the time that Internet users can access your website, browse through its pages, and place orders.  For you, uptime means time that you can receive orders and make money.  Uptime is vital to your success because anytime your website goes down; you are temporarily out of business.

Uptime is generally measured as a percentage – the percentage of time a website is up and available to Internet visitors.  In industry terms, the more “9s” a hosting provider can achieve in uptime performance, the better.  For instance, what is the difference between a hosting provider that achieves a 99.9 percent uptime verses a provider that achieves an uptime of 99.99 percent?  Over a 30-day period, the provider with a 99.9 percent uptime
 
with a 99.9 percent uptime will be down for only 4.32 minutes.  That’s nearly a 40-minute difference.

If you have any experience with computers, you know they are prone to failure and unwanted intrusion by hackers and viruses.  In a hosting environment, these problems are major threats to uptime and the security of sensitive information.  It follows that a good hosting provider – one that can provide the uptime and security your business needs – will have systems, safeguards, and backups in place to protect its hosting environment – and your site – from external threats.

Security
For an eCommerce website that collects credit card payments and personally identifiable information, security is of utmost importance.  In fact, your customers must feel confident that your site is secure, or you will not receive their business.  Security is also linked directly to uptime.  If you are an eCommerce storeowner, you have no choice but to seek for a highly secure hosting solution.  Some things to look for include the following:

SSL Certificate
This is required if your site is to comply with privacy and security requirements.  For customers, an SSL certificate ensures that order and payment information submitted through your website is secure.  It also provides authentication for your site, assuring customers that your business is a verified entity.

Physically Secure Data Center
The servers on which your website is hosted should be physically secure from intrusion and should be regularly monitored.  If only authorized personnel can access your hosting provider’s data center, your website is more secure.

Firewall Protection
In essence, a firewall prevents outsiders from gaining access to your hosting provider’s network and your website’s private data.  Multiple firewalls on a network provide additional security and backup should one of the firewalls fail.

Regular Updates/Patching
Your hosting provider should regularly obtain the most up-to-date security patches and updates for its operating systems and software.

Visa/MasterCard Standards Compliance (CISP/SDP)
One of the best indications of a secure hosting provider is its compliance with the guidelines set forth by Visa and MasterCard in their Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) and Site Data Protection (SDP) standards.  CISP/SDP compliance is required of all merchants and service providers that process, store, or transmit Visa or MasterCard cardholder data.  If you are operating an eCommerce website that accepts
 
credit card payments, your hosting provider must be CISP/SDP compliant.  The requirements set forth by the CISP/SDP programs are stringent enough that compliance with them is a good indication that a website or service provider is relatively secure.

Redundancy
In addition to security and standards compliance, a good hosting provider will have a redundancy incorporated throughout its entire hosting infrastructure.  In simplest terms, redundancy means having more than one of something – multiple servers, multiple firewalls, multiple databases and storage units, etc.  A hosting provider with redundant servers, for example, can ensure more uptime because if one server goes down, another can take over and do the work of the first without losing website performance.  When the changeover happens automatically without someone having to manually orchestrate the switch, it is referred to as failover redundancy.  With hosting, a general rule is that more redundancy is better.  Keep in mind, however, that maintaining a high level of redundancy gets to be very expensive.  The more built-in redundancy your hosting provider offers, the more your can expect to pay.

Backup
Even with built-in redundancy, no hosting infrastructure is completely failsafe.  A good hosting provider will perform daily backups for all data stored on its systems.  A backup simply entails copying data onto a tape or CD and storing it somewhere.  A good practice is to store backup data both onsite and offsite – onsite to ensure quick recovery if a system fails, and offsite to ensure that data is not lost should the entire hosting facility be damaged by some sort of disaster.  An offsite storage location should be one that is highly secure against natural disaster, break-ins, and the like.

Bandwidth
Bandwidth affects the speed with which your website loads on your customer’s browsers.  For a hosting provider, bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transmitted to and from the Internet in a fixed amount of time.  A good hosting provider will have enough bandwidth (and more) to accommodate the websites it hosts during peak load times.  Certain variables affect bandwidth, including the type of line the provider transmits through (e.g. T3 & T1 lines, fiber optic cables, etc.), the bandwidth limitations of the host company’s Internet Service Provider (if the ISP itself isn’t the host), and issues having to do with redundancy (for example, multiply T3 lines in case one is damaged).
Storage
The ability of a hosting provider to offer reliable, high-speed mass data storage ought to be one of your greatest concerns.  After all, if your host’s storage system goes down, it goes down with all of your website’s files.  If it is slow, your website is slow.  A good hosting company will store your data in clustered environment (again referring to the concept of redundancy) using top-quality hardware, software, and RAID technology.   Again, if your hosting provider uses industry-leading systems, you can expect to pay a higher monthly hosting rate.  But in turn, you can also expect to sleep better at night.

Network
The speed and reliability of your hosting provider’s network affects the speed and reliability of your eCommerce website.  Some things to look for in a good network are enterprise-level hardware and software, including switches, routers, network cables, etc., as well as adequate network security, bandwidths, and data transfer speed.  For a business or service provider’s network, data transfer speed is typically measured in gigabits – the more gigabits, the better.

Technical Support
The amount of technical support you receive from your hosting provider is often contingent on the amount you are willing to pay in monthly hosting rates.  Some low-cost providers offer no technical support at all, while others in the low-to-mid cost range offer email or online chat support.  Some of the best hosting providers offer phone support (sometimes toll free, but not always) in addition to online support methods.

Hosting Providers vs. Ecommerce Solutions Providers
Some companies that offer Web hosting also offer additional services for eCommerce businesses.  These services may include marketing information and/or services, eCommerce store building applications, credit-card-processing accounts, etc.  The primary difference between these types of companies, called “eCommerce solutions provider,” and a standard hosting provider is the amount of technical expertise required of the website owner.  A standard hosting provider simply offers web and development space to people or businesses who know how to program their own website, shopping cart, order forms, etc.  In the brick-and-mortar world, a standard hosting provider is like a real estate company that leases or sells land with the expectation that a business will build its own store using its own resources, materials, and expertise.

An eCommerce solutions provider, on the other hand, seeks to assist business-minded individuals who don’t have a lot of technical expertise in setting up their eCommerce websites.  This would be like a real estate company selling land but offering additional materials, blueprints, and/or experienced guidance to assist with the actual construction of the store.  Some eCommerce solutions providers will offer online store building software, while others will offer web-programming services.  Some providers, like MadGig.Com, will offer a combination of both.

As can be expected, an eCommerce solutions provider will typically charge more for its total package of services than a standard hosting service.  But if you do not have the time or technical know-how to build your own website from scratch, an eCommerce solutions provider might be worth the additional up-front and/or monthly cost.  As the entire package of solutions they offer.  With regard to their hosting services, be sure to look for the points mentioned above, as they are generally essential to the operability and overall success of your eCommerce website.

Hosting with MadGig.Com.

MadGig.Com. is an eCommerce solutions provider that offers, as part of its overall services package, a first-rate Web hosting service.  To provide the level of reliability and security today’s eCommerce businesses require. MadGig.Com has expended numerous resources to build and maintain a top-of-the-line hosting company.

MadGig.Com hosting service includes a high level of reliability, security, and uptime at a remarkably competitive rate. The following highlights, which are included in MadGig.Com premium web hosting service, are reasons you should seriously consider hosting your eCommerce website or any site with MadGig.Com.

High Security
• SSL certificate provider by VeriSign (SSL certificate provider for the top 10 U.S. banks and 93 percent of Fortune 500 companies)
• Multiple firewalls to prevent unwarranted intrusion by hackers and viruses
• Regular updating and patching of system software and antivirus utilities

CISP/SDP Compliance
• Compliance with the guidelines set forth by the Visa and MasterCard CISP and SDP programs
• Adherence to a strict password policy for all employees and MadGig.Com merchants

Built-in Redundancy
• Redundancy built throughout the entire hosting infrastructure, including a clustered storage environment, redundant servers, power circuits,      Internet Service Providers, Internet connections, and more
• Failover redundancy in key areas, helping to ensure zero downtime in the event of a server or database failure

Regular Backup with Onsite and Offsite Storage
• Daily and weekly backups or all sites and databases

Facility Maintenance and 27/7 Monitoring
• An Uninterrupted Power Supply and Backup Generator to guard against power outage
• Dedicated air conditioning, ensuring a temperature-controlled environment for proper hardware functionality
• IT staff members on call 27/7 to correct problems if an essential component fails
• An established Intrusion Detection System
• Weekly vulnerability scanning

High Bandwidth
• More than enough bandwidth to handle the high number of requests received by MadGig.Com servers

Storage
• Clustered environment (redundancy)
• Enterprise-level RAID 5 technology
• Enterprise-level RAID 1 technology

Network
• Enterprise-level routers, switches, and networking (Cisco Systems technology)
• 1 Gigabit data transfer

Technical Support
• 24/7 online chat support
• Live phone support*
• Domain management

As you can see, MadGig.Com offers a high-quality hosting service for a fraction of the price charged by similar service providers.  And in addition to the highlights described above, when you host with MadGig.Com you can build and maintain a fully-functional eCommerce website using MadGig.Com Business Hosting Solutions – a versatile, easy-way to put your business on the Internet without a high level of technical expertise.  With your MadGig.Com purchase, you have access to website statistics, advanced shopping cart capabilities, inventory and customer management tools, email aliases, virtual domain hosting, and more.  You also have access to useful marketing articles, tutorials, and tools.  With MadGig.Com complete package of eCommerce and hosting solutions, you have everything you need to confidently open your business doors to the Internet.