|
-[//: web site
hosting: in-house vs. outsourced ]-
For small to medium
sized businesses, outsourcing your web site hosting is simply a better
finanicial decision. For ANY sized business, an off-site
web site host is a more SECURE solution.
For a low monthly fee, you
stake claim to your own virtual real estate on the Internet. No
maintaining servers that have to run 24/7, no expensive software purchases, and
no technical knowledge needed to do so.
Here's a typical hardware and software
setup for an eCommerce site:
|
In-House
|
| Proliant DL380 Server (1Ghz PIII / 128M RAM
/ 9.1G SCSI)
|
$3,059.00
|
|
| Windows 2000 Server software (5 user)
|
$856.97
|
|
| Macromedia Cold Fusion 5.0 Application Server
software
|
$1,295.00
|
|
| Exchange Email Server software (25 user)
|
$5,399.13
|
|
| SQL 2000 Database Server software (Single
processor)
|
$4,299.97
|
|
| APC Battery Backup (UPS)
|
$749.95
|
|
| T1 Line w/ Cisco Router
|
$1,200.00
|
/month
|
| Microsoft Certified Professional
(Technician)
|
$35-50K
|
/year
|
| Microsoft Certified System Engineer
(MCSE)
|
$50-80K
|
/year
|
|
|
|
Outsourced
|
| Web Site Hosting with Jackson Technical
|
$50.00
|
/month
|
|
|
|
These prices are typical retail prices, you may pay more or less, but
the point has been made.
But what if you CAN host your own web sites
In-House... does that mean you SHOULD?
Let's assume you have a
broadband Internet connection, a server that you can use to host your
site, and the staff to support it...
HOSTING YOUR WEB SITE FROM
YOUR LOCATION IS INHERENTLY INSECURE.
Actual screen shots of defaced web sites
You can purchase the most
expensive firewall on the market, be diligent about analyzing your
server logs, applying the latest service packs and hot-fixes, and
create Internet traffic filters until you are blue in the face...
you still open up your organization to unauthorized access of your internal
and confidential files.
Why such a bold statement? It's simple...
while you do a great job of protecting your organization from known
threats... what about the bugs, hacks, and misconfigurations that haven't
been discovered and patched yet? These are the threats that only
hackers and their tight knit circles know about.
|
