There are many ways to host your emails, websites, and software applications. Let’s examine the pros and cons of each option to help you determine the best fit for your business.

You might be tempted to manage your own hosting, which is how many companies started and how some large companies still operate. The basic requirement is a computer that functions as a file server and a bandwidth connection. Internally, this connection can be your Local Area Network (LAN). For remote access, you’ll need a telecom line for internet connectivity, which could be a private line.

In-house hosting offers easy access to equipment and complete control over server management. Security is enhanced when everything operates within the LAN, isolated from external connections.

However, managing everything yourself means you are responsible for all aspects. This includes purchasing equipment, building a climate-controlled data center, ensuring physical security, handling installations, repairs, maintenance, and constant monitoring. As we all know, there’s always something that needs attention.

This is why many companies choose to outsource their hosting needs. You can start by simply outsourcing the data center itself through colocation services. With colocation, you move your equipment into a provider’s facility that provides racks, cages, redundant power, climate control, fire suppression, physical security, and easy access to telecom bandwidth. You own and manage the servers and other appliances, which you can install yourself or contract the colocation facility to handle.

Some colocation providers have expanded their offerings beyond space and connections. You can now rent servers and even the labor for installation and maintenance. While you are still responsible for the software running on the server (apart from the operating system), you have access to a 24/7 technical staff for monitoring and repairs.

Taking it a step further from renting equipment at a colocation center is renting a full hosting service, freeing you from any equipment management. Small companies and home-based businesses can often utilize shared hosting, where a single physical server is shared among multiple clients. While you won’t have access to the underlying operating system, you can upload your business files. Shared hosting has become a commodity service, costing just a few dollars per month. Keep in mind, however, that your website’s performance may fluctuate based on the server’s overall load.

To regain control over your hosting environment, you might consider renting a dedicated or private server. This server is dedicated solely to your files, and in most cases, you’ll have root access to the machine, unlike shared hosting. As your needs grow, you can upgrade to a larger server with increased memory, CPU cores, and disk storage.

Cloud hosting offers even greater flexibility. It utilizes virtualization, often managed by technologies like VMware. Cloud facilities house numerous physical servers and hard drives connected to the outside world through multiple fiber optic bandwidth services. The goal is to maintain sufficient resources to accommodate any customer demand. In the cloud, you don’t rent a specific physical server; instead, you rent a virtual server. This virtual server functions like a physical server but may be one of many running on a single machine, or it could even span across multiple physical servers.

Both dedicated and cloud hosting services allow you to rent instead of owning IT resources. This eliminates the cost and staffing required for round-the-clock operation. This approach is often referred to as trading CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) for OPEX (Operating Expense) or rent versus buy.

Cloud hosting takes virtualization a step further, abstracting all physical resources. Many cloud platforms are self-healing, automatically replacing equipment in case of failure. Cloud resources are also easily scalable. Typically, you manage resources through a web-based control panel, provisioning (ordering) more or fewer resources as needed. Additional servers can be deployed in minutes, and you can release them when no longer required, ensuring you only pay for what you use.

If you suspect that owning and operating your data center is becoming overly expensive, you might be right. The optimal solution varies depending on your company’s specific needs. Gather more information and pricing for cloud hosting versus dedicated hosting services to compare against your current setup.

Note: Photo of data center equipment courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.