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There's
a lot of pressure on businesses and
consumers to get online and get there
quickly. You see other people setting
up shop on the World Wide Web, and
often hear that you must be online
in order to survive. But many small-medium
enterprises (SMEs) and consumers are
at a loss as to where to start. They
don't know how to create an online
presence, they don't know if the investment
will pay off, and they often don't
have much money available for experimenting.
CCI has you at the core
focus of our business model. We want
to hold your hand from the initial
process of understanding: What is
a web site, Why do I need a web site,
What is a Domain Name, and What can
a Web site do for me? Once we answer
those 4 simple questions for you,
we need to help you understand what
hosting platforms are available to
you and which makes the most sense
to achieving your particular objective.
First lets start by posing these simple
questions and providing a detailed
answer for each: |
|
| |
| 1.
What is a Web site? |
In
general, a web site is a place or
a "domain" on the Internet
that can be used to display your ideas,
products, services or anything you
want the entire world to see. Your
web site is only one area sector of
a global network of computers, users
and content that connect people around
from around the world seamlessly 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. With a
website, you will be able to have
any information you choose presented
to any and every user of the World
Wide Web. |
|
| |
| 2.
Why do I need a Web site? |
A
website is a necessity in today's
society. Millions of new users are
connecting to the Internet from any
part of the world at any time. People
use the Web to do almost everything,
including banking, shopping, and researching.
Not only is it quick, convenient and
easy, but it is always a changing
environment. Newly updated sites always
appear and there are always new things
to explore on the Internet because
of its comprehensiveness. A website
is like a phone number, it is the
first place people look before they
do business with your company. If
they don't find you, they will then
find your competitors. A website could
present vital company information
to the prospective client. Almost
everyone can be a competitor now,
whether you are a multi-million dollar
company or a startup with a revolutionary
idea, visitors will base their judgment
on the design of your website. Thus,
there are endless opportunities on
the Internet. |
|
| |
| 3.
What is a Domain Name? |
A
domain name is an address on the Internet.
It is the name people will remember
when they want to go to your site.
Like an address of someone's physical
business, a domain name allows you
to easily visit his or her location
on the Internet. The best domain names
to select are those that are easy
to memorize, simple, and great sounding.
Great domain names help contribute
to increased site visitors and return
rates of visitors. |
|
| |
| 4.
What can a Web site do for me? |
A
website is a presentation tool used
by many people for a variety of useful
tasks including: |
 |
Providing support to your clients
by providing online chat support
or online documentation. |
|
Providing
press releases about your company.
The first place people usually
expect that information (especially
shareholders) would be from
the company's website. |
|
Selling
products online to people around
the world at any time of day.
This can help increase your
name recognition, while at the
same time increasing sales with
low overhead. |
|
Receiving
feedback and comments from your
users. The easiest way for people
to submit comments is through
a website. No paper or postage
is necessary. |
|
To teach people over the Internet.
The Internet is a great educational
tool, allowing students to retrieve
the latest information on their
subjects of study. Students
can work at their own pace and
attend classes at any time with
ease. |
|
Now
that you have made a determination
on why you need a web site, you must
choose which hosting platform better
fits the ultimate need of your web
site. |
|
|
 |
|
There
are two major platforms on which shared
web hosting environments are developed
- Unix/Linux and Windows 2003. The
most common asked question to our
sales staff is "Do I need Windows
or Unix?" The answer to that
question solely depends on what your
web site is meant to accomplish. As
a rule of thumb, we tell our "newbie"
clients to stick with Unix, get their
feet wet on the Internet and then
if they need to expand to some of
the core functionalities of what Windows
can offer them, we will migrate them
over to the Windows 2003 platform
seamlessly, with no downtime to their
web site. There is no question that
Windows 2003 has a far greater degree
of expandability and adaptability
in regards to important website components
such databases or integration with
your desktop PC components. However,
those items come with a price - Windows
is less stable than Unix and very
little freeware or low cost software
additions that you can add to your
web site to increase its effectiveness
such as: hit counters, guestbooks,
voting scripts, quiz/survey forms,
and web site form mailers. Unix has
literally thousands of free software
that you can download and install
on your web site to spice up your
content of the dynamic aspects of
your site's content.
One
of the biggest misconceptions is that
you have to run UNIX on your own personal
computer in order for you to host
your site on UNIX platform. This is
not true. Which operating system you
run on your computer is irrelevant
in making your decision. This means
that if you are running Windows95,
Windows XP or Windows 2003 on your
computer, you can still choose UNIX
and you will see no difference in
its operational capabilities. The
programs that you use to interface
with your web site such as localized
FTP clients all run on all Windows-versions
and MAC-based personal computers.
The
following chart is a quick snapshot
and side-by-side comparison of the
two operating systems (1 being the
lowest rating and 4 being the highest) |
|
| |
|
| Reliability |
4 |
3 |
| Ease
of use |
4 |
2 |
| Expandability/Scalability |
3 |
3 |
| Integration
with other Microsoft software |
1 |
4 |
| Free/Open
Source Software |
4 |
1 |
| Speed |
4 |
3 |
| Functionality |
4 |
3 |
| Price |
4 |
2 |
| |
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|
|
| Features |
UNIX |
Windows
2003 |
|
| MS
FrontPage 2000,2002 |
X |
X |
| Flash |
X |
X |
| Shockwave |
X |
X |
| RealAudio/Video |
X |
X |
| Cgi-scripts |
X |
X |
| Perl |
X |
X |
| PHP |
X |
X |
| SSH
(Secure Telnet) |
X |
X |
| MySQL |
X |
|
| Web-Based
Control System |
X |
|
| Anonymous
FTP |
X |
|
| Web
Site Graphical Statistics |
X |
X |
| Web-Based
Email System |
X |
X |
| SQL
2000 |
|
X |
| Miva/XML |
X |
X |
| Cold
Fusion |
X |
X |
| ASP
(active server pages) |
X |
X |
| MS
Access |
|
X |
| Visual
Basic Scripts |
|
X |
| Windows
Media |
|
X |
|
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