Websites and Hosting Options
Overview of web presence and website options
Four basic web presence options
Five parts of a full web presence
Three steps from free web to fully hosted
Copyright (C) Jeff McNeill, 2008
Licensed under (CC-BY) Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Last updated 2008-10-05

Contents
Questions to ask
Various web components
Registrar and DNS services
Four options
Free web services
Google Apps for Domains
Own or departmental server
Web hosting services
Recommended steps
Exceptions

Questions to Ask
Who will manage the site and its content?
Which people need what kind of access?
How much web expertise do they have?
What does the content look like?
How often does it change?
How much content is there?
Will need or can have own domain name?
What sort of legacy integration?
Required to use certain web servers?
Interoperability with other sites?
How much money and time is there for this?

Various Web Components
Domain name registrar
Lease on domain name
Nameserver entries in root DNS servers
$10/year for .com - godaddy.com
DNS services
Resolves domain names to ip addresses
Free - zoneedit.com
Email server
Web server (usually with database, ftp, etc.)
Jabber (chat) server

Registrar and DNS Services
Domain Name Registrar
Leases a domain name on a yearly basis, and manages
the Nameserver entries on the root DNS servers on the
Internet
DNS Service Provider
Operates DNS servers which resolve domain names into
IP addresses so that web services work between
computers
In most cases, hosts provide DNS as well as web, email,
and application services
There is advantage to managing independently

Four Options
Free web services
Without (free) / with domain name $10/year
Domain redirection on Wordpress / Ning
Google apps
With domain name $10/year
Own server or departmental server
Usually for political, brand, security reasons
Web host
With domain name $100-$500/year
For content or web applications needing customization
scalability and reliability

Free Web Services
Advantages
Free
Least amount of time and effort
Disadvantages
Limited customization, especially websites
Limited domain branding opportunity
Domain redirection Wordpress / Ning ($)
Bottom line
Must have presence on many of these web services
anyway
Try to create same username on all sites

Google Apps for Domains
Advantages
Offers domain registrar and dns service
Free
Easy to use interfaces
Gmail, gcal, gdocs, gchat, google sites
Disadvantages
Sites tool is rudimentary
No ability to configure DNS entries
Bottom line
Free branded email, calendar, docs, chat

Own or Departmental Server
Advantages
Best level of customization
Except when run by IT department
May be required based on political, branding, or security
issues
Disadvantages
Most expensive approach
Most time consuming to manage
Bottom line
Only take this route if required

Web Hosting Services
Advantages
Can scale if choosing the right host
Excellent customization and control
Best branding option
Disadvantages
Some costs involved $100-500/year
Host may have poor customer service
Requires technical understanding
Bottom line
Essentially required for customized blogs, wikis, and
application development

Recommended Steps
Free Web
Step 1
Services
Step 2
Domain DNS Google
Registrar Services Apps
Step 3
Web
Hosting

Recommended Steps
Create brand around username on various sites including
gmail, myspace, youtube, flickr, delicious, twitter, linkedin
Create brand around own domain name (preferably identical
to username on sites)
Godaddy for registrar - $10/year for .com
Zoneedit for free dns services
Google apps for email, calendar, docs, chat
Domain name redirection - Wordpress/Ning
Use Web Host to install/configure own content management
or application services

Exceptions
If only need an ecommerce site may want to use specialty
hosts such as Shopify, Yahoo business, Amazon web
storefronts, and Ebay