What is the best web application hosting strategy for your business

What is the Best Web Application

Hosting Strategy for Your Business?

Keys to Effective Decision-Making

Copyright © 2014 ZeroLag www.ZeroLag.com

http://www.ZeroLag.com/




What is the Best Web Application Hosting Strategy for Your Business? A ZeroLag White Paper

Introduction

Developing a web site and web application hosting strategy is

a critical decision-making process for companies of all sizes.

Security, cost, reliability, and performance all factor into making

the right choices.

But with a wide array of options available, it can be difi cult

to know what is best for your company. In order to make the

correct choice, it is necessary to weigh the costs and benei ts of

available options.

As IT infrastructure outsourcing has grown in popularity, more

companies are considering ofl oading server management and

maintenance to third-party providers, rather than investing in

on-premises data centers. This strategy has numerous benei ts,

but is it right for your company?

ZeroLag offers reliable

managed hosting solutions

ZeroLag’s managed hosting

solutions rank among

the highest in reliability,

security and speed. We

are among the most

cost-effective hosting

providers for businesses

that prefer the advantages

of managed hosting.

Copyright © 2014 ZeroLag – 2 – www.ZeroLag.com






Choosing the right hosting strategy:

Factors you should carefully consider

Do we have the necessary IT staff?

The i rst step in determining what hosting strategy is right for

your company is evaluating your in-house IT staff. Is your current

staff large enough and suitably qualii ed to design, install, and

maintain your own hosting infrastructure?

Do we have the necessary space and equipment?

Other important factors are your current IT and physical

resources. Does your company have sufi cient climate-controlled

space, the required hardware and network connectivity, and

other necessary infrastructure to support an on-site data center?

If not, how much will the needed equipment, facility, and infra-

structure upgrades cost?

How much security and control is required?

Do you have the resources and expertise to implement adequate

security controls, including hardening and monitoring your

servers against cyber threats? If your company stores sensitive

data, do you have the capability to institute physical security

measures such as biometric access controls and on-site security

personnel?

What is the best use of resources?

Investing in a robust hosting solution, including servers and

networking hardware, data center infrastructure, and the highly

skilled staff required to implement and maintain it, involves a

long term i nancial commitment. When deciding what hosting

strategy is right for you, it is important to determine the most

effective way to invest your i nite resources.

IT STAFFING

SPACE & EQUIPMENT

SECURITY & CONTROL

RESOURCES








Key factors in the decision-making process

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Total cost of ownership attempts to quantify a purchase’s total

cost over time, taking into account the initial price and ongoing

upkeep, plus any hidden costs, risks, opportunity costs, and

other long-term expenses. Although TCO is a projection, it can

be a very useful metric when making large purchasing decisions.

TCO can help you evaluate the real costs of hosting options. In

most cases, the initial price of information technology is only a

fraction of the TCO. For example, a server usually accounts for

only 15 to 25 percent of the overall costs to deploy, maintain,

upgrade, and support the server over its useful service life. [1]

Ownership vs. rental of servers

Server ownership entails a signii cant up-front cost for the

hardware, software, and IT staff to perform the work required

to initially deploy the server. Ownership also requires signii cant

long-term expenditures.

In contrast, outsourcing IT infrastructure to a managed hosting

provider eliminates a signii cant up-front expenditure. All

equipment, facility, and support staff costs are the respon-

sibility of the hosting provider. Your business will pay only a i xed

monthly fee for stable, secure hosting services without exposure

to additional costs normally associated with uncontrollable

events such as equipment failures, blackouts, natural disasters,

and the like.

[1] What is T C O and Why Should You

Care?. Laurie McCabe.

www.smallbusinesscomputing.com.

January 29, 2010


TCO includes hardware

and software acquisition,

management and

support, communications,

end-user expenses and

the opportunity cost of

downtime, training and

other productivity losses.

- Gartner IT Glossary

http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/








Security

Data protection is almost always a top priority, especially

where sensitive information or mission-critical applications are

concerned. When evaluating hosting options, it is important to

assess your staff’s and facility’s abilities to protect your data.

All servers are subject to potential breaches from both inside

and outside sources – whether malicious or otherwise. So it is

crucial for a company with self-managed on-premises hosting to

maintain sufi cient resources and in-house expertise to identify

security issues and take corrective action immediately. IT staff

must be capable of conducting regular security audits, applying

security updates and patches, and detecting security vulnera-

bilities such as unnecessary services, open ports, and excessive

user privilege levels.

If a company does not have the capability to implement the

security measures necessary to protect valuable equipment and

data, contracting with a reputable managed hosting provider

may be the best option.

Support

A qualii ed and constantly available support team is critical

to maintaining secure, reliable IT infrastructure. For many

businesses, the stafi ng requirements are cost prohibitive.

As an alternative, managed hosting providers employ highly

skilled support technicians who perform constant server

monitoring, quickly implement repairs in the event of hardware

failures or network problems, and stand ready to provide

information and assistance to clients.







79% of web shoppers

who have trouble with

web site performance

say they won’t return

to the site to buy again

and 44% of them would

tell a friend if they had

a poor experience

shopping online.


A 1-second delay in

page response can

result in a 7% reduction

in conversions.

If an e-commerce site

is making $100,000 per

day, a 1-second page

delay could potentially

cost $2.5 million in lost

sales every year. [2]

[2] Speed and Customer Confidence.

Kissimetrics.com.

Scalability

Fast-growing companies must carefully consider whether their

hosting infrastructure is capable of supporting their growth, or

poses an impediment to it. Physical facilities, equipment, human

resources, and technical expertise must all be evaluated when

determining whether hosting can be scaled efi ciently.

One of the key benei ts of outsourced hosting is that as demand

grows, resources such as CPUs, RAM, and storage space

can be added quickly with predictable costs. Top-tier hosting

providers can also move clients from single servers into clusters,

or migrate sub-functions of a web application – such as the

database – to specialized servers.

Speed

Nearly every business can benei t from higher web hosting per-

formance. More responsive web pages and applications increase

conversions, customer satisfaction, and employee efi ciency.

Nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or

less, and abandon a site that isn’t loaded within 3 seconds.

Although hardware has a big inl uence on web site performance,

more CPUs or RAM won’t necessarily improve web site speed.

Maximizing web site performance requires a holistic approach to

coni guring the hosting environment. Aside from the hardware,

every variable – including the operating system, applications,

network infrastructure, and backbone connectivity – must be

analyzed and optimized individually to deliver the best possible

performance. This work is the stock-in-trade for managed

hosting providers, and their expertise virtually guarantees

superior results vs. web applications hosted in an on-premises

data center.







Three different approaches to server management

Organizations of all sizes typically utilize one of three hosting

options: self-managed on-premises hosting, self-managed

colocation hosting, or outsourced managed hosting. Each

offers advantages and disadvantages which must be carefully

considered.

Self-Managed ON-PREMISES Hosting With this option, organizations bear exclusive responsibility for

their IT infrastructure. In-house staff must have the expertise

and training necessary to maintain all the hardware, software,

applications, networks, and security measures. The organization

must also provide the physical facilities and supporting infra-

structure – climate control, uninterrupted power, backbone con-

nectivity, equipment spares, etc. – to house, protect, and operate

an on-premises data center.

A large investment of capital and human resources is required

over the long term with this approach, but the additional costs

can deliver big benei ts for large, IT-centric businesses that want

and need to have complete control over their infrastructure.

Self-managed On-premises

Pros

Total control of IT

infrastructure

Quicker changes to

hardware and software

Root level access to server

Supports business strategy

of IT infrastructure as

competitive advantage

Self-managed On-premises

Cons

Total responsibility for

IT infrastructure

Greatest risk proi le

of all options

Maximum capital

and HR expense

Unpredictable costs

Going it alone or hiring

outside consultants when

and if trouble arises

Likelihood of slower

connection speeds and

degraded user experience

Higher risk of downtime

Typically, lower digital

and physical security







Self-Managed COLOCATION Hosting

Colocation is a hybrid approach that combines elements of both

the self-managed on-premises and managed hosting models.

Organizations maintain control over their data and equipment,

while taking advantage of the physical security, climate control,

uninterrupted power, and fast Internet backbone connections

provided by a hosting company.

The i nancial and HR investment of this approach is still high

as organizations are responsible for providing their own server

hardware, software, and the IT staff to implement and maintain it.

Self-managed Colocation

Pros

Shared risk environment in

commercial data center

Total control of hardware

and software

Data center environment

supports scalability

Root level access to server

Robust physical security

Access to superior Internet

backbone connectivity

Self-managed Colocation

Cons

High initial capital expenditure

Moderately high long-term

operating costs for

in-house IT staff

Hosting provider offers

technical support and other

assistance at extra charge







MANAGED Hosting

With managed hosting, there is little or no capital expenditure,

and typically, much lower long-term operating costs compared to

on-premises and colocation hosting. Managed hosting providers

employ highly skilled IT professionals who will handle all

maintenance and security issues around the clock. The hosting

environment is usually guaranteed to perform at peak levels, with

leading providers’ uptimes approaching 100%. The unpredictable

costs of on-premises hosting are replaced by i xed monthly fees,

with average costs trending downward in recent years.

Managed Hosting

Pros

Lowest risk and stress

of all options

Lowest capital and

IT staff expense

Predictable i xed costs

Cost-effective; average

costs trending downward

Guaranteed uptime

of 99.99% to 100%,

depending on provider

Highly scalable to meet

future growth needs

Robust physical security

Access to superior Internet

backbone connectivity

Managed Hosting

Cons

No root level access*

* May be available with

co-managed option








Benei ts compared



Typical server management costs

The upfront hardware cost for onsite hosting, including the purchase of a server and networking equipment

runs approximately $5,000 to $15,000. Additional costs include backbone connectivity, i rewalls and security

tools, plus the facility to house the server – uninterrupted power, climate control, and physical security

measures. The total can run from $50,000 to $100,000 for the i rst year, with annual expenses exceeding

$50,000 thereafter.

Managed hosting services cost only a small fraction of comparable on-premises capabilities, with typical

single-server solutions ranging from $4,500 to $8,500 per year.

Given the signii cant difference in costs between managed and on-premises hosting, companies must

carefully consider whether the benei ts of on-premises or even colocation hosting justii es the substantial

investment associated with either option.

Self-managed

On-premises

Hosting

Self-managed

Colocation

Hosting

Managed

Hosting

Price-performance Lowest Moderate Highest

Capital expense Highest High Lowest

Cost predictability Lowest Moderate Highest

Ongoing IT staff expense Highest High Lowest

Risk proile Highest Moderate Lowest

Direct responsibility for IT infrastructure Highest High Lowest





Get 10 0% reliable hosting from ZeroLag

If your business is ready to make the switch to faster, sa fer, more reliable

hosting, ZeroLag can help. Our competitively priced hosting solutions were

ra ted the most reliable by NetCraft and rank among the fastest and most secure available.

If you’d like to learn more about how ZeroLag can help your business,

contact us at 87 7-937-6 524 or visit us online at ZeroLag.com today.

Z eroLag C ommunications, Inc.

15260 Ventura Blvd. Suite #730

Sherman O aks, C A 91403

87 7-Z ERO -LAG (937-6524)


Why managed hosting is usually the best option

Choosing the best hosting option for your business requires weighing many factors. But more often than

not, managed hosting is the best choice for most businesses. Managed server solutions provide the most

favorable cost to benei t ratio for organizations of all sizes.

Key advantages include:

Initial and long term cost savings

Costs for managed hosting services have been trending downward for the past several years while costs for

on-premises hosting have remain static or increased. Even some very large enterprises have opted for managed

hosting services in recent years, taking advantage of reduced capital expenditures and operating expenses.

Constant professional IT support

A top-tier hosting provider functions much like an extension of your company. A team of engineers, database

administrators, security personnel, and technical support staff are working around the clock to ensure your

mission-critical applications and data are never compromised.

Maximum performance and reliability

Leading hosting providers have a consistent track record that inspires coni dence in their ability to maintain IT

infrastructure at peak performance levels, and to minimize risk of crippling downtime.

Less hassle than self-managed options

Managed hosting frees organizations to focus on their core business mission and to spend less time

worrying about maintenance, outages, and other hosting infrastructure issues. This is especially benei cial

for businesses that have limited or overstretched IT departments.

What is the best web application hosting strategy for your business

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