MGTC50 

Building Internet  Commerce Ventures

A 3rd year undergraduate course in the 
Division of Management, 
University of Toronto at Scarborough

For the section(s) taught by Tim Richardson                 Monday evenings, 19:00 (7:00 pm) - 21:00 (9:00 pm)

SECTION C
© by W. Tim G. Richardson
This page last updated 2002 Oct 21st
 
Section A Section B Section C Section D Section E
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Chapter 8

Web Hosting		 Web Hosting Choices
 
. The reason why we talk about Web Hosting Choices is so you may incorporate such understanding into your project as to recommending what web hosting arrangements would be most suitable for your situation.

WTGR
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Schneider page 300-302 3rd edition

Self Hosting - buying a computer to use as a server and run the web site in-house
advantages are control
disadvantages are lack of off-site back-up, more money spent

Dedicated Hosting - when you pay an ISP more money to have your site hosted on a server that is dedicated just to you. Advantages include not having to maintain this - it is the responsibility of the ISP. Costs more than co-location

Co-location - if your content amount is small and your use modest, you can share with other's on a big server
.
 
Web
Hosting
Services		 "Web hosting is the partial or complete outsourcing of services to a service provider that are required to create, manage, and maintain a business Web site. Web-hosting service includes many elements: 24x7 Internet data center (IDC) to house hardware and software, including servers, routers, and switches for network connections; load balancing software and hardware to guarantee performance and ensure service-level agreements (SLAs); security through dedicated or software firewalls; backup systems; and
other equipment. E-commerce applications run across the various platforms. Located in the data center or in a separate network operations center (NOC) are typically server-management and configuration systems. This data center needs to be secured against physical intrusion and equipped with fire suppression, uninterrupted power supply (UPS), and disaster recovery systems. Many service providers offer consulting or professional services, and most provide help desk and technical assistance."
 http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/so/cuso/sp/webhost/whbc_bc.htm

Segments of Web-Hosting Services - as outlined on cisco.com's site

Service Option Service Description User Profile/Requirements
Simple Hosting
  • Shared or dedicated servers
  • Templated or basic e-commerce packages (such as FrontPage, Cybercash)
  • Box and systems monitoring
  • Brand site or basic e-commerce
  • Little or no applications integration required
  • Few Web or e-commerce skills
  • Examples: Century 21, Boston Bakery
Collocation Hosting
  • Racks, cages, physical security, redundant power
  • Bandwidth, network redundancy, multiple peering
  • Box monitoring, remote administration tools
  • Trailblazing e-commerce for an industry 
  • Lots of gear and technology experience
  • Ample network and applications integration skills
  • Examples: eBay, Yahoo, Amazon.com
Managed Hosting
  • All collocation services
  • Custom server-management configuration
  • Back-end network integration
  • Systems and applications monitoring
  • E-commerce a priority
  • Legacy environment with global reach
  • Custom coders, ample in-house integration skills
  • Examples: Lands' End, Fidelity
Full-Service Hosting
  • All managed services
  • System integration
  • Consulting design, configuration, management
  • E-commerce laggard with little e-commerce knowledge
  • Complex legacy environment
  • Few applications integration skills, no custom coders
  • Examples: Amtrak, GM
. 
Examples of Web-Hosting Service Pricing 
as explained on
 http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/so/cuso/sp/webhost/whbc_bc.htm
Service Types Monthly Fee Major Services
Shared Hosting $50-1500 Simple sites, basic e-commerce
Dedicated Hosting $1000-20,000 Collocation, multiple data centers, applications, system integration
Complex Dedicated (Managed) Hosting $10,000-30,000 Design, implementation of complex sites, site mirroring, hot sites support, consulting
Custom (Full-Service) Hosting $20,000+ Creative Web design, systems integration, custom Web sites, consulting, and more
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Chapter 8

Web Hosting
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 8

Web Hosting
 

 Hosting services
  • "Web hosting services allows business to jump into e-commerce without spending a fortune"
  • ISPs provide the connection, and services eg, FTPing, credit card processing , etc.
Value Web - mentioned in the Schneider 1st ed. text page 126

page 342 2nd ed.
The hosting service used 
by witiger.com
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Chapter 7

Web Hosting
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 7

Web Hosting

 Virtual Hosting - you share the web server with other subscribers
Virtual Server - you control the web server software yourself

Important features to look for when shopping for a hosting service 
(page 287 i-Net+ text 1st ed.)
(page 126 2nd ed.)

Virtual Hosting / Virtual Server
key features, advantages and disadvantages

"Virtual Hosting allows you to point additional domain names to your server. These domain names can then point to specific directories on your server. This allows you to divide a single Web server into several smaller virtual hosts, which you can sell to other people. This is the same technology used by most large Web hosting companies."
 http://www.landmark-netflow.com/support/user_guides/nt/c23.html
 

A strongly one-sided view of the advantages of a Virtual Server, worthwhile to look at since they explain many terms.
 http://www.rshweb.com/
support/vservers/vserver
_vs_hosting.html		 "What's Wrong With Virtual Hosting? Nearly 99% of Web hosting companies use an outdated technology called Virtual Hosting to put your Web site online. The hardware and the software responsible for your online success are controlled by a site administrator who is the only person who can modify the way your Web site is setup and configured. Unfortunately, you have little or no control over the way your Web server, FTP server, and mail services behave. With a Virtual Hosting solution, you're just like a tenant in an over-crowded apartment building, and the landlord not only tells you how to behave, but also controls the success of your business."
http://www.rshweb.com/support/vservers/vserver_vs_hosting.html
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Chapter 8

Virtual Server
Virtual Host		 A few words about Virtual Hosting are in the text Schneider p. 307

"A Virtual Server or Virtual Host [Schneider lumps them in together] is a feature that maintains more than one server on one machine. This means that different groups can each have their own domain name, but all domain names refer to the same physical Web server".
 

. Meaning when you FTP up to a computer acting as a virtual Host - all the files go in the same place - you simply divide them into different subdirectories to organize them. The reason we talk about this in class is because most small businesses have a Virtual Host they share with others - there are some cost savings, but also some security risks of sharing hard drive space with someone else.

WTGR
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.
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Chapter 7

Domain 
Management
re: hosting

 Virtual Hosting
Domain Management
 
. For those people not too familiar with Domain Names, it would be very good to read page 380 - 385 in the i-Net+ Guide 2nd Edition.

WTGR
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Prof. Richardson will demonstrate in class using the hosting service of www.witiger.com and www.larkhill.com
 

this screen capture shows the principle account witiger, with 2 domains

each domain has its own IP address
.
 

Hosting
and
getting your content up to the site		 FTPing up to your main hosted account, and your virtually connected other domains
 
this screen is from the FTP 

it shows going into www.witiger.com
 
in this case, we have 2 domains run on the same account

from witiger.com, you can enter the sub-directory larkhill

when you put content in here, it shows up on www.larkhill.com
 

where to get FTP if you don't have it, go to  http://www.witiger.com/downloads/

you will see ws_ftp16.exe - click on this and it will download to your computer
This particular FTP software is one of many - but it is one of the more commonly used ones
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Chapter 9
The Schneider and Perry book has accompanying web pages for each chapter
 www.course.com/downloads/sites/ecommerce/ch04.html (1st edition)

In Chpt Four  (1st ed.)
In Chpt 9 (3rd ed.) they discuss

  • what kind of software solution you need
    • depends on B2B or B2C
  • catalogue display tools 
  • shopping carts
  • transaction processing
  • Hosting services
.
 
Chapter 9
Catalog Display Tools - info from [page 331 - 3rd ed.] 
[1st. ed. page 118] in the Schneider and Perry book

characteristics common to many sites with catalogs

  • keyword search (internal, external)
  • hyperlinks to 
  • affiliated company pages 
    • ie. People, CNN, AOL, Netscape
    • complimentary sites
    • fellow web ring members
    • association memberships
  • list of categories, and sub-categories
    • by size, color, location, materials, price)
  • B2B links
    • invitation to new partners
    • invite to new content providers
    • wholesalers
  • news and info
    • corporate publicity
    • public news
    example of a clothing catalog
    larkhill
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Chapter 9

Shopping
Carts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 9

Shopping
Carts
 
Shopping Carts

CTC

"The forms-based method of ordering has given way to electronic shopping carts" 
page 333,  3rd ed. Schneider book

A number of companies sell shopping cart software that sellers can add to their websites - and most hosting services can also provide this as an extra service.
 
http://www.shopping-carts-software-online.com/ This is just one example, by the end of 2002, there are many companies that offer this service, some are independent, some are affiliated with credit card companies, some are affilicated with large ISP's, and some are affiliated with financial services companies. 

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Chpt 7
2nd edition

CABLE
MODEM
 
 
 

Chpt 7
2nd edition

Chapter 8
1st Edition

 
 
 

Chpt 7
2nd edition

CABLE
MODEM
 

 Connecting to the Net

1st Edition Chpt 8, page 306- 318 , all the info described in the text - it is usually handled by the tech support people with your ISP - and in some cases is handled completely by the CD-ROM you may get to install the ISP connection

Dial-up MODEMs - page 299,  means Modulate/Demodulate; converts from analog to digital and digital to analog
- sometimes modems don't work for software reasons and one of the most common is the lack of a device driver or one not accurately installed
 

. Broadband Media is a term students will find referred to when talking about connecting to the Internet. This term refers to ANY type of network media (cable, DSL, etc.) that carries more than mone type of transmission - therefore the the term Broad band from broader band. Cable MODEMs are an example of Broadband cause the actual cable carries your TV signal, and the data for your PC to connect to the Internet.

WTGR
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Cable MODEM - 1990's technology - page 406 2nd edition (page 323 1st ed.)
- install an Ethernet network interface card in your PC
cable service provider installs an external MODEM that converts the analog signal coming over the cable to digital before it is sent to the Ethernet card in your computer
- downloads are faster
- uploads are not so fast if the provider only allows uploads through dial-up
- security can be compromised because several people share your cable - its like an open hose, whereas POTL is a dedicated piece of copper line just for your house
- also, the more people on a cable line, the slower it will get
 
http://compnetworking.about.com/library/weekly/aa111200a.htm
 http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/dslvscablemodem/		 This article done by compnetworking.about.com

Explains that:
Both Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable modem services offer high-speed Internet access. Compared to traditional dial-up  access, these two technologies open up homes and small  businesses to a new realm of possibilities for network connectivity and applications. 

"While similar in many respects, DSL and cable modem differ in some fundamental ways. Some of the differences between DSL and cable modem arise from the history of the technologies they are built upon. Others originate with differences in the approach of service providers."
"In terms of theoretical peak raw  performance, cable modem generally wins  the speed battle over DSL. Cable  technology can, in theory, achieve networking speeds of approximately 30  Mbps (using a 100 Mbps network interface card), whereas most forms of DSL cannot reach 10 Mbps. In practice, though, the speed advantage of cable over DSL is much lower than might  first be apparent. Both cable modem and  DSL performance vary from one minute to  the next depending on the pattern of use and traffic congestion on the Internet. This means that both services will rarely -- if  ever -- reach peak performance. "
 
. So, theoretically Cable is much faster  than DSL, but, because of many limitations (some business related, some human error, some based on being swamped by subscribers at peak times) cable is not always SO MUCH faster that it is worth it for the security weakness.
"... cable modem technology delivers shared bandwidth  within the local neighborhood while DSL delivers dedicated local bandwidth". If your bandwidth is dedicated to you, it cannot be seen so easily by others - if it is shared, like in cable, you are vulnerable.

WTGR
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Chpt 7
2nd edition

Chapter 8
1st Edition

Connecting 
to the Net

 ISDN - page 408 2nd edition  (page 328-329 1st edition)
1980's technology - uses regular phone lines
- accessed by a dial-up connection
- fully digital, two channels on a single pair of wires and a slower channel for control signals
- each channel can support speeds of up to 64,000 BPS, which can be combined to achieve 128,000 BPS
- this is called BRI - Basic Rate Interface
- you can also get a faster interface called PRI - Primary Rate Interface for a business with lots of traffic

DSL - page 408 2nd edition (page 328 1st edition)
Digital Subscriber Line
- DSL is a name for a family of similar technologies - ISDN an early example of DSL
- like a phone line, you don't have a draw down cause no other subscribers on the line (unlike cable)
- installs like cable modem - have to first install a network card
- but uses regular telephone lines
- although it uses ordinary copper telephone lines, it uses a range of frequencies on thos copper lines that are not used by voice
- the advantage is that you can be hooked up to the internet through a DSL connection, but still make phone calls over the same copper line !
 
http://www.state.net/dsl/DSLadvantages.html This screen capture takes you to a page that explains well the Advantages and
Disadvantages of DSL
- from a US based ISP

ADSL is a prominent  version of DSL (50 x faster than ISDN) page 409 2nd edition
A- stands for Asymmetric - meaning not symetrical - meaning the upstream transmission is not the same speed as the downstream transmission
- so you can download stuff off the net very fast - but you will be uploadingit at the same old speed
- customers are usually interested in fast downloads, not uploads so ADSL is popular
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Chpt 7
2nd edition

Connecting 
to the Net

 Satellite Connections to the Internet - page 410 2nd edition

For people in remote communities that are not serviced by a coaxial cable or telephone line due to extreme climate or topography or geographic location (ie. small islands in the Caribbean)

check  http://www.internet-satellite-access-connection.co.uk/
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Chapter 8

Browsers		 Internet Explorer and Netscape

(page 340 1st edition)

managing browser cache
different appearances for the same content
eg. tables, scrolling background, table line colour
 
.
Chapter 9

Internet
Appliances		 page 355

the need for additional IP addresses for internet enabled devices
WebTV - watching web pages on your TV screen
- interactive TV - click on options to choose an ending, get info on a commercial 

Internet Telephony - page 363

check  www.witiger.com/powerpoints/VoIP/v3_slide0001.htm
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