When you are planning a corporate website, the choice between having it hosted internally and outsourcing the service to a professional hosting firm is one that you will have to make. There are no good or bad decisions. Your choice depends on your unique circumstances as well as the pros and cons of each alternative. Here is a comparison of both options, with pros and cons for each.
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What to do: In-house Hosting or Company Host Provider?
In-house hosting is a case where you decide to put up server infrastructure to host your website at the company’s premises. It is ideal for large organisations that have the infrastructure and financial capability to operate and maintain the systems required to have the website up and running around the clock.
Advantages
- You have full control over everything that happens to the hosted blogs.
- With the company host, you can easily select the hardware you want and expand upgrades in the manner you prefer.
- You have full control over the website’s operating environment, including the systems and software that will run on the web server. This means that you can run additional tools on your server as you wish without having to pay more, like in the case of an outsourced service.
- Domain owners are not legally bound to a specific company and can implement anything they wish on the site without seeking approval from the provider.
Disadvantages
- The cost of buying web server hardware, as well as the associated cost of a dedicated high-speed internet connection and the associated software required in the company host option, is too high for many small and medium-sized organisations.
- You will need to hire highly skilled staff that can develop, maintain and upgrade your website whenever needed. The staff members have to keep up with software patches and security upgrades to keep your website free from malicious attacks.
- You will be required to give 24-hour support to the website on an ongoing basis.
- The organisation will be tasked with taking the required actions whenever problems occur to minimise downtime. You may need a team on standby to deal with the issues, which may be costly.
- It may take the business away from its core services to concentrate efforts on ensuring that the website is running smoothly.
- If you are unable to provide the support, infrastructure and expertise required of a company host, you should consider the option below.
Outsource Hosting to a Web Hosting Provider
You can use an internet service provider or a company that does web hosting in UK to host, manage and maintain your website. These service providers offer different types of webhosting services that include the following:
Shared Server Service
In this type of service, the service provider owns the server and all other infrastructure at its premises. It then sells the space on the server to several organisations along with yours. This form of webhosting is cost-effective for companies that would like to keep their costs low and not have to physically manage their website, as the firm that does Web hosting in UK ensures that all software is updated.
Co-location Hosting
The co-location option is one where you rent the premises or servers of the hosting company to take advantage of their expertise and infrastructure. With the option, you maintain the data and website parts like in the case of your in-house option. Here is a brief checklist of a dedicated server security checklist that you might find interesting. This option is cheaper than having the server at home or at your office.
Dedicated Webhosting
With a dedicated hosting service, the service provider manages the upkeep of the server and you manage the software and security of the website hosted there. However, unlike the shared option, your site is the only one that is hosted there. This option gives you the freedom to install any software and features that you deem fit. It works for large websites that need unique resources to run or the capacity to handle high traffic.
The option gives the company some freedom as it can install the software it needs and manage the available resources as it wishes. However, the option is expensive and requires some technical know-how to maintain.
Advantages of Outsourcing to a Web Host
- Domain owners do not need to invest in a web server and infrastructure like the company host system.
- The web hosting provider offers the basic server security features to keep your website safe from attack.
- You are able to scale the performance of the website or manage the storage space as you deem fit or as the needs of the organisation evolve.
- The service provider offers support to ensure that the website runs smoothly all the time. It also upgrades the website software and other tools to ensure the site is working properly.
- You do not need to invest in hiring high-quality talent or expertise to run the web server, as many of the services will be handled by the service provider.
- The service provider ensures that the server environment is consistent for optimal operation.
- The service provider offers additional services such as WP installation, domain lookup and SSL services.
- There is 24-hour on-site security and server monitoring.
Disadvantages of Outsourced Service
- You place your trust in the service provider to maintain the web server and ensure its security.
- If you pick a shared server that has too many sites, your website’s performance may suffer.
- You do not have the freedom to install what you want, upgrade and scale the infrastructure at will. If you wish to, you must contact the service provider.
- You are bound by the terms and conditions of the firm that does web hosting in UK.
To wrap up
We hope you learnt a lot about the pros and cons of in-house hosting and outsourced hosting for your corporate website. Understand the advantages and disadvantages of having control over your own server infrastructure and the cost-effectiveness of shared server service or dedicated webhosting options. Make an informed decision for your business needs.
