By Jennifer Marsh
Jennifer Marsh is a software developer, programmer and technology writer and occasionally blogs for Rackspace Hosting.
Gone are the days of searching backups and digging up old tape drives. With the cloud’s reliability, webmasters and IT managers can back up, restore and serve thousands of customers without any worry. On top of that, it can save the company thousands of dollars in revenue if implemented correctly.
Here are some options to consider when choosing a cloud web host.
Bandwidth Allowance
First ask: How much bandwidth does my business need? Is bandwidth only used by customers or will internal employees use also consume bandwidth? These are all important requirements to consider.
Bandwidth is measured in gigabytes in most host contracts. 500 gigabytes of bandwidth usage is standard. Cloud hosts will offer a standard monthly allowance, and then additional bandwidth comes at a premium price, so be sure to check your contract for the allotment.
Cost and Storage Space
Storage prices don’t cost as much as they used to, but they still have a price per gigabyte in cloud contracts. It’s best to fully understand how much space will be needed to hold your company’s data. How much space does the company need to store applications and files? What about database storage needs? Databases contain all of the corporate data for internal and external use, so they can grow exponentially.
Applications and database storage needs are all requirements to take into consideration when searching for a cloud host. Prices vary, but the cloud host should offer plenty of room for scalability even if it is an additional cost at the per/GB level. Be sure to think about your company’s projected growth as you buy space.
Uptime and Company Support
How much money does the company lose from downtime? For some companies, it’s tens of thousands of dollars per hour. So you’ll want to choose your host wisely based on accurate predictions of the company’s needs.
A good cloud host offers 99 percent uptime and overnight technical support. It also schedules maintenance, an inevitable part of operating an online presence, during off-peak hours when traffic is at its lowest, minimizing revenue impact.
If all considerations such as bandwidth requirements, cost and support are taken into account, any company can minimize costs for an online presence while still taking advantage of the fastest and most cost-efficient hosting technology available.
