Web Hosting for E-Commerce Sites
If you're going to pursue an e-commerce site, hosting is going to be an issue. Here's a primer on web hosting for your site.
E-commerce web hosting is the technology of
storing, servicing and maintaining files for one or more web sites
selling products or services online. Web site owners who pay for a web
host (generally on a monthly basis) upload their web pages to a shared
or dedicated web server through an ISP (internet service provider). The
web host should ensure a fast and consistent connection. Experienced web
entrepreneurs desire flexibility, security and high performance from an
e-commerce host. An e-commerce web server also stores information,
images, videos and just about any other content that can be retrieved
from a web site. Security is a priority for e-commerce web servers.
E-commerce web hosting can be divided into two
major components, the site and the host (where the site is stored for
access on the web). Web hosts are computers that offer storage space and
Internet connectivity. Web hosts make your web site work with and
connect to the Internet. E-commerce, or web commerce, allows people to
buy goods and services online. On the Internet, one can buy almost
anything, at any time.
E-commerce web hosting must support e-commerce
software. Often a web host will provide the tools that handle online
transactions and sales. In other cases, the web business owner is on
their own to ascertain e-commerce software. Common tools that are
provided with e-commerce web hosting are shopping carts, business
account services, SSLs (secure socket layers), secure transactions, web
promotion applications and advertisement packages.
While choosing a web hosting company for your
E-commerce business, it is helpful to decide how much data storage is
required and the data transfer rates you require for your site. A web
host is the physical location of a web site, so you must be confident in
the connection and security of the hosting company. Doing some research
to make sure that data reaches the end-user quickly and efficiently can
payoff in a big way. Backup systems should be in place so that data is
routed even if there is a router failure. Web hosts should be able to
accommodate a client's web traffic (measured in volume of data transfer)
in peak hours as well.
Security is a major issue for E-commerce
transactions. Private information needs to be kept safe from
unauthorized parties. SSL, from Netscape, helps a lot with secure
transactions. SSL is an encryption technology that encodes a message
that a receiver decrypts by using RSA security. For integrity and
authentication of messages, digital signatures, or certificates, are
required. Digital signatures ensure that sensitive information is not
picked up by any other party, by posing as a legitimate e-business or in
any other way. A digital certificate is a document, issued by a
certificate authority, which recognizes a legitimate online business. To
ensure security, many web companies store confidential information on
offline disks or on a separate PC. E-commerce web hosts should also
maintain multiple backups of vital information. SSL uses PKI (public key
infrastructure) and digital certificates to ensue privacy and
authentication. Bear in mind that security can be an expensive and
complex business.
In short, when selecting an e-commerce web host it
is often best to look for a pre-packaged solution that allows you to
create a shopping cart, an online catalog and a secure credit card
transaction and storage system. Selecting an e-commerce web host with a
broad range of tools and a solid reputation is an important step for
just about any e-business.
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