- Connecting to the Internet: Web hosting and ISPs
- ISP=Internet Service Provider: They sell consumer-level or
small business access to the Internet. Usually temporary/on-demand, but can
be 24-hour.
- Classes of ISP service:
- Analog dial-in. Regular modem, up to 56Kbps (actually a
little less). Uses a regular phone line, hopefully to a local
(vs. long distance) untimed phone number.
- Relatively slow. Modem can only transmit data in one
direction at a time; end-users might find their data taking
circuitous routes to go places (use traceroute to see
where you data are going).
- Relatively cheap. Monthly plans ranging from $5 to
$25 depending on whether hours are limited and what other
services are included (e.g., a mailbox or Web page).
- Local numbers in rural areas may be absent or limited.
- Dial-up ISP listings are at thelist.com among other places
- Digital dial-in. ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
allows multiple "channels" on a single phone line. You can use
a digital modem and a channel for Web traffic, and another channel
for a regular phone or fax.
- Faster than an analog modem (from 64-256Kbps, full duplex)
- Usually billed as a business service, so every minute
costs money.
- Limited service areas, but usually larger than xDSL (below).
- Currently not favored; xDSL is favored. Partially because
ISDN requires upgrades to telephone company switches and other
equipment, more so than xDSL.
- xDSL is
digital "full time." xDSL (ADSL and related technologies;
ADSL=Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line). ADSL offers up to 1Mbps
outbound and 8Mbps inbound using a digital modem. Pricing is usually
more than a regular dial-in service, but might not require an extra
phone line. Service is from the phone company, rather than an ISP.
- Cable
modem is digital "full time," but bandwidth is shared with
others on your local cable loop. Upload via modem cable is 1Mbps or
more; download may be up to 30Mbps. Some areas offer a "hybrid"
solution where the cable is used for download and a regular analog
modem is used for upload.
- DirecPC is a hybrid
solution using geosynchronous satellites for download (the same
satallites as the small DirecTV dish) and a modem for upload. Requires
$400-800 in equipment, and costs somewhat more than a regular
modem ISP.
- All of the above are consumer-oriented: for people
who will be USING the Internet, but not PUBLISHING from their
Internet access point. For organizations that want to have
Web servers and other online content, they need a full time
dedicated connection to the Internet.
- Dedicated data lines: The phone company provides a
dedicated data line (usual coaxial or fiber optic) and bandwidth
to their local office. This is called the "local loop," and costs
from several hundred to many thousand dollars per month, depending
on bandwidth and your distance from the phone company central office.
Then, the phone company or another company provides your
connection to the Internet, often with related services (such as
DNS servers, news servers, help desk, etc.). These companies
are generally not the same as the local ISPs and include:
Sprint, Cable and Wireless (bought part of MCI), MCI/WorldCom,
Speeds and technologies range from 56Kbps - 2Mbps (frame relay,
up to a few thousand $'s per month) to 45-155Mbps (ATM, used by
UNC, tens of hundreds of thousand $'s per year), to ISP or
Internet backbone levels (OC12 [622Mbps] - OC192 [10Gbps]), accessible
to phone companies or major resellers.
For a graphic of MCI/UUNet's global network map,
see their site
- Web hosting. For many businesses (including some very
large ones, such as Yahoo!), it makes more sense to locate their
Web pages off-site. This effectively outsources Internet
connectivity, systems administration and maintenance, while keeping
internal control of content.
Depending on the size of the company and purposes, needs might
include secure credit card transactions, shopping carts, ability
to re-sell virtual hosts, or other services.
Costs range from free/no frills (e.g., geocities) to
hundreds of $'s per month (for a dedicated server or
colocation service).
See Yahoo!'s
category for Web hosting directories for listings and comparison
charts for Web hosting services.
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