Many small and medium size of business in Asia, still do not have proper website nor company email address. Yes, many now reachable via email but a high number of them are using the free one from Googles Gmail/Hotmail or their local ISPs .
Not to say they are no good. Intact, the fact provider such as Gmail offers higher security and protection than alot of local operated shared hosting servers. Well what are shared hosting servers?
Those telling you that you can register your domain and email accounts pretty much from RM50 to few hundred bucks, for a promised 1G ,100GB or some unlimited space.
The fact that everybody can get a Gmail / free email account lack of the assurance that are the email address operated by an authorized person, or by the people who they claimed to be. Imagine if you suppose to trust your money to a person claim to be from a large suppliers, asking you to pay hundred of thousands emailing you through gmail? Weird right? This is from business point of views and not technology, but will technology helps?
Some are ready to move forward, but what next? Getting yourself a server? Leased line with fixed IP? Licenses for Operating System and email application as Microsoft exchange ? / the firewall and SSL certificates?/ Need to plan for server crash and avoid data lost by adding a backup strategy such as tape drive/backup software/ get yourself an all in one IT admins? Seems a nightmare.
Lets just do a simple calculation
| For your own server, a course of 3 years | |
| A Simple 1 socket E5 servers with good entry specs, 24x7 support | MYR 10,000 |
| Microsoft Server OS/exhange?AV? Perhaps another RM8,000? Depend on Organization size, by headcount/user cal | MYR 8,000 |
| Some basic backup? RM5,000 , HW + SW | MYR 5,000 |
| Admin ? Some technical all in one staff :) I used to be one , assuming worst case RM1500x36 months | MYR 54,000 |
| Electricity / Cooling ? | MYR 2,000 |
| bla bla bla bla , the list go on | |
| Total , for now | MYR 79,000 |
| Yearly cost about | MYR 26,333.33 |
| Shared Hosting ? | |
| A Linux Base cPanel Hosting , 20GB Corporate class, with reasonable speed , annually | MYR 300 |
| a VPS (Virtual private server) | |
| a Good reputable VPS providers , with semi/full managed usually USD50 monthly | MYR 2,000 |
So, a Shared hosting usually help you to solve some cost problems, especially for business startup , whereby somebody taking care of your server, your data . consider it your outsource IT admin, but it simply also means that you are exposing your data to otherwise world . So you should find a reputable one. One who will respond to you within hours if you email them, and asking them about the most important question, do you have off-site backup .
By Shared hosting providers only do daily / weekly local backup, whereby although they are secured by RAID, the basic hard disk mirroring technique, but more than 1 drive failed, or incase disaster struct. there goes all your data residing on the servers.
for VPS
you have added control over your server, such as managing firewall etc, better control over your server such as rebooting. Better resource also if you run a website that require more processing power, better memory such as wordpress site that involving alot of memory intensive plugins. Administrator deciding for VPS usually need more IT experience. at least basic concept of managing a servers.
VPS, unlike a dedicated server in the first scenario above, besides sharing the hardware with tons of other users, you have the flexibility like all the others user such as dedicated IPs, boot / shutdown your server, deciding and reinstalling your operating system as you want, make setups and backup strategy that will fit your organizations. and Cost lesser when you grows.
Shared hosting will not be able to cater for grows ,even you buying "Unlimited" storage, it will be limited in other ways such as file count, CPU/Memory resources, or the kind of program you use must not interrupt other user or causing the lost of the hosting company, financially :)
