Web hosting service

An example of rack mounted servers

A web hsting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server owned or leased for use by clients, as well as, providing Internet connectivity, typically in adata center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for other servers located in their data center, called colocation, also known as Housing in Latin America or France. The scope of web hosting services varies greatly. The most basic is web page and smallscale file hosting, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. The files are usually delivered to the Web "as is" or with minimal processing. [1] Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer this service free to subscribers. Individuals and organizations may also obtain Web page hosting from alternative service providers. Personal web site hosting is typically free, advertisement-sponsored, or inexpensive. Business web site hosting often has a higher expense. Single page hosting is generally sufficient for personal web pages. A complex site calls for a more comprehensive package that provides database support and application development platforms (e.g. PHP, Java, Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, and ASP.NET). These facilities allow customers to write or install scripts for applications like forums and content management. Also, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is typically used for e-commerce. The host may also provide an interface or control panel for managing the Web server and installing scripts, as well as, other modules and service applications like e-mail. Some hosts specialize in certain software or services (e.g. e-commerce),which are commonly used by larger companies that outsource network infrastructure.

Reliability and uptime

Multiple racks of servers

The availability of a website is measured by the percentage of a year in which the website is publically accessible and reachable via the internet. This is different than measuring the uptime of a system. Uptime refers to the system itself being online, however it does not take into account being able to reach it as in the event of a network outage.

The formula to determine a systems availability is relatively easy: Total time = 365 days per year * 24 hours per day * 60 minutes per hour = 525,600 minutes per year. To calculate how many minutes of downtime a system may experience per year, take the uptime guarantee and multiply it by total time in a year.

In the example of 99.99%: (1 - .9999) * 525,600 = allowable minutes down per year.

The following table shows the translation from a given availability percentage to the corresponding amount of time a system would be unavailable per year, month, or week.
Availability % Downtime per year Downtime per month* Downtime per week

90% ("one nine")

36.5 days

72 hours

16.8 hours

95%

18.25 days

36 hours

8.4 hours

97%

10.96 days

21.6 hours

5.04 hours

98%

7.30 days

14.4 hours

3.36 hours

99% ("two nines")

3.65 days

7.20 hours

1.68 hours

99.5%

1.83 days

3.60 hours

50.4 minutes

99.8%

17.52 hours

86.23 minutes

20.16 minutes

99.9% ("three nines")

8.76 hours

43.2 minutes

10.1 minutes

99.95%

4.38 hours

21.56 minutes

5.04 minutes

99.99% ("four nines")

52.56 minutes

4.32 minutes

1.01 minutes

99.999% ("five nines") 5.26 minutes

25.9 seconds

6.05 seconds

99.9999% ("six nines") 31.5 seconds

2.59 seconds

0.605 seconds

A hosting providers SLAs may include a certain amount of scheduled downtime per year in order to perform maintenance on the systems. This scheduled downtime is often excluded from the SLA timeframe, and needs to be subtracted from the Total Time when availability is calculated. Depending on the verbiage of an SLA, if the availability of a system drops below that in the signed SLA, a hosting provider often will provide a partial refund for time lost. The percent uptime advertised by a web host is often a bad metric for determining a hosts quality. With this metric, a scheduled downtime from 2a.m. - 3a.m. will be counted the same as an unplanned downtime from 5p.m. - 6 p.m.

Types of hosting

A typical server "rack" commonly seen incolocation centres Internet hosting services can run Web servers. Many large companies, which are not internet service providers, also need a computer permanently connected to the web to send email, files, etc. to other sites. The company may use the computer as a website host to provide details of their goods and services and serve for online orders.

Free web hosting service: offered by different companies with limited services, sometimes supported by advertisements, and often limited when compared to paid hosting.

Shared web hosting service: one's website is placed on the same server as many other sites, ranging from a few to hundreds or thousands. Typically, all domains may share a common pool of server resources, such as RAM and the CPU. The features available with this type of service can be quite extensive. A shared website may be hosted with a reseller.

Reseller web hosting: allows clients to become web hosts themselves. Resellers could function, for individual domains, under any combination of these listed types of hosting, depending on who they are affiliated with as a reseller. Resellers' accounts

may vary tremendously in size: they may have their own virtual dedicated server to a colocated server. Many resellers provide a nearly identical service to their provider's shared hosting plan and provide the technical support themselves. Virtual Dedicated Server: also known as a Virtual Private Server (VPS), divides server resources into virtual servers, where resources can be allocated in a way that does not directly reflect the underlying hardware. VPS will often be allocated resources based on a one server to many VPSs relationship, however virtualisation may be done for a number of reasons, including the ability to move a VPS container between servers. The users may have root access to their own virtual space. Customers are sometimes responsible for patching and maintaining the server.

Dedicated hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server and gains full control over it (user has root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, the user typically does not own the server. Another type of Dedicated hosting is Self-Managed or Unmanaged. This is usually the least expensive for Dedicated plans. The user has full administrative access to the server, which means the client is responsible for the security and maintenance of his own dedicated server.

Managed hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server but is not allowed full control over it (user is denied root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, they are allowed to manage their data via FTP or other remote management tools. The user is disallowed full control so that the provider can guarantee quality of service by not allowing the user to modify the server or potentially create configuration problems. The user typically does not own the server. The server is leased to the client.

Colocation web hosting service: similar to the dedicated web hosting service, but the user owns the colo server; the hosting company provides physical space that the server takes up and takes care of the server. This is the most powerful and expensive type of web hosting service. In most cases, the colocation provider may provide little to no support directly for their client's machine, providing only the electrical, Internet access, and storage facilities for the server. In most cases for colo, the client would have his own administrator visit the data center on site to do any hardware upgrades or changes.

Cloud Hosting: is a new type of hosting platform that allows customers powerful, scalable and reliable hosting based on clustered load-balanced servers and utility billing. A cloud hosted website may be more reliable than alternatives since other computers in the cloud can compensate when a single piece of hardware goes down. Also, local power disruptions or even natural disasters are less problematic for cloud hosted sites, as cloud hosting is decentralized. Cloud hosting also allows providers to charge users only for resources consumed by the user, rather than a flat fee for the amount the user expects they will use, or a fixed cost upfront hardware investment. Alternatively, the lack of centralization may give users less control on where their data is located which could be a problem for users with data security or privacy concerns.

Clustered hosting: having multiple servers hosting the same content for better resource utilization. Clustered Servers are a perfect solution for high-availability dedicated hosting, or creating a scalable web hosting solution. A cluster may separate web serving from database hosting capability. (Usually Web hosts use Clustered Hosting for their Shared hosting plans, as there are multiple benefits to the mass managing of clients)

Grid hosting: this form of distributed hosting is when a server cluster acts like a grid and is composed of multiple nodes.

Home server: usually a single machine placed in a private residence can be used to host one or more web sites from a usually consumer-grade broadband connection. These can be purpose-built machines or more commonly old PCs. Some ISPs actively attempt to block home servers by disallowing incoming requests to TCP port 80 of the user's connection and by refusing to provide static IP addresses. A common way to attain a reliable DNS hostname is by creating an account with a dynamic DNS service. A dynamic DNS service will automatically change the IP address that a URLpoints to when the IP address changes.

Some specific types of hosting provided by web host service providers:

File hosting service: hosts files, not web pages Image hosting service Video hosting service Blog hosting service Pastebin Shopping cart software E-mail hosting service

Obtaining hosting
Web hosting is often provided as part of a general Internet access plan; there are many free and paid providers offering these types of web hosting. A customer needs to evaluate the requirements of the application to choose what kind of hosting to use. Such considerations include database server software, scripting software, and operating system. Most hosting providers provide Linux-based web hosting which offers a wide range of different software. A typical configuration for a Linux server is the LAMP platform: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python. The web hosting client may want to have other services, such as email for their business domain, databases or multi-media services for streaming media. A customer may also choose Windows as the hosting platform. The customer still can choose from PHP, Perl, and Python but may also use ASP .Net or Classic ASP. Web hosting packages often include a Web Content Management System, so the end-user does not have to worry about the more technical aspects.

Developing Integrated marketing communications

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is defined as customer centric, data driven method of communicating with the customers. IMC is the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, functions and sources within a company into a seamless program that maximizes the impact on consumers and other end users at a minimal cost. This management concept is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation.

What is IMC?
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is a process for managing customer relationships that drive brand value primarily through communication efforts. Such efforts often include crossfunctional processes that create and nourish profitable relationships with customers and other stakeholders by strategically controlling or influencing all messages sent to these groups and encouraging data-driven, purposeful dialog with them. IMC includes the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, and sources within a company into a seamless program in order to maximize the impact on end users at a minimal cost. This integration affects all firm's business-to-business, marketing channel, customer-focused, and internally directed communications. Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together.

IMC Components

The Foundation - corporate image and brand management; buyer behavior; promotions Advertising Tools - advertising management, advertising design: theoretical frameworks

opportunity analysis.

and types of appeals; advertising design: message strategies and executional frameworks; advertising media selection. Advertising also reinforces brand and firm image.

Promotional Tools - trade promotions; consumer promotions; personal selling, database Integration Tools - Internet Marketing; IMC for small business and entrepreneurial

marketing, and customer relations management; public relations and sponsorship programs.

ventures; evaluating and integrated marketing program.

Marketing mix component

The Internet has changed the way business is done in the current world. The variables of segmentation, targeting and positioning are addressed differently. The way new products and services are marketed have changed even though the aim of business in bringing economic and social values remain unchanged. Indeed, the bottom line of increasing revenue and profit are still the same. Marketing has evolved to more of connectedness, due to the new characteristics brought in by the Internet. Marketing was once seen as a one way, with firms broadcasting their offerings and value proposition. Now it is seen more and more as a conversation between marketers and customers. Marketing efforts incorporate the "marketing mix". Promotion is one element of marketing mix. Promotional activities include advertising (by using different media), sales promotion (sales and trades promotion), and personal selling activities. It also includes Internet marketing, sponsorship marketing, direct marketing, database marketing and public relations. Integration of all these promotional tools, along with other components of marketing mix, is a way to gain an edge over a competitor. The starting point of the IMC process is the marketing mix that includes different types of marketing, advertising, and sales efforts. Without a complete IMC plan there is no integration or harmony between client and customers. The goal of an organization is to create and maintain communication throughout its own employees and throughout its customers. Integrated marketing is based on a master marketing plan. This plan should coordinate efforts in all components of the marketing mix. A marketing plan consists of the following six steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Situation analysis Marketing objectives Marketing budget Marketing strategies Marketing tactics Evaluation of performance

Integrated marketing communications aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media. The concept includes online and offline marketing

channels. Online marketing channels include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click, affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, micro-blogging, RSS, podcast, Internet Radio, and Internet TV. Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relations, industry relations, billboard, traditional radio, and television. A company develops its integrated marketing communication program using all the elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion). Integrated marketing communications plans are vital to achieving success. The reasons for their importance begin with the explosion of information technologies. Channel power has shifted from manufacturers to retailers to consumers. Using outside-in thinking, Integrated Marketing Communications is a data-driven approach that focuses on identifying consumer insights and developing a strategy with the right (online and offline combination) channels to forge a stronger brand-consumer relationship. This involves knowing the right touch points to use to reach consumers and understanding how and where they consume different types of media. Regression analysis and customer lifetime value are key data elements in this approach.

Importance of IMC
Several shifts in the advertising and media industry have caused IMC to develop into a primary strategy for marketers: 1. From media advertising to multiple forms of communication.

2. From mass media to more specialized (niche) media, which are centered on specific target audiences. 3. From a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated, consumer-controlled market. 4. From general-focus advertising and marketing to data-based marketing. 5. From low agency accountability to greater agency accountability, particularly in advertising. 6. From traditional compensation to performance-based compensation (increased sales or benefits to the company). 7. From limited Internet access to 24/7 Internet availability and access to goods and services.

1. It can create competitive advantage, boost sales and profits, while saving money, time and stress. 2. IMC wraps communications around customers and helps them move through the various stages of the buying process. The organisation simultaneously consolidates its image, develops a dialogue and nurtures its relationship with customers. 3. This 'Relationship Marketing' cements a bond of loyalty with customers which can protect them from the inevitable onslaught of competition. The ability to keep a customer for life is a powerful competitive advantage. 4. IMC also increases profits through increased effectiveness 5. Carefully linked messages also help buyers by giving timely reminders, updated information and special offers which, when presented in a planned sequence, help them move comfortably through the stages of their buying process 6. Finally, IMC saves money as it eliminates duplication in areas such as graphics and photography since they can be shared and used in say, advertising, exhibitions and sales literature. 7. IMC also makes messages more consistent and therefore more credible. This reduces risk in the mind of the buyer which, in turn, shortens the search process and helps to dictate the outcome of brand comparisons.

4 P's vs. 4 C's

Not PRODUCT, but CONSUMER

You have to understand what the consumers' wants and needs are. Times have changed and you can no longer sell whatever you can make. The product characteristics have to match the specifics of what someone wants to buy. And part of what the consumer is buying is the personal "buying experience."

Not PRICE, but COST

Understand the consumer's cost to satisfy the want or need. The product price may be only one part of the consumer's cost structure. Often it is the cost of time to drive somewhere, the cost of conscience of what you buy, the cost of guilt for not treating the kids, the investment a consumer is willing to make to avoid risk, etc.

Not PLACE, but CONVENIENCE

As above, turn the standard logic around. Think convenience of the buying experience and then relate that to a delivery mechanism. Consider all possible definitions of "convenience" as it relates to satisfying the consumer's wants and needs. Convenience may include aspects of the physical or virtual location, access ease, transaction service time, and hours of availability.

Not PROMOTION, but COMMUNICATION

Communicate,many mediums working together to present a unified message with a feedback mechanism to make the communication two-way. And be sure to include an understanding of non-traditional mediums, such as word of mouth and how it can influence your position in the consumer's mind. How many ways can a customer hear (or see) the same message through the course of the day, each message reinforcing the earlier images?

Effective communications elements

The goal of selecting the elements of proposed integrated marketing communications is to create a campaign that is effective and consistent across media platforms. Some marketers may want only ads with greatest breadth of appeal: the executions that, when combined, provide the greatest number of attention-getting, branded, and motivational moments. Others may only want ads with the greatest depth of appeal: the ads with the greatest number of attention-getting, branded, and motivational points within each. Although integrated marketing communications is more than just an advertising campaign, the bulk of marketing dollars is spent on the creation and distribution of advertisements. Hence, the bulk of the research budget is also spent on these elements of the campaign. Once the key marketing pieces have been tested, the researched elements can then be applied to other contact points: letterhead, packaging, logistics, customer service training, and more, to complete the IMC cycle. One common type of integrated marketing communication is personal selling. Personal selling can be defined as "face to face selling in which a seller attempts to persuade a buyer to make a purchase." Personal selling is occasionally called the "last 3 feet" of the marketing functions. It is called the "last 3 feet" because this is usually the distance between a salesperson and his customer on the retail sales floor. The last 3 feet also applies to the distance across the desk from a sales representative to his prospective business customer. Personal selling occurs in two main categories: 1. Retail sales 2. Business-to-business selling

Promotions Opportunity Analysis

A major task that guides the way in creating an effective Integrated Marketing Communications plan is the promotions opportunity analysis. A promotions opportunity analysis is the process marketers use to identify target audiences for a companys goods and services and the communication strategies needed to reach these audiences. A message sent by a marketer has a greater likelihood of achieving the intended results if the marketer has performed a good analysis and possesses accurate information pertaining to the target audience. There are five steps in developing a promotions opportunity analysis: Conduct a communication market analysis

Competitors Opportunities Target markets Customers Product positioning

Establish communication objectives

Develop brand awareness Increase category demand Change customer belief or attitude Enhance purchase actions Encourage repeat purchases Build customer traffic Enhance firm image Increase market share Increase sales Reinforce purchase decisions

Create communications budget Several factors influence the relationship between expenditures on promotions and sales:

The goal of the promotion Threshold effects Carryover effects Wear-out effects Decay effects Random events

Prepare promotional strategies The fourth step of a promotions opportunity analysis program is to prepare a general communication strategy for the company and it products. Strategies are sweeping guidelines concerning the essence of the company's marketing efforts. Strategies provide the long term direction for all marketing activities. It is critical that the company's communication strategy mesh with the overall message and be carefully linked to the opportunities identified by a communication market analysis. Communications strategies should be directly related to a firm's marketing objectives. Strategies must be achievable using the allocations available in the marketing and communications budgets. Once strategies have been implemented, they are not changed unless major new events occur. Only changes in the marketplace, new competitive forces, or new promotional opportunities should cause companies to alter strategies.

Match tactics with strategies

Avertisements based on the major theme or a subtheme Personal selling enticements (bonuses and prizes for sales reps) Sales promotions (posters, point-of-purchase displays, end-of-aisle displays, Special product packaging and labeling Price changes

freestanding displays)

Other enticements companies may include in their tactical efforts includes: Coupons, gift certificates, bonus packs (a second product attached to a first), special containers (e.g., holiday decanters or soft-drink glasses), contests and prizes, rebates and volume discounts (large-size packages, "buy two, get one free" promotions, etc.)[13] Throughout these steps, marketers should consistently review and analyze the actions and tools that major competitors are utilizing.

Accountability
Accountability in marketing is increasing a result of tight economic restraints and an ever evolving society. Companies realize that they cannot spend large amounts of money on unproductive marketing campaigns. Companies look for programs that will have a measurable impact on business at minimal cost. Marketing agencies must be able to provide companies with desired and effective results.

Barriers to IMC
Despite its many benefits, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, has many barriers. In addition to the usual resistance to change and the special problems of communicating with a wide variety of target audiences, there are many other obstacles which restrict IMC. These include: Functional Silos; Stifled Creativity; Time Scale Conflicts and a lack of Management know-how. Take functional silos. Rigid organisational structures are infested with managers who protect both their budgets and their power base. Sadly, some organisational structures isolate communications, data, and even managers from each other. For example the PR department often doesn't report to marketing. The sales force rarely meet the advertising or sales promotion people and so on. Imagine what can happen when sales reps are not told about a new promotional offer! And all of this can be aggravated by turf wars or internal power battles where specific managers resist having some of their decisions (and budgets) determined or even influenced by someone from another department. It shouldn't matter whose creative idea it is, but often, it does. An advertising agency may not be so enthusiastic about developing a creative idea generated by, say, a PR or a direct marketing consultant. IMC can restrict creativity. No more wild and wacky sales promotions unless they fit into the overall marketing communications strategy. The joy of rampant creativity may be stifled, but the creative challenge may be greater and ultimately more satisfying when operating within a tighter, integrated, creative brief. Time horizons add one more barrier to IMC as different time scales affect a creative brief. For example, image advertising that is designed to nurture the brand over the longer term may conflict with shorter term advertising or sales promotions designed to boost quarterly sales.

However, the two objectives of improving the brand and sales can be accommodated with IMC planning.

But this kind of planning is not common. A survey in 1995, revealed that most managers lack expertise in IMC. But its not just managers, but also agencies. There is a proliferation of single discipline agencies. There appear to be very few people who have real experience of all the marketing communications disciplines. This lack of know how is then compounded by a lack of commitment.

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