E-Commerce Solutions

To ensure that your online store has a reliable and visible presence on the Internet, it is important to consider the number of hosting options that are available to you.

Before choosing a hosting option, you should consider the size of your solution, traffic volume, and the type of data. Several options are available: you can use the services of a professional hosting party (shared or dedicated hosting) or you can self-host via an ADSL subscription for instance.

Fully hosted solutions
4D Business Kit is a multi-store solution. This means that as far as hosting is concerned you can run several stores or different client catalogs on the same server or on a single machine. In this case, shared hosting, or even co-hosting, may be the ideal solution. Server administration and maintenance (hardware and software) are ensured by the hosting party. Costs vary according to bandwidth, disk space supplied, the availability of technical assistance, and the type of address. Functionality like traffic management, domain name registration, and the creation of e-mail addresses in your name, can be handled by the CGIs installed and supplied by the provider. This type of hosting lets you share machine power and bandwidth with other companies. As a result you must make sure the hosting party can guarantee a certain level of quality in terms of service.

Server co-location
You may choose to have a dedicated server (hardware and software) on the premises of the hosting company. Some hosting companies allow you to rent a dedicated server machine on a month-to-month basis. Others allow you to provide your own server hardware, while the hosting company provides the rest of the infrastructure (battery room, power generators, secured premises, air-conditioned server room, etc.) and services (surveillance, network availability etc.) This option is suited to solutions requiring a dedicated machine or the use of specific technology to obtain top performance. It is much more expensive than shared hosting since a specific machine configured for the Internet will be allocated to you alone. The hosting party can provide you with a server under a leasing or a rental contract. You install your software on the server while the hosting party handles maintenance and provides the available infrastructure such as firewall, dedicated bandwidth, and Internet access.

4D Business Kit hosting companies

The following companies offer 4D Business Kit hosting and custom site development services:

Mehdi & Ward Ltd
http://www.mehdiward.com
tel: 020 8245 4545
email: info@mehdiward.com

Telekinetix Ltd
http://www.telekinextix.com
tel: 0845 166 8739
email: jdcryer@telekinetix.com

Host-it-yourself
Hosting a solution yourself is another option that is becoming increasingly widespread. Since the number of service providers who offer affordable SDSL/ADSL and cable modem services is growing, self-hosting is becoming a possible solution for small businesses.

International | Company | Contact 4D | Site Map | Privacy Policy | © 4D UK 1995-2008 | Change font size: [A] [A] [A] |