Web space

This page covers some of the things you should look for when deciding about the features you want included with the web space you need to host your site.

If after reading it you are not sure if our solution is the one for you, please call us with your requirements. We can advise you on 3rd party packages and as we don't act as resellers for any other company, you can be assured our advice will be impartial and in your best possible interests.

What is the server Operating System.

The common types are UNIX or Windows NT. We would recommend you go for a hosting company using a UNIX server with the Apache web server software as we have found that this configuration is highly stable and gives you the most scope when it comes to adding features and enhancements to your site.

The jensys hosting solution uses UNIX. The operating system is Red Hat Linux with the Apache web server.

Can you use CGI Scripts?

CGI scripts provide a method to add interactivity to Web pages. Usually written in Perl they allow you to have e-mail forms, search facilities, database integration, forums, ..the list is almost endless. Because CGI scripts are so powerful and versatile there is a possibility that a poorly written or installed script can disrupt the server. Some companies will only allow you to use a limited number of pre-installed scripts, others will want to check them first (often there is a fee for this).

You can use CGI scripts on the jensys hosting solution.

Do they have Microsoft FrontPage server extensions?

This is only important if you want to use the FrontPage web design program and maintain the site yourself. Extensions allow you to add features like e-mail forms, counters, database support etc.

Although the jensys hosting solution is capable of supporting FrontPage extensions we do not offer this service. This is partly because we will do all the updating of the site for you, but mainly because FrontPage extensions are quite fiddly to set up and use (you will see lots of web sites return timeout or access errors due to this). We are confident that CGI (Perl) scripts can provide all the functionality you want in a more stable and robust manner.

Can you have password-protected pages?

This allows you to have an area of your web site that only authorised people can access. Make sure you can add or remove authorised people yourself and not have to go back to the hosting company each time.

You can have password protected areas with your jensys hosting solution and we will install an easy to use interface to allow you to keep the list of authorised people up to date yourself.

Do you get TelNet Access (A Shell Account)?

TelNet is pretty techy stuff. It allows you to talk directly to the server from the command line (remember the C:> prompt in the good ol' days of DOS?). You can modify files and directories, run programs and generally cause havoc. Not many hosting companies will give you this feature.

The jensys hosting solution does not include TelNet access.

Do you get FTP Access?

This allows you to transfer files to and from your web site to keep it up to date. Although it is not rocket science you can run into difficulties which will result in the images and / or pages of your web site not being displayed.

As jensys provide a one-stop service we do not include FTP access. You don't need it. We will do all the updating / maintenance and troubleshooting for you.

Can you have an Anonymous FTP Site?

This is a special section of your site that people can access to post or download files. If you are going to be sending / receiving large files such as software, images or data you might find this better than doing it via e-mail.

A jensys hosting solution does not offer Anonymous FTP although we do offer an alternative that allows you and your visitors to send and receive files via a browser. This is arguably better as you can define exactly the size and type of files you will allow people to send you and you can receive an e-mail notifying you when something has been uploaded.

How much disk space do you get?

Some companies will offer you huge amounts of disk space, seemingly in an attempt to impress you or to justify their price. A properly designed web site doesn't need masses of room. Most small business sites would be pushed to take up even one megabyte.

The standard jensys hosting solution includes 30MB of disk space. You'll probably never need that much, but if we offered less it would look like we're cheapskates. If you do need more we can provide it.

Do they offer access (visitor) logs?

Access logs are much more informative than simple hit counters. They can show you where visitors come from, which browser they were using, when they arrived, which pages they looked at, if they came from a search engine what search term they used to find you and so on. Make sure the company offer the NCSA Combined or 'extended log' format otherwise you'll be missing out on all sorts of very useful information. Some companies will e-mail the information to you every so often while others create charts or graphs for you to look at.

The standard jensys hosting solution includes NCSA Combined logs which are processed on a daily basis and displayed in graphical and tubular form. The raw data can also be e-mailed to you once a week so you can perform your own analysis on it if you wish. Please see the access log section of our support site for more details.

What other services are available?

As your web site develops you will find you need additional services and features. Check to see if they can provide these as and when you need them rather than make you upgrade to a more expensive package.

Additional features might include support for:

Majordomo - one of the Internet's most popular mailing list management packages which allows you to run many different mailing lists for newsletters etc with thousands of subscribers.
MySQL - a fast, robust database engine that can handle huge amounts of data. When used in conjunction a scripting language such as PHP or PERL, MySQL can help add impressive dynamic content to your site.
PHP - a special scripting language that intercepts a request for a page and modifies it based on user input and / or data taken from a database, before it is sent to the browser giving you the ability to produce dynamic pages that can be almost unique to the individual visitor.
Secure Socket Layers - These are a must if you want to begin trading on-line.

All of these features are available as add-ons to the standard jensys hosting solution, usually requiring just a one-off set up fee.

What is the server Operating System	Can you use CGI Scripts?
Do they have Microsoft FrontPage server extensions?	Can you have password-protected pages?
Do you get TelNet Access	Do you get FTP Access?
Can you have an Anonymous FTP Site?	How much disk space do you get?
Do they offer access (visitor) logs?	What other features are available?