Bandwidth Buzzers and Bells: Deciphering Network 'Technise' - Assessing a Web Hosts Network

by Steve Lieke

When investing in Web Hosting services, you are not just investing in a web server and a service you are also investing in a Network. Yes, the capabilities of your server and the customer support you receive from a Web host are going to impact heavily on the performance of your web site. Anyone can purchase a bunch of second hand servers, put them in their basement, link it to a switching system and then to an ISP through their phone line and then advertise their service through the Internet. But is this 'Hosting' service operating a professional Network Operations Center (NOC)?

Colocation (also Co-location) is an unfortunate term that has come into wide spread industry use. In Web hosting it means to run a network from two locations. In most cases it refers to the situation where a company owns a server located in one place but runs it from another. It is in fact almost completely the opposite of the English word 'collocation' which means 'two things in one place'. A better term might have been 'bilocation' but then that's 'Technise' for you.

The response might be that this makes them professional 'operators' in a quasi-criminal sense but it does not make them a professional hosting service. A case like this is extreme but the response to the question 'are all Network Operations Centers the same?' is clearly no.

At the top end of the Web Hosting field there are two main kinds of companies, those that run their own NOC and those that 'colocate' a number of servers in another companies NOC. The companies that run large NOC as a rule avoid servicing 'virtual' or shared servers, preferring to allow colocated resellers to shop out their equipment and network to smaller companies. Colocation means that a server (usually several servers conglomerated in a single network known as a 'Server Farm') is owned and administrated by one company but located into another company's facility and linked to their network. These hosting companies own their servers but not the network they link to.

These 'Strategic Partnerships' allow the large operators to concentrate their sales and sale support on large companies, including their colocated resellers. The advantage to the colocated Web host is provided by the large company's facility and network. The collocated Web host can still offer world class hosting but do not need to invest the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary to build an up-scale NOC and the international network it links to.

There are a number of these large resellers around and the best offer valuable services that the large NOC operators are not interested in offering. These companies focus on customer service and server administration, taking care of the issues that most customers don't want to be involved with. These systems administrators deal with everything from account set up to unexpected server failure. Many company's have created an Web site 'Control Panel,' that is designed for easy web site management, it helps users add POP E-mail accounts, do file transfers, access CGI scripting, and check site traffic reports. Most of these companies also offer Turnkey E-commerce options and other specially designed software to enhance your web site.

In practice the difference between Dedicated and Colocated hosting is really a question of ownership. One company might choose to lease or rent through a Web hosting company the use of a Dedicated server (a server dedicated to their needs) another might choose to colocate a server, in other words purchase a server but locate it at the Web hosts network. In both cases the server is linked into the Web host network and administrated, in the main, from outside of the hosts Network Operations Center. Some Web hosts offer support for colocated servers others do not.

In many cases, these systems operators may never see the servers they run. Instead they will operate from a separate control center. This might seem odd but when you consider speed of Internet communication and that their work is program related, not hardware related, then it makes sense. Being near their company's sales and customer support apparatus, as opposed to their 'server farms,' allows them to react quickly to customer demands. Nonetheless, the qualities of the NOC that a resellers 'server farm' is located is still of ultimate importance. A lot can be learned from the Web host's web site. If you find that there is no Network information available on the site you had better find out specifics before purchasing. This could mean a few things (not necessarily that their network is inferior) some companies, for instance, work from several high quality NOC's around the country and can't describe all of them accurately, while others are actually reselling services and are not a primary provider. E-mail or call these companies and find out the specifics, and be aware that many front line sales people are as unaware as the average person about the details. Responses may take time but the hard facts are worth the wait.

As is often the case, the problem is how to trust web site information and what the sales people tell you. One solution is to test a hosts network yourself, if you can locate a couple of URL's that are hosted from their NOC and see how fast these sites download, you've made a good start.

Many web hosts have example customers on their servers that you can link to directly from the Hosts site -- these are usually large marquee customers, with complex features -- these are ideal for testing high load data transfer. Remember that the time of day effects traffic flow, and that much depends on the Web sites design but it should give you a sense for the network efficiency. And don't forget, very slow downloads can be caused by unusual local conditions - perhaps the site is very popular -- and you might want to repeat the test a couple of times before coming to a conclusion.

When choosing a Web host you can find out a lot about a Web host by how they describe their network. Although not all companies have web pages that are dedicated to showcasing their Network Operations Center, most have at least some information about it in their 'About Us' or 'Company Profile' page of their site. Some actually include pictures, complete with proud 'Techies' showing off their wares.

A company that has expended the energy to give a thorough description of its Network Operations Center, clearly cares about it. Even if the 'Technise' is complicated, a complete description is a good indicator of where a companies priorities lie.