Web Hosting For E-commerce Sites

Web Hosting For E-commerce Sites 
By Halstatt Pires

If you're going to pursue an e-commerce site, hosting is goingto be an issue. Here's a primer on web hosting for your site.

E-commerce web hosting is the technology of storing, servicingand maintaining files for one or more web sites selling productsor services online. Web site owners who pay for a web host(generally on a monthly basis) upload their web pages to ashared or dedicated web server through an ISP (internet serviceprovider). The web host should ensure a fast and consistentconnection. Experienced web entrepreneurs desire flexibility,security and high performance from an e-commerce host. Ane-commerce web server also stores information, images, videosand just about any other content that can be retrieved from aweb site. Security is a priority for e-commerce web servers. 

E-commerce web hosting can be divided into two major components,the site and the host (where the site is stored for access onthe web). Web hosts are computers that offer storage space andInternet connectivity. Web hosts make your web site work withand connect to the Internet. E-commerce, or web commerce, allowspeople to buy goods and services online. On the Internet, onecan buy almost anything, at any time. 

E-commerce web hosting must support e-commerce software. Often aweb host will provide the tools that handle online transactionsand sales. In other cases, the web business owner is on theirown to ascertain e-commerce software. Common tools that areprovided with e-commerce web hosting are shopping carts,business account services, SSLs (secure socket layers), securetransactions, web promotion applications and advertisementpackages. 

While choosing a web hosting company for your E-commercebusiness, it is helpful to decide how much data storage isrequired and the data transfer rates you require for your site.A web host is the physical location of a web site, so you mustbe confident in the connection and security of the hostingcompany. Doing some research to make sure that data reaches theend-user quickly and efficiently can payoff in a big way. Backupsystems should be in place so that data is routed even if thereis a router failure. Web hosts should be able to accommodate aclient's web traffic (measured in volume of data transfer) inpeak hours as well. 

Security is a major issue for E-commerce transactions. Privateinformation needs to be kept safe from unauthorized parties.SSL, from Netscape, helps a lot with secure transactions. SSL isan encryption technology that encodes a message that a receiverdecrypts by using RSA security. For integrity and authenticationof messages, digital signatures, or certificates, are required.Digital signatures ensure that sensitive information is notpicked up by any other party, by posing as a legitimatee-business or in any other way. A digital certificate is adocument, issued by a certificate authority, which recognizes alegitimate online business. To ensure security, many webcompanies store confidential information on offline disks or ona separate PC. E-commerce web hosts should also maintainmultiple backups of vital information. SSL uses PKI (public keyinfrastructure) and digital certificates to ensue privacy andauthentication. Bear in mind that security can be an expensiveand complex business. 

In short, when selecting an e-commerce web host it is often bestto look for a pre-packaged solution that allows you to create ashopping cart, an online catalog and a secure credit cardtransaction and storage system. Selecting an e-commerce web hostwith a broad range of tools and a solid reputation is animportant step for just about any e-business.