TOPIC: ADVICE FOR HOSTING YOUR WEBSITE

INTERVIEW WITH: Bill Mueller, Data Street (Hosting Services)

INTERVIEWED BY: Anna Dalea, owner of ERT Website Solutions

1. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS?
A:  We have been in business for 11 years.

2. CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR COMPANY AND ITS SERVICES?
A:  Datastreet Internet Systems was founded in 1996 as an Internet Hosting and IT consulting company.  We currently have two data centers.  Our primary data center is located in downtown Los Angeles adjacent to the One Wilshire collocation center.  Our second is at our corporate office here in Westlake.

Our services include all aspects of Internet hosting, from basic websites and e-mail to custom dedicated servers, applications and a wide range of secure off site data storage solutions.  We work with clients from the concept phase of a site or complex web applications through beta testing and production releases.  We complement all of this by also providing full service IT support which includes network design, installations and comprehensive troubleshooting.

3. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PRIVATE HOSTING COMPANY LIKE DATASTREET AND A LARGE WELL-KNOWN COMMERCIAL HOSTING COMPANY LIKE GODADDY?
A:  It’s very difficult to compare Datastreet with larger hosting providers as we target completely different markets.  For example, Go Daddy and the other “Big Guys” focus on gaining massive amounts of generic low-end hosting contracts with the goal of capturing as much market share as they can.  Datastreet, on the other hand, concentrates on clients requiring a more customized platform for their hosting and IT needs. We are by no means the cheapest provider out there, but we are arguably the best.

Having been in the business for over 10 years, we credit our longevity and success to fast, reliable, personalized service at a fair price.

4. SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS DON'T TEND TO HAVE IN-DEPTH WEBSITES AND LARGE FILE SIZES IN MY EXPERIENCE.  WHAT IS THE AVERAGE BANDWIDTH, HD SPACE AND EMAIL ADDRESS USAGE, FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE? (TO GIVE THE READERS AN IDEA)
A:  You’re absolutely right.  Most small businesses have basic, informative static websites that don’t have high bandwidth or large disk space requirements.  The average small business will only utilize about 50 to 200 Megabytes of disk storage and anywhere from 250MB to 1GB of transfer a month depending on the site.  These are all nominal numbers in hosting.  Most data transfer in small business comes in the form of e-mail.

5. WHAT DOES DATASTREET OFFER THAT LARGER COMMERCIAL HOSTING COMPANIES FAIL TO PROVIDE THE CLIENT WITH?
A:  In a nutshell, we can facilitate virtually all hosting and IT requirements with an emphasis on personalized service.  Sure, Datastreet offers all of the services as the larger companies, but being much smaller allows us to stay focused on our clients and their needs.  Whether it’s helping troubleshoot a simple coding problem or helping set up a new e-mail on their computer, we concentrate in going the extra mile with all of our customers.  This philosophy has proved to be both financially successful and personally rewarding.  There is nothing more satisfying than seeing one of our customers grow their companies.  Many of these customers have been with us for over 10 years.

6. I KNOW IT'S AN ISSUE WITH MANY COMMERCIAL HOSTING COMPANIES TO "DESPERATELY HOLD ON" TO YOUR DOMAIN NAME TO TRY TO KEEP YOU AS A CLIENT. WHAT IS THE AVERAGE DOWN TIME A COMPANY MIGHT EXPERIENCE WHEN TRANSFERING THEIR DOMAIN NAME TO YOUR HOSTING COMPANY OR TO ANY HOSTING COMPANY FOR THAT MATTER?
A:  As far as we are concerned, there would be no down time at all.  If a customer expresses the desire to host with Datastreet, we would set up all the back end DNS settings and website accounts in anticipation of the transfer.  Once a copy of the website is uploaded to our servers and the DNS search order is changed with the registrar, the website will automatically pick up on our servers when the DNS refreshes.  It’s important to remember to keep the website running on both hosts until all DNS servers worldwide have had a chance to refresh, which would be about 24 to 48 hours.

Here’s another very important tip for your readers.  ALWAYS register your domain name with a reputable registrar making sure your name and/or company name is the sole owner of the Domain you are registering.  A reputable registrar will provide you with a username and password for your account along with the ability to modify your account any way you see fit.  When it comes to Domain registrations, we always recommend Network Solutions, Register.com or Go Daddy.

7. HOSTING IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT TO HAVING A WEBSITE. DO YOU FIND THAT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT REALIZE THEY NEED BOTH A DOMAIN NAME AND A HOSTING PROVIDER?
A:  The majority of folks we work with are way too busy focusing on their own companies to have the time to understand all of the components necessary in making a website hosting project successful.  That’s what we’re here for, right! 

8. WHY, IN YOUR OPINION, IS IT NOT A GOOD IDEA TO SKIMP ON WHICH HOSTING COMPANY YOU USE?
A:  Your website is the most available, dynamic marketing tool in any businesses arsenal.  The availability of your website says a lot about your company.  Is that really something that you should trust to the lowest bidder?  Always choose a provider that can prove a 99%+ uptime report for a period of over a year.  Datastreet’s can be found at http://www.webhostingstuff.com/uptime/Datastreet.html. 

9. AT WHAT POINT DO YOU SAY "THAT'S TOO EXPENSIVE" FOR HOSTING? IS THERE A PRICE THAT YOU FEEL IS WAY TOO OVER-THE-TOP? COULD YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF MAXIMUM PAYMENTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS TO LARGE BUSINESS OWNERS WHO USE SOFTWARE ON THE SERVERS?
A: No one should ever pay more than $25/mo for basic hosting.  More elaborate plans that include database functionality, shopping carts, etc. will obviously cost more.  It’s difficult to give a maximum number because each customer’s requirements vary from another’s.  For example, we host a travel agency website and have been for over 9 years.  When they started out, they had one basic static website.  Over the years they have evolved to a full service agency that books travel online, similar to Expedia or Orbitz.  Their service now spans numerous dedicated servers in multiple data centers costing a few thousand dollars a month.  On the other hand we have been hosting another customer for over 10 years and their needs have never changed.  If you’re not seeing value for your investment, you’re probably overpaying.

10. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE MY READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPANY OR YOUR SERVICES THAT I HAVEN'T ALREADY ASKED YOU?
A:  Well, you covered quite a bit.  Just remember when searching for a hosting provider, make sure you are dealing with a reputable company that can offer you all the services necessary to make your business successful.  Don’t shop based on price alone because you’ll most likely be disappointed.  If anyone has any other questions about Datastreet’s offerings or questions in general, we’d love to hear from you. 

Bill Mueller
DataStreet
www.datastreet.net
818-735-0142
wmueller@datastreet.net