Web Site Location

The location of your Web site will mainly depend upon a couple of factors that will influence your decision:

			Budget
			Server Internet connection speed

There are several different options to consider and depending on the amount of capital that is available for investment, will dictate which option you pursue. So let's investigate some of the possibilities ranging from the least amount of capital investment to let's just say: A lot of capital required.

			Web site hosted by an Internet Service Provider
			Leasing or renting space for your server (co-location)
			Independent server location (your own location)

No matter which option you choose, you should also consider the speed in which the server connects to the Internet.

Server Internet connection speed

The connection speed is commonly referred to as the "bandwidth" or "size" of the server's connection to the Internet. Connection speeds can range from a low speed "serial line" connection to an ultra high speed "T3" connection. For example:

			Low Speed "Serial Line"Connections
			56K Frame Relay
			56K Leased Line
			ISDN
			Fractional T1
			T1
			T3

Low Speed "Serial Line" Connection

Low speed means "Low Speed." The two most common speeds are:

			14.4Kbps
			28.8Kbps

This type of connection occurs through the use of modems. The typical protocols used to communicate are:

			SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol)
			CSLIP (Compressed Serial Line Internet Protocol)
			PPP (Point to Point Protocol)

With a 14.4Kbps connection, the server will only be able to serve approximately 130 users per hour. A 28.8Kbps will serve approximately 250 users per hour. Another downside to this type of connection is that your Web site will have to be limited to short text files, as well as one or two small images per page.

56K Frame Relay

A 56K frame relay can provide up to 56Kbps worth of bandwidth. Typically, a frame relay is half of a regular 56K leased line and connects to what is known as a frame cloud. This type of connection is approximately twice as fast as a 28.8Kbps connection. For example, the server should be able to serve 750 users per hour for small documents and around 470 users per hour for slightly larger documents.

56K Leased Line

This type of connection is a 56Kbps dedicated line. No frame cloud involved, which means a direct connection to the Internet. The ability to service users is the same as with the 56K frame relay connection.

ISDN

There are primary two types of ISDN:

			BRI (Basic Rate Interface)
			PRI (Primary Rate Interface)

Without getting into all the technical details of a ISDN connection, let's just say that the server is now capable of serving your Web pages at approximately twice the bandwidth of a 56K connection. For instance at 128Kbps worth of bandwidth, we are talking about 1470 users per hour for small documents and around 1300 users per hour for larger documents. You may even get away with utilizing small multimedia content with this type of connection.

Fractional T1

Fractional T1 means some fraction less than a full T1. These "fractions" are known as "channels" and each channel is capable of speeds up to 64Kbps. With this type of connection, we are now talking about speeds anywhere from 128Kbps to 1.5Mbps. For example, a 256Kbps fractional T1, the server will be capable of serving up to 3000 users per hour.

T1

This type of connection is running at 1.5Mbps worth of bandwidth. We are now into the speed, the server is now serving up Web pages to approximately 12,000 users per hour. A bit of caution though, keep in mind the speeds at which visitors will be connecting to the Internet. Large graphics and large multimedia content will just annoy visitors that connect via low speed "serial line" protocol.

T3

This is a whopping 45Mbps worth of bandwidth, which is the equivalent of twenty-eight T1 lines. I'm sure I don't have to explain what this implies.

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