2002-Feb-18
Rick Hall

Web Hosting Sites

The CLRA Internet signup site needs a web hosting site that supports the MySQL database and the JBoss application server. In addition, since the signup site won't be hosted at the same location as the current site (at least initially), the club will need to register another Internet domain name for the signup site. The name "www.clra2.com" is probably a good choice.

A search for "JBoss web hosting" on Google.com turns up 5 candidates which are listed in the table below.
Besides a monthly hosting fee, the sites also charge set-up fees and domain registration fees.  The table includes a row that shows an estimated first-year cost, which is computed as 12 monthly fees, plus the set-up and domain registration fees.

The highest cost site is Softweb Creations. The site seems a bit flakey. For exampe, the prices listed on the site aren't internally consistent with one another. Also, the site has off-shore offices in addition to US-based facilities, which can make one a bit nervous.

The next most expensive site is MMA, which is based in Buffalo, NY. This is probably the highest quality site, and it has been in business longer than the other sites. However, the CLRA can probably get away with less. MMA is designed for sites that will be handling credit-card transactions, which the club won't be doing any time soon.

The least expensive site is Sabren Enterprises. The site does not offer nightly tape backups, but we could workaround that issue by scheduling nightly backup from my home server. The main drawback/attraction of the site is that it is run by a single enthusiastic, young entrepeneur who has been in business less than a year. It would probably be fun to be involved with this site, but it would certainly be an adventure. Since the price is dirt cheap, this isn't a high-risk choice, aside from the potential churn and drama.

The best value may be AO Industries. The company has been in business over a year and offers everything the club needs for about $50/month. The first-year cost should be about $660.


Company
 MMA
 E-Biz Hosting
 Softweb Creations
 AO Industries
 Sabren
Enterprises
Hosting Plan
 Enterprise
 Professional+EJB
 Dev-50U+EJB
(Dev-75U+EJB)
 Level 2
 Demon
+MySQL
Monthly
 $100
 $90
 $65 ($105)
 $50
 $33
Set-up
 $100
 $0
 $50
 $25
 $0
Domain Reg.
 $35
 $35
 $70
 $35
 $35
First-year
 $1335
 $1115
 $900 ($1380)
 $660
 $395
Private JVM
 Yes
 Yes
 No (Yes)
 Yes
 Yes
Tape Backup
 Yes
 Yes
 No? (No?)
 Yes
 No
Databases
 1?
 2
 1 (2)
 2
 1 ($3-mo/db)
Established
 1995
 2000
 1999
 2000
 2001
Location
 Buffalo, NY Winter Park, FL
 Palm Bay, FL
 Mobile, AL
 Atlanta, GA
URL
 www.
mmaweb.net
 
www.
myservlethosting.com

       		
       www.

 softweb-creations.com

       		
       
www.
aoindustries.com

       		
       www.

 cornerhost.com