IT application hosting

abakan

Hi all,

We have an application that we curently install on customer sites for their use.

Now we are making it as a SaaS model and hope they will access their database and administration facility from the "cloud"

My question is : if we wanted to host the applications on our internal network , what would that invovle? I know security would need to be ramped up as we would be opening up a web server to the internet.

What setup and consideration will I need to look out for?

Thanks all

Tomtata

what would that involve? - Really depends on the application, can you give a little more detail - what language is it in and what backend database does it use (if any)

Is it multi tenant or does it require a custom install / server per customer?

Sposs

It's better to use a hosting provider , why bother having to worry about managing hardware / uptime / server managment , not to mention back-ups , server cooling security etc from your local office, when you can just outsource it for a fraciton of the cost and not have any of the worries outlined above.

abakan

hi guys,

I have be looking at the options for us and hosting would be a good option but...

A quick run over of the applications. we currently install them on customer's server's. The applications are designed on Microsoft development platform .NET etc and we use SQL databases for the backend.

We would be looking to redevelop the application to have a web frontend and log into the customer's user portal where they can access their data and make changes etc.

I have been chatting to dedipower and they offer £99/month for a basic server.

Now I have been looking at trying to bring this in house if possible. I know this will take time and investment but at least if we have exhausted the options available for each then we will not go back on our ultimate decision

I suppose for a start for inhouse hosting - I would be looking to see what we would need for equipment, SLA for provider etc

Sposs

To Take it in house you would need:

A Leased Line coming into the building usually two for redunancy
A room with cooling facilities for the server
Fire supression system
A cabinet to house the server
Switches and routers for the cabinet
Redundant power facilities
The Actual Server's Themselves
Hardware SLA with hardware vendor for hardware replacements
Microsoft software and licensing for the servers
Back-up facilties which replicates the data offsite
Control access to the facilities room
Staff to manage the hardware/infrastruture

That's all i can think of , off the top of my head, as you can see there is alot more than just sticking a server in your office, and the costs of outsourcing this is far superior as you'll never get the investment on all that infrastrture back from selling your application.

johnmd

Why whould you bother with the hassle of putting this in house.Just get yourself an entry level VPS for testing to begin with.
It will take away a whole load of headaches for you off the bat.