Hi,
I'm close to completing the mockup for a web site I want to develop. I need to keep the purpose of this site close to my chest for now. I hoep you understand. What I can reveal, that aside from the shopping cart functionality, it will be keeping a database of accounts, balances, and other tables that MUST NOT BE HACKED INTO. Does the hosting company I choose matter or are all the popular ones very secure and I should focus on cost and service? Drupal sounds like the program to help me develop such a site. I am a newbie to web development so this will be a long slow project for me. I have developed and launched a small web site several years ago using a flash development environments with a small MySQL database. This will be much larger and require good coding and security. I have limited PHP, Java and C++ knowledge as my programming days were old school as a decent C developer. Some time ago I played with an old version of MS FrontPage as well. I could use some confirmation that I've come to the right community for assistance with development environments, languages, hosting company recommendations, coding practices, et al. Thanks so very much!
Howard
By hfreedman1957 on
Comments
Of course hosting matters.
Of course hosting matters. Running a complex Drupal site on shared hosting not only hands responsibility to the host for much of the security. It also requires a deep supply of patience, unless the host is a Drupal specialist, because a Drupal site like yours runs far more code and database queries than shared hosting is designed for. If you get a dedicated server or a VPS you can take responsibility for ensuring the site is fast and secure. No one is immune to being hacked of course.... it has happened to Wordpress, Facebook, and the Pentagon. But avoiding sharing your server with strangers would be a good start.
Digit Professionals specialising in Drupal, WordPress & CiviCRM support for publishers in non-profit and related sectors
Hosting my own site
Thanks so much for the response. So, until the site grows and makes money and I open a business location, am I okay to host it at home setting up my own server(s) through Rogers internet? I'll get some help when the time comes to set all that up but I'm anticipating Apache, Drupal, MySQL, and more, correct?
Howard
I don't see why you should
I don't see why you should not host it at home if you are happy with the speed of your network connection and have a static IP. I would certainly put Linux on the server, no point in struggling with the complexities of a Windows server unless you have skills in running Apache etc. on Windows.
Clearly you will not be hosting credit card payments, owing to the physical security requirements, but for small sites they are always outsourced to paypal or similar services anyway.
Obviously by running your own server you will be learning server admin and Drupal at the same time. But that is no different if you get an unmanaged VPS. You can of course have an adequate VPS for $20 per month, if you prefer to the cheapest providers.
On the other hand a few hours downtime can be so damaging for an online store that you might think it makes business sense to pay for a high quality VPS.
Digit Professionals specialising in Drupal, WordPress & CiviCRM support for publishers in non-profit and related sectors