Posted July 30, 2009
by Kemila Velan 2.0
Just like there is no such thing as unlimited water, electricity and fuel, there is no such thing as unlimited web hosting. Internet service providers who offer this are only trying to entice you to buy their packages, but really, how much space do you need?
It’s like buying real estate. Do you need a warehouse because you’ve got lots of furniture and oversized artwork? Or do you need a 600 square-foot condo because you don’t own much STUFF?
In a world that is increasing in population, where everyone wants his/her own piece of the American pie, it is becoming more important to take only what you need, rather than eating with your eyes.
Besides doing your part to conserve, this also means you only pay for what you need, so you also save money.
JustHost.com makes “unlimited web space” seem enticing and a desirable option for Joe Schmo, even if all he wants is a basic five-page web site that doesn’t even serve videos (because they’re usually pulled from massive YouTube and Vimeo servers). This hosting company, however, does offer “anytime money-back guarantee,” which is always an added perk for a fickle business owner who is still trying to figure out his business strategy. A web site, after all, is not for everyone because it can create another headache and suck up more resources than is beneficial. So, even making the decision to have a web site or not have one, can become part of a business’s energy conservation plan.
Hostwire.com, on the other hand, is more specific, in that it offers packages according to space: 10 GBs of storage space and 100 GBs for web site traffic (that means if you are expecting lots of people hitting your site simultaneously, its odds of crashing are lower). It is also specific in the amount of domain names you can host simultaneously. These parameters force a business owner to think more deeply about his/her web strategy before throwing it up there “because everyone’s doing it!” As mentioned earlier, a web site is not necessary for every business, is it? For example, does a grocery store need to have a web site? It’s still better to go to the market and physically buy an avocado. Remember Webvan.com? It was a good experiment, but it was one of the first to crash in the Web 1.0 days.
Godaddy.com is by far the most popular web host for consumers. It’s pretty much a household name and is the first place an unsavvy business person will go for his/her web site needs. Once they get to the cluttered home page of Godaddy, however, it is quite another task navigating all the “Free Extras” and options for getting started. It’s difficult knowing where to click, and most people don’t know that many of the cool content management applications like WordPress and Joomla are free with every $3.95 Linux-based hosting account. If a business person is trying to fit into our new green economy, it doesn’t make much sense to go for Godaddy, which is obviously spending lots of marketing cash on spokesperson Danica Patrick, who sucks up more fuel than the average person as an Indy race car driver.
ThinkHost.com markets itself as “carbon neutral” because its servers are 100% powered by wind and solar. They also plant a tree for each new client, in addition to promoting social causes like feminism and gender equity. Sounds fantastic, but how good are they at what they are supposed to do? There are a slew of reviews from customers who lost business because their web sites experienced extended periods of “downtime,” even though ThinkHost claims to have “100% uptime.” So, you can feel good about promoting progressive issues, while losing business? This may not be a small business person’s best option.
Rackspace approaches web hosting in a systemic style. They have a company-wide initiative which includes carbon-neutral hosting both in the US and UK. They offer hosting packages which bring servers online as load demands. They replace old technology with the most energy efficient available. For new office space, they renovated a mall in San Antonio where tons of surplus materials were recycled or donated to Habitat for Humanity. These and many other programs are motivated by Rackspace’s concern for Earth and for a healthy bottom line. Full disclosure: EthicalMarkets.com, EthicalMarkets.tv and HazelHenderson.com are hosted on Rackspace.
“Even though we’re constantly watching for best practices, finding a socially and environmentally sound webhost was a serious challenge, taking
months of research,” says Rosalinda Sanquiche, executive director of Ethical Markets Media LLC. “Given the large video content we host directly on EthicalMarkets.tv and that the news we post at EthicalMarkets.com is often time-sensitive, we need reliability and room to grow, just like everyone else.”
In short, there are many other web hosting companies positioning themselves as “green,” so the most important homework a business owner can do is read. And now that the economy is slow on transactions, there is plenty of TIME to get educated and grow SLOW, which is the most energy efficient measure any business owner can implement.
