Newbie ?: Want to host own site & webmail, how to do it?

[REFLUX]

I'm looking into hosting our own company website and the needs are fairly basic:
-Simple website
-Webmail for 50+ people
-Reliable

I have absolutely no understanding of how to go about this, does anyone have recommendations?

[eblend]

For website you would use IIS in Windows 2003 server as it is built in.

[Zero102]

Thats a pretty vague description of what you want to do and how you want to do it...

If you mean host the server and everything in-house, then you'll need a commercial internet account where you get static IPs (if you don't want to deal with DNS propagation owning your ass every time your IP changes), and some decent equipment. Don't forget a UPS, you want the site up even when the power is off. Sounds like you'll be looking for some kind of control panel software as well.

If you mean, rent a server and run everything yourself, look for a good server hosting company that offers something you are familiar with. For beginners typically cPanel / Plesk are good choices since they include stats, webmail, etc., and are typically free with most server hosting plans. Website design is a whole different ball-park though. Most people are just lazy and use content-management systems such as joomla. Again, installers for this can be included with your hosting control panel software, although it is easy as pie to set up.

If you are just looking for a web host, you have asked the wrong question, but it is pretty easy to find one, and this forum isn't going to be of any real help.

I'm hesitant to recommend one host over another given that I work in the server hosting business, so read lots of reviews and make your own conclusions.

Oh, BTW, IIS6 and Server 03 is not a good idea for beginners. If you want the easiest setup windows hosting, IIS7 on Server 08 is far simpler, but if you want something stable over the long term, consider a linux server with apache. I have dealt with way too many compromised windows servers. Extremely rare we see compromises on linux boxes unless people run un-patched CMS or extremely old OS's (redhat 7.3, fedora core 1, etc)

[em2ab]

Here's some more information from you, I'm doing the same thing. But I'll probably install Ubuntu Desktop Server Edition.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/229045/help-me-set-up-a-web-server/

[A790]

Originally posted by REFLUX
I'm looking into hosting our own company website and the needs are fairly basic:
-Simple website
-Webmail for 50+ people
-Reliable

I have absolutely no understanding of how to go about this, does anyone have recommendations?
Easy peasy. That can all be handled for under $15/mo.

+ Get a good web host. I'd recommend HostGator, HostICan, or Crucial.
+ Webmail can be handled via Google Apps. Gmail is very powerful, and being free kicks ass.
+ Reliability... see my first point.

If you want someone to whip you up a decent looking page for cheap I can have my designer do it for you. Also, you can look into some free content management software such as WordPress (what the beyond blog uses), Drupal, or Joomla. There are lots of free themes (page designs).

For example, www.rememberchernobyl.com and www.mythologymadness.com are both WordPress sites but look completely different, and both of those themes were free :)

EDIT: I forgot to mention that gmail can be configured to be accessed via imap or pop3 from any standard mail software (outlook, outlook express, windows mail, thunderbird, etc.)

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by A790


+ Webmail can be handled via Google Apps. Gmail is very powerful, and being free kicks ass.

I strongly recommend this, I use it for my site and Google is way more reliable than any usual host.

[Grogador]

+1 for Google Apps for email using gmail/imap/pop, running an email server is a glorious pain in the ass :P

+1 for getting real hosting... even a $7/mo shared hosting package from someone like iweb.ca (http://www.iweb.com) will be more reliable, quicker and easier than dealing with all the bullshit yourself.

Wordpress or Joomla or whatever... meh... contract a web dev for a real website without all the bloat.

[A790]

Originally posted by Grogador
Wordpress or Joomla or whatever... meh... contract a web dev for a real website without all the bloat.
The reason why I recommended WP or JM is because both are very SEO-friendly out of the box, and both are easy to edit so that they can edit the website. Not a lot of people know how to edit HTML/CSS, and wind up paying someone too much money for small changes to the website.

[Hit Em Up]

i can help you if you want a web designer... :thumbsup:

[Grogador]

Originally posted by A790
The reason why I recommended WP or JM is because both are very SEO-friendly out of the box, and both are easy to edit so that they can edit the website. Not a lot of people know how to edit HTML/CSS, and wind up paying someone too much money for small changes to the website.

This is true, and I guess you can disable all the modules you don't use. But you still have to keep it up to date so you don't get haxed. Again, shared/managed hosting with a control panel of some kind would help here. I guess what he means by "simple website", if it's just like a business card with their number then...

[em2ab]

I can develop a site for you as well if you're looking to pay someone.

[Zero102]

If you run an open-source CMS (really any CMS, but open-source ones are more frequently exploited) be sure to keep it up to date. As in, the day an update is released it is applied to your site. You'd be shocked how fast un-patched joomla / wordpress / drupal installations get compromised.


Don't know shit about web design, but I am tired of helping people clean up their compromised sites :)

[van]

I work closely with a local and reliable company that can achieve everything you're looking at doing. If you want to know more about it you can PM me and I'd be more than glad to help you out.

[REFLUX]

So it sounds like having a company host our website (already up and running) + webmail will be easiest?

It is really involving to host your own site+webmail?

I'll PM you guys who offered the services. Thanks.

[A790]

Originally posted by REFLUX
So it sounds like having a company host our website (already up and running) + webmail will be easiest?

It is really involving to host your own site+webmail?

I'll PM you guys who offered the services. Thanks.
Having a company host your site will be the easiest and can be done in a matter of minutes.

It is very simple to get up and running. If you have any questions feel free to holler at me :)

[GoChris]

very well priced, good reliable and fast web hosting.

www.webhostingpad.com/411.html

[Zero102]

It sounds like you are looking for managed hosting. The company I work with provides server rentals only. Managed hosting requires a much larger technical support staff, and right now we have only 25 people (thats everybody, CEO, tech support, sales, etc.) and thousands of clients. Not possible for us to do managed hosting, sorry :(

There are lots of good hosting companies out there, my advice is to stay away from 1and1, we get a lot of their customers at our company and none of them are happy. I think GoDaddy offers something pretty similar to what you are looking for, and they are also a registrar, so you could have your domain and web site all through the same company. Makes it a bit simpler to keep track of.

[Grogador]

^^^ Buy your own domain and retain control of it. Certain hosting companies love holding your domain hostage for 30 or 60 days if you ever dare switch hosting providers.