Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Small Business, Need New Host - HELP!

[Tegan]

I work for a very small store. We have a single physical location, do a solid amount of business, and have a webhost that is completely screwing us over. I'm technically a bit limited, but my boss hopes I can manage to find us a better webhost that will allow us to expand.

At the moment we have an incredibly simple website, no e-commerce. We actually manage to do quite a bit of business through it despite the lack of connection with our selling software, so we think it's crucial to upgrade to e-commerce soon. One thing that we plan on doing in the future is connecting our software to the website and having a regular database with item pages and everything. We'll be using Microsoft's Point of Sale software, which we're currently migrating to from an old DOS point of sale system.

We are currently paying $40 a month for 30MB of disk space, 5 e-mail addresses, 1 domain alias, no CGI, no PHP, no SQL, and crap service. I know we can do a lot better, but I don't know where to start.

I'm going to say we need SSI, PHP, SQL and CGI available to us. We have two domain names, one pointing to the other one. We would love the ability to have subdomains. We don't need many e-mail addresses, but Spam filtering is crucial. We need POP3 for the e-mail. While we're willing to pay the same amount, $40 a month, I'd love to save my company some money if possible.

We'll never be huge, but we expect to increase the traffic a lot once we have our database connected to the website. If there's any other information I can provide, I'll be happy to provide it. But I need help.

[Jedito]

Hi!

Welcome to WHT.

Do you actually need MS SQL or Mysql is Ok? Your budget for your needs are more than enough and you shouldn't have problems finding a reliable host in that range.

[Tegan]

Originally Posted by Jedito

Hi!

Welcome to WHT.

Do you actually need MS SQL or Mysql is Ok? Your budget for your needs are more than enough and you shouldn't have problems finding a reliable host in that range.

Thank you.

I'm not sure which I'll need. I think I'll need one or the other to connect the MS Point of Sale software to the website, but we plan on hiring someone to do that bit when we get to it. I'm guessing, pure guess, that MySQL ought to be enough.

I also forgot to mention that right now I'm using FTP to upload all the pages, and edit them myself in notepad. Like I said, a really simple website.

I'd very much like to have a reliable host with decent support. My current host is neither.

[HostRefugee-Vince]

I think your boss will be quite pleased with the price difference. For your requirements, you can find realiable hosting for much less than $40/month.

I have never used Microsoft POS, so I am not sure how that integrates with existing web based eCommerce software or if it comes with it's own web based solution. That may be a deciding factor on rather to choose a Windows or Linux host.

[Website Rob]

Is your current Hoster local? Although they have a tendency to charge more the Service is usually good.

On another note, once you do get a good Hoster I suggest you setup ZenCart for eCommerce. The script is freely available but you will probably have to spend a few dollars to have it customized. You will be able to run your whole site through it and the Admin side is not that hard to learn -- even for a beginner.

[HostRefugee-Vince]

Originally Posted by Tegan

I'm not sure which I'll need. I think I'll need one or the other to connect the MS Point of Sale software to the website, but we plan on hiring someone to do that bit when we get to it. I'm guessing, pure guess, that MySQL ought to be enough.

Based off the fact that Microsoft is in the product name, I would guess that most web based applications that integrate with the software would use MS SQL. That doesn't mean that their isn't a MySQL solution available though.

Originally Posted by Tegan

I'd very much like to have a reliable host with decent support. My current host is neither.

Definently understandable. When you find a host that meets your needs, searching WHT for reviews is a great idea. Another suggestion is to test out their support (if possible) before making your decision.

Depending on how closely that Microsoft POS is integrated with your site... You may be hosting the eCommerce or Database part of your site yourself. If that is the case, than the reliability and support for that aspect of your site is going to be in your own hands.

[Jedito]

I was looking at the POS page, and apparently you need a MS host, where you can interact with MS Access or MS SQL.
Or you can migrate to another shopping cart or system.

[Klentelaris]

Well howmuch i know on windows mysql work also good.

[cywkevin]

I think you should take the plunge and get a dedicated server with good management. Expect to pay 100+ (monthly) for the server and 50+ (monthly) for the management but solid uptime and excellent service + peace of mind will make up for the extra costs.

[Tegan]

The MS Point of Sale is called RMS, and it runs on an SQL database. I'm told there are "hooks" in the software that can be used for integration with a website, but I'm afraid I just don't know what that means. I don't want to get a new host only to discover later that I need something they don't offer.

At this point, though, I'm completely confused. Where do I *start* looking? I see all these hosts with all this information and I'm overwhelmed. I keep looking at hosts, think, "oh, that looks good." then hunt down reviews that say they are awful. Is there a place that lists reliable hosts? By their services?

[Tegan]

Originally Posted by pixelized

I think you should take the plunge and get a dedicated server with good management. Expect to pay 100+ (monthly) for the server and 50+ (monthly) for the management but solid uptime and excellent service + peace of mind will make up for the extra costs.

Isn't gonna happen. My boss is a tightwad in addition to being technophobic. And I don't think we really need a dedicated server. We're a very small business.

[appliedi]

Tegan, if you're not afraid to go with a dedicated server check out www.aspdotnetstorefront.com they have a new application called aspdotnetstorefront IS that's the shopping cart integrated with interprise. It provides a complete POS, CRM, Inventory and online storefront. I don't know the price off hand but it's pretty nice. You'll need a VPS or a Dedicated server for it but still it's pretty cool.

[Tegan]

Ok, I called Microsoft and discussed the issue with a tech support dude (who, once I got to him, was very helpful... it just took twenty minutes of clueless front liners to get to him). I do NOT need SQL, unless whoever does my web integration needs it. *sigh* The RMS software has multiple ways of getting the data to an interface, so I just need to choose an integration package that will work with my website and vice versa.

But I'm still not sure where to start looking for a web host.

[HostRefugee-Vince]

Originally Posted by Tegan

Ok, I called Microsoft and discussed the issue with a tech support dude (who, once I got to him, was very helpful... it just took twenty minutes of clueless front liners to get to him). I do NOT need SQL, unless whoever does my web integration needs it. *sigh* The RMS software has multiple ways of getting the data to an interface, so I just need to choose an integration package that will work with my website and vice versa.

But I'm still not sure where to start looking for a web host.

Tegan, I did a little homework myself. There are several online shopping carts that integrate with RMS. The downside, is most of these solutions start at $2000. All these solutions needed a Windows Based host.

I took the search a bit further... I knew there had to be some sort of open source shopping cart (OsCommerce, Zen Cart, ect...) that integrates with RMS and runs on linux. After much searching, I found a few companies that have created the scripts needed to integrate with osCommerce.

One company wanted $2695 to do an integration with osCommerce (osCommerce is free). The other company is beta testing there solution, and beta testers will get the final version for only $1495 instead of $2495.

Last but not least, I found somebody who scripted their own osCommerce integration solution and offered to share it with others (the forum post was from early 2006). Anyhow, I have contacted this person and will let you know if I get a reply.

What it boils down to... Is you will most likely want a Windows based host... and your going to be paying through the teeth for a shopping cart that integrates with RMS.

If I can happen to get ahold of the scripts needed to integrate RMS with osCommerce for you, you could go either linux or windows based (as long as MySQL is included).

Here is some companies who offer Windows/MS SQL shopping cart solutions:
kosmoscentral.com
storefront.net
newestech.com (offers software to integrate a handful of shopping carts)

I am not sure of pricing, reliability, or if the companies above provide hosted or use your own host services. To get a clearer scope of what they offer, you will need to request a quote.

[Corey Bryant]

You might check out TechEvolution. They support windows hosting and might be able to support all your needs.