I do a lot of investigating and research on web hosting, it’s always been a business that interests me and the economics of the industry are very dynamic as well. Let’s just say that the entrepreneur in me has been ‘planning’ the best web host out there and you know what, it’s all about cloud computing now, we need ubiquitous web application servers now.
So here’s what I think the ideal cloud computing web host looks like:
- Large amount of on-demand storage, I’d like to not only host my files and my web sites and applications, but also keep backups of my personal files in the pie in the sky. I do want to pay for that space, I know that unlimited storage is certainly not unlimited, the market says that just cannot be so.
- Fast, speed is really what counts here. I need to be able to tell that my site is up, running, and extremely fast. A lot of this is up to me to develop sites that are light weight and use resources efficiently…. but let’s just check and double check that the hardware and pipes connected to that hardware isn’t what’s slowing the web down.
- Standards Based, I’m not saying software should be free, but the ability of open source software to evolve and change, and be enhanced is just too powerful to ignore.
- Easy to use control panel. I currently use several Media Temple servers to host various web projects and am very happy with them. One the reasons for that is that their control panel is very easy to use yet provides enough control to keep experienced developers happy.
- Transfers to and from the service need to be simplified. This is where Amazon has lost out, they only support a limited number of transfer methods. For cloud computing to truly catch on and be powerful enough for us all to tap into it needs to operate like a ‘normal’ web host or server does. Simple FTP, SFTP, and SSH access is a necessity. Without that, you loose the ability to signup young, inexperienced developers, and you loose the ability for peaceful migrations from other platforms.
I believe that these things are possible, and the technology is largely here already (look at the major Content Delivery Networks). And the final thing that needs to be worked out for cloud computer? The Pricing. It’s an entirely new way to bill and invoice customers, only charging for what they need.
However, I would also offer standard plans similar to what we have in the industry now. You get X amount of space and X amount of cpu time for $Y per month. There is definitely something to say about knowing exactly what you’re going to pay each month for hosting.
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