Experts Only , Hosting Question!?

Question

Hi went for an interview the other day and the lady said to me , we host all are own websites , on are own server , she showed me the server it looked like an external hard drive and then a guy said are you using microsoft exchange, she said yes im totally lost what is it and can I create server or do I buy a server totally new this but if I get free hosting with some exipment I am ready to pay for the products,

Answer 1

Can I answer this even though I don't consider myself to be an expert?

If you are looking for alternative ways to host or serve, look into the Microsoft exchange component. I high encourage you to do your research and shop and compare.

I'm just supplying you with just another resource here and I'm not selling anything nor am I promoting it. If you would care to investigate the possibility of serving from home, take a look and make up your own mind.

How to build your own web server and NEVER pay hosting fees again.
http://www.diywebhosting.com/

Answer 2

I'm really confused by your question but it sounds like you were trying to get a job working with a couple of different technologies. At any rate, Microsoft Exchange is pretty expensive and it's not something you can learn on your own; you can learn the basics but you can't learn how to really be good at supporting it without some experience. So perhaps you'd be best off looking for something a little more entry level, as an email server in the hands of an inexperienced person can be a real nightmare in the making.

Answer 3

Not an expert!

There are two ways to post websites:

1. Hire a portion of a server maintained by a third party. (You get tech support and don't have to worry about setup and underlying systems and software (exchane is a little expensive) The drawback is paying for traffic or get a free one with limited traffic. You also don't care about fixed/dynamic IP addreses.

2. Hookup a server to the internet (check with ISP if allowed) run the server software and host your own site. Drawback is that you'll need a more expensive contract with your ISP (need better upload speed if you want to appear pdrofessional), and YOU will be responsible for maintaining the site, keeping the server(s) running (redundency) even during a prolonged poweroutage or disconnect from one of your ISPs.

Of course having a mix will always work.

For a personal website, the one ffered by your ISP is easiest, and unless you enjoy trinkering, I would suggest webhosting before setting up your own.

Answer 4

The software they were talking about is very expensive, and even if you can find a free copy on some share network, it is still a lot of work to set up, and there are a lot of things that you need to know to manage this sort of setup, especially MS Exchange.
You can do web page and FTP hosting with a number of software, including Windows XP Pro (through IIS package), many others are available (ServU for FTP is good).
From what you tell me about this interview, it sounds like you want an IT Administrator set of courses, which are available in most technical colleges. You can learn on your own, but will take a long time (months but more likely years). There are also a lot of books on this, try to find one under "web page hosting for dummies" (no insult intended!)- this type of book if it exists will be the quickest and cheapest way to start.

Answer 5

Lots of larger companies host their own websites as it allows a greater degree of control. Of course the upfront costs for hardware and software can be pretty hefty. Then there is the cost for enough bandwidth to allow access to the webserver, updating the server hardware and software. etc etc. The costs and amount of work involved in providing your own hosting are the primary reason why most companies opt for a hosting service.

Answer 6

Well Microsoft Exchange is Email probably internally for there company. They are providing there own email which is Microsoft Exchange Server.