You can either buy your own web server or you can pay someone else for the use of their web server. If you choose to have your own, you will be commiting labor and money to purchase and support that server and all that that implies. There are capital expenses for hardware and software up front. And if you don't have one already, you will need a high speed connection to your offices 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Such permanent connections are not inexpensive. And your web site visitors, whether current or prospective clients, will need the server to be constantly available. They will come to count on it.

Web site hosting providers are a new breed of Internet provider. These specialists have one or more powerful web servers that can be shared by several companies. And these servers allow each web site to appear with its own virtual web domain, like www.yourcompany.com. In addition to powerful web servers, providers also should have a very fast connection to the Internet. The better providers will have a full T3 fiber-optic connection delivering a staggering 45Mbps. That is the equivalent of almost 2000 modems at 28.8kbps all operating at top speed.