Dedicated Server Hosting
For customers who require a private dedicated server solution, we can offer a FREE dedicated set of IBM® server hardware customized for their needs. Our standard dedicated server solutions offered to Customers pack enough CPU power, storage and memory resources to support a small-to-mid-size business. However, if you have any special requirements, we will be happy to review and accommodate them to the best of our abilities. These are NOT cloud-based or "virtual machines" offered by most competitors - these are REAL physical servers that outperform VMs by all parameters.
Standard (Shared Server) Web Hosting
SelfNET uses best-in-class IBM® xSeries server hardware platform running the latest version of Microsoft's powerful and secure Windows operating system and Internet Information Server software. Prior to server placement on the Internet networks, all of them are configured, tested and checked for security flaws by our certified network security experts. Each of our service plans includes a dedicated IP (Internet Protocol) address - a unique digital address assigned to your virtual web server and the domain name. In addition - unlike most of our volume-oriented competitors - we maintain "reverse IP lookup" records, which will show your domain name in case someone is trying to find out where you host your website by querying its dedicated IP address.
Unlimited / Unmetered Bandwidth, File Transfers and Visitor Traffic
Most web hosting companies structure their pricing based on the number of hits received and files transferred in-and-out your web site. For example, if your average visitor accesses ten 20K pages published on your website, this single visit generates 200K of "file transfers". 50 visitors a day will generate 10,000K of network traffic a day, or ~300,000K per month. In addition, every time you make an update to your website, you generate additional traffic. What if your website is getting 1,000 visits a day? There is no "fine print" or "hidden costs" for bandwidth usage with SelfNET - we offer UNLIMITED bandwidth and traffic with all our service plans.
Full Featured E-Mail Service with WebMail Option
Each web hosting plan includes full-featured E-mail service with stand-alone POP3 / IMAP "mailboxes" that receive electronic mail sent to a particular address like 'you@YourDomain.com' and store it until you retrieve your mail and "empty" your mailbox. We offer UNLIMITED aliasing, i.e. you can receive mail sent to different addresses like 'you#1...you#5@YourDomain.com' using a single mailbox or a forwarder account. A forwarder account receives mail sent to 'You@YourDomain.com' and automatically delivers it to your existing e-mail mailbox (or several mailboxes) without you having to check all of them. In addition, we offer easy to use, WebMail Pro interface, which provides web access to email, calendars, contacts and data from any computer with browser and internet connection, without the usual configuration hassle. Thanks to advanced technologies and application-like look and feel, WebMail Pro may become the ultimate replacement of Outlook and similar desktop mail clients for a traveling user.
Domain Name Registration and DNS Services
For any computer to find your website on the World Wide Web, it must find that unique digital IP address to connect to. When somebody types 'www.YourDomain.com', it has no meaning to the computer and it performs a search, trying to "resolve" this request by sending requests to several Domain Name Servers - computers that maintain tables of domain names and the corresponding unique digital IP addresses. Once the record for a particular domain name is found, the computer plugs it in place of the meaningless words and connects to the corresponding server on the Web. SelfNet is currently using three separate DNS servers located on different networks to ensure redundancy of our domain name resolution service.
RAID-5 Redundant Drives and UPS Protection
"RAID" stands for 'Redundant Array of Independent Drives'. Each of our IBM® servers is equipped with RAID-5 (highest level of redundancy) drive array using 'hot swap' disk drives and a 'hot spare' drive. Should one of the drives fail, the RAID controller will automatically replace it with a hot spare and notify our administrator. Once the failed drive is replaced, RAID will put it back into action and retire the hot spare drive back to its original waiting state. All this will happen WITHOUT server shutdown, on the fly - completely unnoticed by users. Also, all our servers are protected by UPS (uninterrupted power supplies) and monitored for 24 hours, 7 days a week. In case of electric power outage in the area, UPS device will keep the servers powered up and running for several hours. If the main power is not back by that time (a disastrous situation, but it can happen), the UPS will promptly shut down the servers without any damage to its hardware or software..
Physical Web Servers vs. Virtualized VMs and VPS
Many web hosting companies use VMs (Virtual Machines) or offer VPS (Virtual Private Server), and most of them re-sell someone else's "cloud space". But it was always a point of interest and argument whether the performance of the virtual servers would place the virtual computing as a competent substitute compared to its physical server counterpart. Thus the performance trade-offs between the virtual servers and the physical servers are an issue worth investigating. As an example, this article from European Scientific Journal focuses on this issue, where the presentation has addressed a number of experiments with physical server and virtual server to explore the performance efficiency between them in a comparative way. In our own experience, a properly designed and configured Physical Server will always outperform a similar VM or a VPS solution.
Web Site and Data Files Backup
We regularly perform tape backups of our servers for emergency recovery. However, clients are responsible for creating their own backup copy of all the web files. It simply makes sense, as they always have the most current version of it prior to publishing to the server. It is also a good practice to make all the changes to your own copy, test it first on your local PC and then upload files to the server.
Microsoft ASP Classic and ASP.NET Support
The .NET Framework is an integral Microsoft Windows® component for building and running the next generation of applications and XML Web services. The .NET Framework delivers business value with faster time-to-market, improved systems flexibility, and reduced costs. The .NET Framework makes it easy to deploy, run, and manage applications. Application isolation and automatic version control of components can help prevent versioning conflicts. Applications built using the .NET Framework can be deployed to a client or server machine simply by copying the application directory to the target machine—no registration is required. With No-Touch Deployment, Windows–based smart client applications can also now be deployed to and updated on target PCs simply by copying the necessary components to a Web server that can be accessed by your end users. We also support ASP (Active Server Pages) - the original (classic) scripting language technology from Microsoft.
Automatic Server-Side Anti-SPAM and Anti-Virus E-Mail Protection
Built-in protection system minimizes spam at the server level, taking spam control to a level never before available. It uses a very extensive array of tests and ways to handle the unwelcome E-mail, including adding subject and header tags to suspected spam messages, and total removal of the known mass mailings as soon as they hit our mail server! The anti-virus system is the ultimate answer for mail server virus control, eliminating many of the problems with traditional anti-virus solutions. It scans all SMTP E-mail on the server, so the viruses never reach your desktop. It also detects vulnerabilities that allow viruses to bypass scanning on other mail server virus scanners.
DotNetNuke® (DNN) Framework and CMS Hosting
DNN portal and site hosting is the latest addition to SelfNET's service portfolio. Developed within a global project called DotNetNuke® inspired by Microsoft® .NET framework, and further enhanced by the open source developer community, this latest web technology combines the best of all worlds. Our DNN portal hosting platform is user friendly, powerful, scalable and versatile.
Microsoft® SQL Server and Database Hosting
SelfNET provides best-in-class support for Microsoft® SQL Server®, enabling customers to use the rich capabilities of SQL Server to improve performance, increase operational efficiency and save both time and money. With several production servers currently running Microsoft SQL Server software and a team of Database Support Specialists for customers requiring more extensive database support, SelfNET has developed deep expertise in SQL database support.