“The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” This quote by Bill Gates reflects the importance of the Internet in our lives in this day and age. We use the Internet for various purposes, one of which is browsing websites. These websites are rendered accessible by web hosting companies through the service of web hosting. Server space is provided in web hosting for storing the files of various websites along with the technologies and services that deliver these files to users’ devices for making websites accessible. The most efficient web hosting services are often referred to with certain terms, such as the “Best Windows Dedicated Hosting”, the “Best WordPress Hosting”, the “Best Linux Dedicated Hosting” etc.

Web hosting can be shared, dedicated, VPS, reseller, cloud, WordPress etc. There is also the option of internal hosting. This blog aims to provide information about internal hosting along with its pros and cons.

What is Internal Hosting?

In internal hosting, an organization sets up its own servers for the purpose of hosting its website. Such organisations are well-equipped with proficient IT staff that takes care of the hosting environment. Apart from not being an efficient option economically, it doesn’t offer economies of scale and is challenging with regard to maintenance. Internal hosting provides the benefit of being faster than external hosting, wherein an organization’s web hosting requirements are outsourced and the services of a web hosting company are availed. Internal hosting enables a company to have full control over the hosted environment.

For internal hosting to work efficiently, it is a necessity to have an expert team that can monitor web servers round the clock. Adequate steps need to be taken for ensuring that the most powerful security measures are in place to provide protection against cyberattacks and malicious activities. Moreover, in internal hosting the organization needs to purchase servers and all the necessary hardware, which is not only an investment but also need proper maintenance. Hence, many companies find it advantageous and practical to opt for external hosting, wherein the hosting requirements are outsourced. Internal hosting is suitable for such companies that have the technical expertise as well as the financial resources for ensuring efficient operation of internal hosting. In it, a company needs to have its own web server, along with a high-speed Internet connection. Moreover, the company is responsible for the daily operations and maintenance of the hosting environment and for providing round the clock support to the server.

Advantages of Internal Hosting

There are certain benefits of internal hosting. One of these benefits has to do with letting companies have full control over their hosting environments. Moreover, it allows companies to have total control over all the changes in the hosting environment as well as over the criteria for changes. The company chooses the hardware. Moreover, it has the choice with regard to upgrades. Additionally, internal hosting lets a company have full control over the operating environment (software and systems that run on the web server). It enables more efficient management of web storage space as well as performance.

 Internal hosting does away with any fee that has to do with availing hosting service or managing the hosting environment as well as any contractual or legal binding to any specific service provider. Internal hosting often delivers better performance than that provided by a cloud-hosted environment.

Disadvantages of Internal Hosting

There are certain drawbacks of internal hosting. One of the major drawbacks has to do with CapEx (capital expenditure) and maintenance costs, as the company that uses internal hosting has to bear the cost of all the hardware and software, along with the maintenance costs. It doesn’t provide economies of scale. A company that opts for internal hosting needs to hire and constantly maintain a proficient IT team that has the necessary technical skills to ensure the efficiency of internal hosting. Such a company needs to have enough resources, economical and other, which are directed at managing and maintaining the best performance of internal hosting. Moreover, internally hosted environments need to be monitored round the clock by the company, which is a full-time responsibility. Ensuring internal hosting environment’s security also becomes the sole responsibility of the company. Last but not the least are the additional costs, which the company incurs, with regard to power, cooling and space requirement for the infrastructure of internal hosting. These drawbacks of internal hosting become the main reasons for companies availing hosting service from professional web hosting companies.

Conclusion:

Internal hosting has its share of benefits and drawbacks. The decision on whether to opt for internal hosting or outsource the hosting requirements depends on a company’s budget as well as its IT team’s expertise in handling the technical aspects of hosting.