what is the difference between local and not local server ?

[soniaR]

Hi..

i wonder if it is an advantage to use local server to host our website rather than outside india. it is rather common sense on my part.

because my office has wide contact in asia and europe we rely on email communications. is it an advantage to use non-local server to host web/email hosting when my office is in india ?

Or is it better to go for company which have local and non-local server to host ?

Please advise. an early reply is really appreciated .


warm regards.

[guruji]

Hi,
Local webservers have faster ping times, however in most instances it's
barely noticeable. Most important is whether the webserver is
overloaded or connection oversold. You can get a local webserver but if it's
over-worked to it's limits it will still get slowed.
guruji

[KLB]

The most important consideration and usually overlooked is reliablity. The server needs to be hosted where it has the most reliable connection to the Internet. This includes redundant Internet connections. If the server losses Internet connectivity it can not receive email from the outside world, it can not send email to the outside world and users can not access websites that are hosted on it. Most businesses can not afford to maintain multiple Internet pipes that are issolated from each other which means they are not carried by the same bundle of wires on the same telephone polls for the "final mile." As such, unless there is an overwhelming technical reason to host a web server in house I strongly advise people to rely on a web hosting provider.

Now whether you use a web hosting provider in or out side of India all depends upon the reliablity of the IT/communications infrastructure of India and the web hosting providers you may use. The web hosting provider needs to have reduntant ultra-high speed connections to the Internet using multiple telecommunications providers.

I personally know of web servers that lost access to the Internet because the telephone pole that carried both of the T-1s to the web servers was hit by a car bringing down the entire pole. Several years back there was also an incident where an excavator severed an overhead fiber optic cable cutting off almost all Internet access to the entire state of Maine because several telecommunications providers happened to be leasing parts of the same fiber optic cable. When I lived in Alaska back in the 90's there were a couple of incedents where underwater fiber optic cables were snagged and broken by fishing trawlers cutting off Internet access for the entire state.

Remember that a website is the front door to your company and it is very important to make a good first impression. As such websites and email servers should be connected to the Internet via the most reliable facilities and infrastructure available.

[MarkB]

It depends on who your audience is - if it mainly people on the continent, then a server based in India makes a logical choice. If you're aiming for a worldwide audience, then go for a server based in the US.