MS SQL hosting

Overview
MS Access fails to deliver the goods when large amount of data needs to be handled. As such, Microsoft SQL Server is one of superior database systems available, though it is definitely one of the costliest options too. Web developers prefer to use MS SQL server to take care of the database creation and set-up because MS has provided plenty of handy options, which are not to be seen in MySQL.

MS SQL versus MySQL
Despite the fact that MS SQL is expensive to use and requires licenses depending upon the intended purpose of usage and the legal status of the company, business requirements and several other factors, midsize to large business organizations rely on MS SQL rather than MySQL. On the other hand, individual developers, and start-up companies can’t afford to buy MS SQL licenses and prefer free MySQL services. However, MySQL lacks the much needed support when things go wrong at crucial times during delivery of an important project.

Moreover, the MS SQL server can run only on Windows environment, and it is an extremely resource intensive database server application, while MySQL runs performs equally well in Linux as well as Windows environment. It is an open source database management system that involves zero licensing cost, and it is also light on system resources. It is superior to MS SQL Server in many ways, but there’s no dedicated support for MySQL that’s why most of the corporate giants still prefer the helping hand of Microsoft despite high licensing costs.

Need for MS SQL Server Hosting
Microsoft SQL Server is used extensively by large corporate giants and several industries to take care of storage of critical business info, which may be accessed in future as and when the need arises. MS SQL server hosting services ensure that you can store and retrieve your business info, and handle all databases without investing on buying a server and taking care of its maintenance. Most of these services are designed to work hand in hand with ASP/ASP.NET and all the latest programming languages. So, here’s what you should consider before picking an MSSQL hosting provider.

Things to Consider Before Selecting MS SQL Hosting Provider

• Storage: Some of the sql hosting providers just mention unlimited storage in their plans, but you must ensure that you can actually store tens of thousands of pages and millions of database records in reality, not just on the records!
• Traffic/Bandwidth: Same applies to the monthly traffic and bandwidth limits – you should get enough to serve tens of millions of web pages per month.
• Hosting Additional websites/domains: It is most likely that you’re not going to host just one website, isn’t it? So, you should be able to create unlimited websites per account.
• Support to International Domains: ensure that your host supports international domain names (like .in, .ca, not just .com .net etc).
• All FrontPage Versions: You should also ensure that you host not just supports FrontPage 2007, but also FrontPage 2003 and earlier versions too.
• Must be MySql Ready: Look for hosts that offers accounts, which are MySql ready, in order to be able to serve the database driven web sites, and dynamically generated web pages.
• Latest Software Support: It is extremely important that you SQL web hosting/SQL server hosting provider offers support to latest software, be it ASP.NET 3.0, AJAX, PHP 5.x, email servers like SmarterMail 4.x, Perl, Python, MySQL 5.x or SQL Server 2005.
• Look for Enterprise Grade Servers: The Supermicro servers with Intel Quad-Core Xeon CPU are the buzzword in market. They must have minimum 4GB-8GB RAM, 15KRPM SCSI hard drivers, and RAID hard drives.

Check Connectivity of Network
At times, you may end up paying money for MS SQL hosting services that are extremely slow. Remember, you may test the connectivity and speed by pinging the test IP – so don’t forget to ask your vendor to provide you with test IP address and check the speed of the network. If you can’t ping in one shot, then may be it’s not worth your time and money.

Daily Backup
A good ms sql hosting provider not only takes daily backup of the servers, but also mirrors them to remote data center on a consistent basis to ensure fail-proof operation, even during unforeseen problems.

Shared and Reseller Plans: Features to Look Out for
You can seek shared MSSQL hosting as well as reseller SQL server hosting plans. Here are some of the top features that you should be interested in:

• Windows Server 2003/2007 Hosting
• IIS 6.0 Hosting
• Antivirus Protection and Anti-Spam filter
• ASP/ASP.NET 2.0 & 1.1 Hosting
• Multiple Domains Hosting Support
• PHP 5.x Hosting
• Microsoft Access Hosting
• MySQL 5.x Hosting
• DotNetNuke Hosting
• Rainbow Portal Hosting
• Perl, Python Hosting
• SQL Server 2000 Hosting
• Microsoft Atlas Support
• MS SQL 2005/2008 Hosting
• MSSQL Web Data Administration
• Frontpage Extensions
• Temporary URL
• Password Protected Directory
• User Friendly Control Panel
• SmarterMail 4.x

Hassle-Free Operation
Installing and maintaining SQL server and its records isn’t a child’s play. You can configure the server to work the way you want it to, once you vendor has taken care of installation and set-up.

In a Nutshell
MS SQL hosting services are ideal for large organizations that can purchase high-end web servers, and pay for licensing cost of MS SQL Server too. In turn, they get dedicated support from a top notch organization like Microsoft. SQL web hosting services are ideal for small size businesses that can’t invest on initial infrastructure such as purchasing high-end servers and paying for licenses on top of that! But, the biggest downside of MS SQL Server apart from high pricing is the sheer fact that it can run only in Windows environment, and doesn’t deliver the goods when a robust database management system is required in Linux environment. This is why MySQL is quite popular amongst majority of web developers.