Up-time is generally important for all web-based businesses, but it’s an especially critical factor for ecommerce sites. The longer it takes for customers to complete a transaction, the more time they have to cancel the transaction. Keeping ecommerce sites operating as much as possible allows them to keep their customers engaged and maximize the chances of making a sale. Businesses that use ASP .NET often use specialized .NET hosting services that allow users to access .NET applications. These services save time for businesses, allowing them to focus on their core expertise.
Overview
ASP .NET is a framework for developing dynamic web applications that resides on a server. Microsoft released the first version of .NET in 2002 as a replacement for Active Server Pages and has updated .NET regularly since then. .NET uses the Common Language Runtime, which allows programmers to develop .NET applications in any language that .NET supports.
Hosting Services
An eCommerce
site that uses .Net must ensure that the hosting service that it chooses will be able to support its current volume of traffic as well as its future volume. Reliable customer service is an essential feature since it directly determines a site’s ability to remain online. .Net hosting services routinely promise to provide up-time of almost 100 percent, but few of them are able to deliver on this promise. Check the reputation of a hosting company before making a selection.
A .NET server can go down at any time, even after business hours. The .NET hosting company should therefore provide 24/7 customer support to ensure that someone will always respond to a request for help. These companies typically advertise round the clock support, but it’s still important to verify 24/7 support by directly asking.
Benefits
The primary benefit of using a service to host .NET application is that it relieves a business of the need to maintain the server, resulting in a significant time savings. An ASP.Net host typically offers additional features that benefit businesses such as fast application development and cross-platform compatibility. The ability of a .NET server to integrate multiple web controls is also helpful, since it facilitates the creation of websites with a professional design and rich content. Multiple controls also allow designers to modify a website from an application page.
A .NET hosting service typically backs up customer data on a regular basis. Many of these services also allow customers to perform their backups and to ensure they can recover their data at any time. A .NET server is also able recover from crashes automatically in most cases. Additional methods of preserving data on the server include the ability to store frequently-visited pages in cache memory, allowing site visitors to load their favorite pages more quickly. ASP .NET hosting services also provide other tools for administrating the website, improving its performance and increasing the number of visitors it can handle.
Summary
A business can reduce the time and expense of maintaining a .NET website by using a hosting service. This service will provide a greater up-time than the business would be able to achieve by hosting a .NET server itself. The level of customer support available from ASP .NET hosting services is highly variable, so it pays to research these companies carefully before making a decision. Hosting services also provide additional advantages besides increasing uptime.