Harambee University Unit of Competence: Evaluating and Selecting A Web Hosting Service

HARAMBEE UNIVERSITY
Unit of Competence:
Evaluating and selecting a web hosting service

LO2:
Ensure guarantee of permanent
online presence
Monitor server performance and availability
• Web-hosting service allows individuals and organizations to make

their website accessible via the World Wide Web.
• You rent space on a server connected to the internet to store

website files and data.
• Visitors can access the website via domain name or IP address.
• Monitoring server performance and availability is critical for

optimal website performance.
❖ When establishing a monitoring system for your web-hosting service, it's
important to follow the following steps:
1. Choose a monitoring tool: There are several monitoring tools
available to monitor server performance and availability.
• Nagios, Zabbix, and PRTG are some popular monitoring tools.
✓ Choose a tool that meets your needs and is compatible with the
operating system and software platforms used by your web-
hosting service.
Conti….
2. Define your monitoring requirements: Before setting up your

monitoring system, define your monitoring requirements.
• This includes: Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that
are important, such as:
• Server uptime,
• Response time,
• Disk space usage, and CPU usage.
Conti….
3. Configure your monitoring tool: This typically involves

installing the monitoring software on a separate server or on the
same server as your web-hosting service.
✓ You'll need to configure the monitoring tool to monitor the

KPIs you've identified and set up alerts to notify you when a
KPI falls below a certain threshold.
Conti….
4. Set up automated workflows: Setup automated workflows in

the monitoring tool to quickly address issues, such as generating
support tickets or sending emails to the team when KPIs fall
below set thresholds.
✓ This can help ensure that issues are addressed quickly and
prevent downtime or performance issues.
Conti….
5. Regularly review and adjust your monitoring system:

regularly review and adjust it to ensure that it's meeting your
needs.
✓ This includes reviewing your KPIs regularly and adjusting

them as needed.
Conti….
6. Use monitoring data to optimize your web-hosting service:

you can use the data collected by your monitoring system to
optimize your web-hosting service.
✓ For example, you can use data on CPU usage to identify

bottlenecks in your web application or data on response time to
identify opportunities for performance optimization
Negotiating escalation procedures and performance
standards with ISP
• Understand ISP's network infrastructure, topology, and support
team's responsiveness for reliable and scalable web hosting service.

1. Define your requirements:
• Before you start negotiating with an ISP, you should define your
requirements for the service you need.
This includes:
✓ identifying the specific features and capabilities you require,
✓ the level of service you need, and
✓ the performance standards you expect.

‡ You should also consider factors such as uptime requirements, support
requirements, and security requirements.
2. Understand the ISP's capabilities:
• it's important to understand the capabilities of the ISP and the

services they offer. This includes:
✓ their network infrastructure,
✓ server hardware,
✓ software platforms, and support team.
‡ You should research the ISP's capabilities and ask questions to

ensure that they can provide the service you need.
3. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs):
• Key performance indicators are metrics that you can use to measure the
performance of your ISP. Common KPIs includes:
✓ uptime,
✓ network latency,
✓ packet loss, and bandwidth utilization.
‡ You should identify the KPIs that are important to you and ensure
that they are included in your service level agreement (SLA).
4. Negotiate the SLA:
• The SLA is a contract between you and your ISP that outlines the
performance standards and escalation procedures for your service.
• Be sure to consider factors such as uptime guarantees, response
times for support requests, and penalties for non-performance.
• You should also consider factors such as the length of the contract
and the renewal terms.

5. Establish escalation procedures:
• Escalation procedures are the steps that will be taken when an issue
arises with your service.
• Your SLA must include clear escalation procedures and that they are
agreed upon by both you and your ISP.
• This should consider issue reporting process, support response times,
and resolution procedures based on severity and level of support
required.
6. Review and monitor performance:
• It's important to review and monitor performance to ensure that your
ISP is meeting their obligations under the SLA.
• Maintain positive communication with ISP for quick issue
resolution and optimal service performance.

Establish security and backup procedures
• Before establishing security and backup procedures, you need to
define your requirements.
• This includes identifying the types of data that need to be secured
and backed up, the frequency of backups, and the level of
security needed to protect against potential threats and
vulnerabilities.
Conti….
This includes:
❑ Conduct a risk assessment: to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities to

your data.
✓ This can include threats from malware, hackers, and human error. Based on your risk assessment,
you can develop a security and backup plan that addresses the most critical risks.
❑ Choose security and backup solutions: Choose security and backup solutions that meet
your needs and are compatible with your systems and software.
✓ This may include antivirus software, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and backup software.
Conti….
❑ Conduct a risk assessment: to protect your data against potential threats
and vulnerabilities.
✓This may include policies and procedures for password management, access control, and
data encryption.
❑ Establish backup procedures: to ensure that your data is protected
against data loss or corruption.

❑ This may include implementing regular backups to offsite location, test backups, and
establish data restoration procedures for possible data loss or corruption.
Conti….
❑ Regularly review and update procedures: to ensure that they are still effective
and meet your business needs.
✓This may include reviewing your risk assessment, testing your backups, and updating
your security solutions as needed.

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HARAMBEE UNIVERSITY

Evaluating and selecting a web hosting service

• Web-hosting service allows individuals and organizations to make

• You rent space on a server connected to the internet to store

• Visitors can access the website via domain name or IP address.

• Monitoring server performance and availability is critical for

operating system and software platforms used by your web-

2. Define your monitoring requirements: Before setting up your

3. Configure your monitoring tool: This typically involves

✓ You'll need to configure the monitoring tool to monitor the

4. Set up automated workflows: Setup automated workflows in

5. Regularly review and adjust your monitoring system:

✓ This includes reviewing your KPIs regularly and adjusting

6. Use monitoring data to optimize your web-hosting service:

✓ For example, you can use data on CPU usage to identify

• Understand ISP's network infrastructure, topology, and support

team's responsiveness for reliable and scalable web hosting service.

✓ identifying the specific features and capabilities you require,

✓ the level of service you need, and

✓ the performance standards you expect.

• it's important to understand the capabilities of the ISP and the

✓ their network infrastructure,

✓ software platforms, and support team.

‡ You should research the ISP's capabilities and ask questions to

✓ packet loss, and bandwidth utilization.

performance standards and escalation procedures for your service.

• Be sure to consider factors such as uptime guarantees, response

times for support requests, and penalties for non-performance.

and the renewal terms.

arises with your service.

agreed upon by both you and your ISP.

• This should consider issue reporting process, support response times,

and resolution procedures based on severity and level of support

• It's important to review and monitor performance to ensure that your

ISP is meeting their obligations under the SLA.

• Maintain positive communication with ISP for quick issue

resolution and optimal service performance.

• Before establishing security and backup procedures, you need to

define your requirements.

• This includes identifying the types of data that need to be secured

and backed up, the frequency of backups, and the level of

security needed to protect against potential threats and

❑ Conduct a risk assessment: to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities to

❑ Establish backup procedures: to ensure that your data is protected

against data loss or corruption.

and meet your business needs.

your security solutions as needed.

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