With ever increasing broadband bandwidth speeds it is becoming increasingly tempting to host web services in-house rather then laying out for the expense of web hosting with a specialised web hosting company, especially when you can acquire the hardware easily and cheaply to do the job.

However, many of the costs of hosting are hidden and aren’t simply the cost of the internet line and the server itself. Take into account for example the power consumption. Having a server and network equipment on 24/7, especially dedicated servers with large storage capacities, can increase your costs dramatically now electricity prices are increasing well above inflation. The cost of the software licensing and the specialist skills required to install and maintain it can sometimes be far higher than all the other costs put together.

Finally you need to take into account the cost of keeping a server up 24/7 which is something many companies find to be business critical. Redundant power supplies, air cooling, internet connectivity and disks can double the cost of your non-human costs.

Using a web hosting provider will make much better value for money as the cost of backup systems, human resources, software and hardware costs are almost always included in the costs quoted for the packages on offer and due to economies of scale the costs will be much cheaper than going for it alone.