What’s all the buzz about hosting, virtual servers, and SaaS solutions?

Are these terms foreign to you? Perhaps you’ve heard them before but aren’t sure how to differentiate among them. Huckstep & Associates is here with answers and guidance.

Hosting, virtual servers, and SaaS solutions are different ways to make it easier to use software solutions without all the hassles of ownership and maintenance.

What is a hosted solution and how does it work?

A hosted solution is a way to outsource part of the work involved in owning software. With hosting, your software is installed in an off-site environment, not on a server owned by your organization. Typically you contract with a data center to house your software applications and access them via the internet.

Hosting is a popular alternative for organizations that don’t have strong IT resources in-house or cannot contract those resources at reasonable cost, and that require reliable service that’s available 24 x 7.

Contract terms vary, but invariably you must rely on a third party (the hosting company) to ensure you always have access to your data. Most hosting companies ensure a high level of “up time” at 99.9%. It’s important to note that guaranteed up time depends on uninterrupted internet service at both your organization and the hosting company.

Contact us to learn more about hosted solutions.

What is a virtual server and how does it work?

Another approach to reducing the cost and work of using software is a virtual server. A virtual server is based on a single virtual machine that houses not just the server but also multiple workstations. Users access their workstations over the internet. The virtual server can be located in your office or in a hosting center.

As a result, a virtual server is a single high-powered server box that allows you to use low-powered desktops, reducing your total cost of ownership. The cost of software upgrades is also lower because upgrades can be performed on a single virtual machine rather than on multiple local desktops.

Because the virtual server is a “locked down”, self-contained system, different operating systems can run simultaneously in the same machine, and applications can’t interfere with one other. You don’t need a team of technical experts to run the system, even if you own the box that contains the virtual server.

You can configure a virtual server using Microsoft applications or use other proprietary virtual servers. At Huckstep & Associates, we use a proprietary virtual server for many of our internal applications. Proprietary virtual servers often offer on-line backups as well as hosting services.

Contact us to learn more about virtual servers.

What is a SaaS solution and how does it work?

SaaS stands for “software as a service”. With SaaS, you don’t purchase a full software license. Instead, you pay a monthly fee to access software located on servers owned by a SaaS provider. All you need is an internet connection to access the software.

SaaS typically gives you a lower cost of ownership, depending on how long you subscribe. Because the SaaS provider handles software upgrades, SaaS is less taxing on your internal technical resources.

SaaS is only beginning to become popular, so be advised that some software is not available through SaaS. That’s one reason that Huckstep & Associates recommends that you fully assess your organization’s needs before moving forward with SaaS.

Contact us to learn more about SaaS.

Selecting the right approach

Huckstep & Associates has been working with all types of hosted solutions for years. Because we’ve seen the pros and cons of each approach, we can help you assess your current and future needs and select the approach to match them.
Contact us to determine which approach is best for you.