SO YOU WANT TO GO AT IT ON YOUR OWN. . .
We have put together a list of what it would cost to venture out on your own to get a top notch e-business site. Core e-business technology and it's cost.

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ROBBIE 19 Publishing Co.
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Phone: (914) 433-3258

The Infrastructure
Technology and service is what all Internet e-businesses share. This is called the infrastructure layer. It consists of the hardware and software that generates a web site, as well as where the equipment is stored and who looks after it.
Among the most basic issues is how you will connect to the Internet.
THE TECHNOLOGY
DESCRIPTION
 COST
 
$3,800 per month
About a dozen major companies offer industrial-strength Internet connections. The main issue is how much band width you need. A site with limited traffic might make do with a digital T-1 line, operating at 1.5mbps (million bits per second), while a larger web Organization might opt for a direct fiber-optic connection that carries as much as 2.6bbps (billion bits per second). Two T-1 lines, each delivering 1.5 million bits per second.
CARRIER
Then there is the question of where to house the gear powering your web site.
A small business might be able to cram their computer gear into a closet. While bigger firms usually opt to build specially designed equipment rooms. Some companies large or small can also turn to CO-location services. These are cost-efficient facilities that host your equipment and connect it to the Internet. One private cage with four equipment racks.
$6,000 per month
HOSTING CENTER
Next up is the choice of the core software and hardware that every commercial Internet operation requires
Information travels on the Internet in packets, which ricochet around with the help of routers. These devices make sure packets reach their intended destination. Your routers help receive and send the packets going to and from each web site. Two routers with integrated switches.

$100,000
ROUTER
This term refers to two things: the physical computer that runs a website, and the software that runs on the boxes. This is where the web pages are delivered to browsers on the computer out to the Internet. Web server software is pretty generic because it's designed to deliver web pages with words and images created in HTML, the basic language of the Web. Two servers for four CPUs. Apache freeware is, well free. Hardware not priced.

$0 to $4,000
WEB SERVER
The next generation servers will excel at running the programming languages - such as C++, Java, and Perl - that make it easier for commercial web sites to deliver dynamic information like stock quotes, personalized information, and shopping carts. Two servers for four CPUs.
APPLICATION SERVER

$30,000
Whether you are setting up a pricing list, product catalogs, or previous purchase histories of customers, vast databases underlie all commercial web sites. Specialized database servers extract that data and serve it up fast where needed. Two servers for eight CPUs.
DATABASE SERVER

$120,000
Think of hard drives arrayed in giant ensembles, ranging from PC-size boxes to refrigerator-like containers, with capacities from 10 gigabytes to 2 terabytes. The system connect to database servers via very-high-speed storage-area-network switches. Two storage units, with 180 gigabytes usable storage each plus backup; this is huge, but with sites growing so fast, it's on focus.

$250,000
STORAGE SYSTEM
The uninterrupted operation of your site requires adding at least three more layers of infrastructure.
This is the traffic cop for incoming request to your servers - such as people clicking on a link that brings up a page from your site. Load-balancing software directs information requests from maxed-out servers (there are limits to how many pages per second a server can provide) to those with the most available capacity in order to limit embarrassing "server busy" error messages. Application (layer seven) switching with two switches total.

$20,000 to $40,000
LOAD BALANCING
At every level of technology, an e-business has to protect itself against unauthorized intrusion and data theft. This is done by erecting firewalls, or secure software barriers, to keep trespassers out and by systems for intrusion detection. Security service, including two synchronized firewalls; one host-based and one network-based intrusion sensor; vulnerability assessment and audit analysis. Cisco and Checkpoint are the top-rated firewall-only vendors.
SECURITY

$100,000
Web servers bump up against performance limits, especially if the server has to extract information from a database during peak traffic. The solution is to cache, or store, frequently requested information, such as heavy images or sound files, either on special sites in the network (network caching) or in memory on the site's servers (reverse caching). Network (not reverse) caching. 14 megabits per second per month at $1,000 per megabit. Top reverse caching providers include Inktomi and Cacheflow.