Hi there,

Im currently doing a project for my Digital Business Enterprise class at uni.

The topic Ive chosen is Web Hosting Management. In this project I will be covering how it works, why people use it, the technology that's used, benefits and ROI.

But my lecturer has requested that I need to put in something about BEFORE web hosting was used. I dont see how that is possible as surely it has existed since the internet began?

Could anyone help me with this?

Thanks

David

Your prof has asked for something really worth adding here !

You could actually mention how the internet used to exist as "intranet" for US defense establishements, and how they used this infrastructure to host / exchange / share information.

Basically, your lecturer is asking you to show some prehistoric internet information, which usually makes a lot of sense to understand how useful is modern day web hosting for an organisation / business / individual

cheers !

Hi there,

Im currently doing a project for my Digital Business Enterprise class at uni.

The topic Ive chosen is Web Hosting Management. In this project I will be covering how it works, why people use it, the technology that's used, benefits and ROI.

But my lecturer has requested that I need to put in something about BEFORE web hosting was used. I dont see how that is possible as surely it has existed since the internet began?

Could anyone help me with this?

Thanks

David

Basically, your lecturer is asking you to show some prehistoric internet information, which usually makes a lot of sense to understand how useful is modern day web hosting for an organisation / business / individual

Prehistoric indeed! To show you what a dinosaur I am...

When I was a teenager and got my first modem ( state of the art at 2400 BPS ), the internet was not yet available to the public. As gtm2k says, it was used by government / military, etc.

The general public connected to "Bulletin Board Services". Instead of dialing up to a service provider and accessing websites, you would set your modem to dial directly into a company's computer in order to access. Most computer freaks of the time would have a list of telephone numbers for various bulletin boards. Imagine having to disconnect and reconnect to a different telephone number every time you wanted to visit a different site!

One of the most popular bulletin boards at the time was called "Compuserve", and it was based in California. As such, it was an expensive long distance call from my home in Canada to use their service. Needless to say, the first month's phone bill after getting the modem was absolutely staggering! Over 1000 CAD! My parents freaked- took the modem away!

The modem became my system of punishment and reward. Some kids get grounded, some get / don't get to use the family car.... I got connection time when I was good, and the modem was locked away when I f***ed up!

The way that the net has evolved to having all of the sites hosted and connected through a common network protocol, which the public can connect to with a local service provider and telephone line is a godsend- fast and convenient.

Do some searches - for "Bulletin Board Services, Compuserve, Internet history." You should be able to find lots of information for your project.

Hi there,

my lecturer has requested that I need to put in something about BEFORE web hosting was used. I dont see how that is possible as surely it has existed since the internet began?

Could anyone help me with this?

Thanks

David

Before web hosting became an industry, websites were run from webservers running locally on the organization's own IT infrastructure. Indeed that is still the case with most large organizations.

... One of the most popular bulletin boards at the time was called "Compuserve", and it was based in California.

The OP could also mention the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, which I think pre-dated CI$ (so-known for it's high price) by a few years. There should(?) also be a mention of CIX (Compulink Information eXchange) in the UK. One CIX conference (tenner_a_month?) offered the first (AFAICR) public Internet access in the UK (via UKC), and became Demon, I believe.

2400 baud modems? I used to dream of upgrading from 75 to 300 ...

This is awesome stuff guys thanks very much!!!

There was a great recent documentary on the BBS era that might help you. Brought back many fond memories even though I only caught the tale end of the BBS era.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460402/