Servers With a Smile Home-brewing your Web site? Let's go server shopping.

Before you launch your business's Web site, you need to havesomewhere to put it. With Web-hosting companies as common as bannerads these days, most Net start-ups prefer to let a hired hand dothe dirty work rather than mess with it themselves. But e-commerceservices add up, and getting the features you want can involve alot of hassle and moolah. At least there are other options: Ifyou're technically inclined (or want to hire someone who is),you can host your site yourself.

The basic requirement for this is a Web server. Loosely put, aWeb server is a combination of hardware and software that holdsyour Web site in memory and then farms it out through an Internetconnection to browsers on the Web. Choosing the right Web servercan mean the difference between uptime and downtime, as well asbetween making money and losing money.