“Hosting companies like to boast that they build network infrastructures, but in reality most firms simply maintain it for end-users who require hosting and e-commerce services…”The Network Operations Center is the most misunderstood, misrepresented and marketed concept in Web hosting.

Network operations centers, or NOCs, as they are commonly referred to, are thus expensive world-class facilities. They are located in major metropolitan centers throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe and are designed to provide the widest range of security, reliability and speed. NOCs usually have multiple connections to high-speed, first-tier T1, T3, or OC-3 bandwidth connections. These connections are referred to as first-tier, because they are the raw pipes that contain the majority of Internet traffic.

NOCs are therefore considered major junctions on the information highway, physically routing major amounts of Internet traffic for telecommunications and broadband providers. Because such facilities are pivotal to the Internet and the new economy in general, they are generally built to military specifications.

Most NOCs are custom designed to withstand any seismic or man-made disaster. All are equipped with smoke detection, fire suppression systems, motion sensors, secured access, video surveillance, redundant computer and power systems and multiple backup power generators. NOCs are thus complex, expensive undertakings that are primarily implemented by major, public-traded enterprises and telecommunication such as Exodus Communications, Verio and AT&T. For this reason, you should be very wary if a second-tier hosting company claims that they operate their own center.

“Hosting companies like to boast that they build network infrastructures, but in reality most firms simply maintain it for end-users who require hosting and e-commerce services…”

Some hosting firms will claim that they have all the bells and whistles of a complex NOC, but savvy consumers will recognize that they are only co-locating their servers on the premises of an advanced broadband or telecommunications provider. For this reason, consumers must be very wary of small to medium-sized hosting firms that claim to make multi-million dollar investments in hosting infrastructure and equipment. All these companies are doing are locating computers at somebody else’s NOC, and in reality this is enough. When you pay for hosting, you not only pay for high quality and quantity bandwidth and redundant connections, but mostly for server maintenance expertise.

Hosting companies like to boast that they build network infrastructures, but in reality most firms simply maintain it for end-users who require hosting and e-commerce services for their small to medium sized enterprises.

So make sure that you are not paying a premium, simply because a hosting company claims that their NOC is superior. Ask you hosting company whether they actually run their own network operation facilities, or whether they simply co-locate their servers at another company’s NOC.

Always make this inquiry if the Web host claims that it possesses superior network facilities in its advertising. Remember that determining whether your future hosting service is honest with you is very important. Ultimately you have to trust your hosting service, since you will be totally dependent upon it for your adult site income.