Epsoft Computer Services

If our budget plans don't give you the reliability you're looking for, and our premium plans are a little too pricey, these new mid range plans may be just what you're looking for!

We can now offer hosting plans through Australia's biggest and best hosting company, Web Central. For those who want the very best, these plans are for you. For those on a budget, we will continue to offer our existing hosting plans so the choice is yours.

"Hosting" is the term used to describe the process of putting your web site on a server computer connected to the internet. Ideally this server should be on a permanent, high speed internet connection so that your web site is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Technically, you could host a web site on a home computer over a dial-up connection but your site would only be available while you are connected to the internet and would be very slow to access. Typically, servers are housed in data centres with 24 hour monitoring, automatic, daily backups and with technical support on stand-by. All this costs money but the costs are normally shared by hosting a number of sites on a server. Having your site hosted by a professional hosting company means that, in exchange for a fee, you don't have to worry about maintaining a server and a high speed internet connection.

Firstly you need a domain name, i.e. yourcompany.com.au. Your web site therefore is www.yourcompany.com.au and you can have one or more email accounts such as yourname@yourcompany.com.au. Domain name registration is handled by a domain name registrar such as Melbourne IT or the one we use, NameScout. Once you have your domain name you can then find yourself a host. This is where we come in. We update a thing called a DNS (Domain Name Server) so that your domain name points to our server. All computers on the internet have a unique address called an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The DNS server "translates" your domain name (ie epsoft.com.au) to the IP address of the hosting server (ie 69.56.210.189). When you change hosts, you simply update the DNS server with the IP address of the new host server. This process takes a few days to "propagate" (update all the DNS servers globally), so that your domain points to the new server. You can then upload your web pages to the server using an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client (a piece of software for transferring files to/from a server). You can also configure your email accounts on the server and start receiving email.

If you're familiar with registering domain names, updating DNS servers ("delegating"), configuring FTP access and email accounts on the server and uploading your web pages via an FTP client....then you don't need us. In fact, if you have a high speed connection with a fixed IP address you don't need a host at all! You can do it all yourself and save a few dollars. However, most people in business are too busy doing other things...like running their business! They don't have the time or the skills to be messing about with DNS delegation and configuring FTP access so they can upload their HTML documents. So they pay a host, like us, to do all that for them. How much? See Prices below...

We will host your web site for a reasonable price. We're not the cheapest around but we're competitive. We set up our server with your domain name, FTP access and email accounts. You can provide the web pages or we can build a site for you.

Firstly, our servers are monitored and maintained 24/7 and backed up daily. Secondly, we're available to help with any problems or changes you require. If you have a new staff member and need a new email account setup, we do that for you. If you need a web page updated, we do that too. We take care of anything to do with your web site or email.

For many businesses that's great. They're not interested in any of that technical rubbish. However, some people need/want a little more control. They don't want to do it all themselves but they want to at least be able to create new mail accounts, change passwords or upload web pages. Well you can have that too! We can give you access to our "Control Panel" where you can do all that yourself. We don't do this for everyone as a wrong move could take down your web site or break your email...but it's available for those who need it.

If you are transferring an existing web site and you know what kind of space you need and how much bandwidth you typically use, you can simply choose the appropriate plan from our range. If you're starting a new site I would generally recommend starting with one of our budget or economy plans. You can always upgrade later, you're not locked in for the year and we won't shut you down if you happen to go over your quota.

Our budget plans are really aimed at customers who are only interested in the cheapest price and don't mind the occasional server outage. This doesn't happen often but with web hosting you really do get what you pay for. If service and reliability are your highest priority then our premium Web Central plans are for you. They're not cheap but Web Central is well known for their rock solid reliability and fast response times. If you want the best, Web Central is for you. Our new mid range plans from Net Logistics fit nicely between our budget and premium plans. If our premium plans are a little too pricey for you, but you don't like the idea of our "budget" plans, one of our Net Logistics mid range plans could be just what you're looking for.

It can be hard to know what you need, and nobody wants to pay more than they have too. For most small business users our $99 starter plan should be enough to get you going. As your web site and usage grows we can easily upgrade you to the next level. If you're still not sure, give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to discuss your needs with you.

Our webmail service allows you to send or receive email from any web browser such as an internet cafe or a friends computer. Simply log on to webmail.yourdomain.com.au, enter your whole email address as the username and enter your password. You will be presented with an Outlook style screen where you can read and reply to your emails and compose new messages.

The webmail interface can also be used to change your password or set up an auto responder message. Remember, if you change your password you will need to update the corresponding setting in your email program. An auto responder message is an email that is automatically generated and sent back as a reply to any incoming email. This is especially useful if you are going away and will not be checking your mail for a while. You can set up an auto responder to advise the sender that you are away.

If you have a large email attachment clogging up your mailbox, you can use webmail to delete it. You can also use webmail to delete any suspicious mail or spam from the server before you launch your email program. This is especially useful if you are on a slow dial-up connection.

The stats page gives you heaps of information about your web site, not just the total number if hits but precise breakdowns but day, month, page etc. You can see where your visitors are coming from, what other sites are linking t yours, and how much bandwidth you are using. These stats can be used to help you improve your site's design so that visitors can find the information they are looking for more easily. Simply visit stats.yourdomain.com.au or if you are not currently hosting with us, view our stats at stats.epsoft.com.au to see how it works.

If you use your notebook computer on the road and have multiple ISP's you probably have several accounts set up in your email program so you can send mail out via whichever ISP you are currently connected to. You can avoid this problem by using our own SMTP server. Simply configure your email program to use smtp.yourdomain.com.au and tick "My server requires authentication", then in settings select "Use same settings as my incoming mail server" or enter your email address and password. Depending on your ISP you may also need to change the SMTP port in the advanced settings to 26 instead of 25. You can then send and receive email via the same server regardless of which ISP you are connected to.

Plan	Description	Email (POP3) Accounts	Web Space (mb)	Transfers per month (mb)	Price
	Domain Parking/Redirection	n/a	n/a	n/a	$55.00 / year
Budget Plans - from Spirit Connect These plans are to be phased out in favour of the new Net Logistics plans
Email05	Email only (5 email accounts)	5	n/a	250	$55.00 / year
Web01	Mini web site only (1 email account)	1	50	100	$55.00 / year
Email10	Email only (10 email accounts)	10	n/a	500	$99.00 / year
Web03	Mini web site (E-Card)	3	50	200	$99.00 / year
Email20	Email only (20 email accounts)	20	n/a	1000	$165.00 / year
Web05	Small Web Site	5	100	350	$165.00 / year
Web10	Standard Web Site	10	150	650	$275.00 per year
Web20	Standard Web Site + extra email accounts	20	150	1150	$330.00 per year
Mid Range Plans - from Net Logistics (Available Now)
Net01	Starter Plan	10	100	1000	$99.00 per year
Net02	Home Business Plan	20	250	2500	$165.00 per year
Net03	Small Business Plan	30	500	5000	$220.00 per year
Net04	Professional Plan	50	1000	10000	$330.00 per year
Premium Plans - from Web Central (Available Now)
Premium1	Web Central Economy 2006 Plan	Unlimited	200	10gb	$39.95 / month or $420.00 per year
Premium2	Web Central Business 2006 Plan	Unlimited	500	20gb	$65.95 / month or $665.00 per year
Premium3	Web Central Professional 2006 Plan	Unlimited	800	30gb	$89.95 per month or $924.00 per year

Type	Description	Email (POP3) Accounts	Web Space (mb)	Transfers per month (mb)	Price
S99	Web Starter Pack - Domain Name Registration - 12 months budget hosting - Basic web site designed & built - 3 email accounts See Special Offer for details	3	50	200	$99.00 / year

Domain Name Registration gets you your .com or .com.au address such as yourcompany.com.au This enables you to use the web address www.yourcompany.com.au and email address yourname@yourcompany.com.au You must have a registered business name to register a .com.au domain name. .com's can be registered by anyone but are harder to get for that reason. If you're on a tight budget or don't need a domain name you can still have a web site using a sub-domain

Many service providers give you about 5mb of server space for web pages. Rather than pay for additional hosting you can have your registered domain name re-directed to your existing web site. Email addressed to your domain can also be re-directed to your existing email address. Your web site is restricted by the limitations imposed by your service provider but may be sufficient for very small sites. Contact your service provider to see if they allocate you server space for web pages. Given the low cost of hosting these days, most people prefer to simply have their domain hosted rather than redirected.

A sub-domain is a web site that hangs off an existing domain name. This means that you don't need to register your own domain name. mycompany.epsoft.com.au would be a sub-domain of our epsoft.com.au site. This might be handy if you just need a simple web site and you don't mind a slightly longer address. You must use your existing email address as you cannot use sub-domains for email. Again, given the low cost of full hosting, sub-domains are rarely used.

If you have no need for a web site but would still like your own email address, ie yourname@yourcompany.com.au, you can select an email only account. There are several email only plans depending on the number of accounts you require and the amount of email traffic you generate. For example, you may only need 5 accounts but if you generate 150mb of traffic per month you will have to select the Email20 plan.

If you don't need an email address but would still like a small web site, you can select a web only account. There is currently only one web only plan (Web00).

A mini-site or e-card is a very simple single page web site. Use it to say who you are and what you do, list your contact details and email address*. A mini site is ideal for businesses or individuals that need a web presence with proper email addresses* such as yourname@yourcompany.com.au but don't need a flashy web site.
* No email on Web00 plan

A small site is a step up from the Mini Site giving you a little more space for web pages and more bandwidth for web and email traffic. Feedback forms allow visitors to send you an email by simply typing into text boxes on the page and clicking a submit button.

The standard site gives you the space to grow your web site, adding more pages and more complex features. The number of pages is limited only by the server space, 100mb is the maximum allowed with 150mb transfers per month. The standard site should be sufficient for most small business web sites.

The large and extra large sites simply give you more server space and bandwidth. These are for heavy users who send lots of emails or upload large files to their web sites. The pricing is more of a guide as there are often other factors such as databases, secure servers and other advanced features.

We realise that we don't all fit into a fixed box size so we try to be flexible. All our plans are designed for typical business models and may be customised to your individual needs. We generally will place you on a plan that is the best fit then customise that plan as needed. For example, if you need a lot of email addresses but you're not using much bandwidth we might place you on a lower plan and give you some extra mail accounts. We will monitor your usage and may, in severe cases, adjust the rate accordingly. You can save a few dollars by paying 12 months in advance, however if your usage increases dramatically we may impose a pro-rata increase to cover the difference. This works both ways though, if you're not using your allocation we will drop you down to a lower plan.

Epsoft Computer Services is acting as a reseller for Spirit Connect Australia to provide our web hosting solutions. This means that you get all the benefits of a professional web host plus the benefits of a local contact. As a reseller we inherit, among others, the following limitation of liability:

"10.1 We are not responsible for any claimed damages, which may result from our servers going offline, or being unavailable for any reason. This includes damages which may result from the corruption or deletion of data. The customer agrees to indemnify and hold us and our employees harmless from any claims, damages, including but not limited to consequential damages resulting from the use of the service which damages the customer or any other party."

Domain Name Registrations
.com.au / .net.au	$44.00 for two years
.com / .net	$22.00 for one year
.org.au	$11.00 for one year
.co.nz	$33.00 for one year