 |
 |
|
|
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
|
||||
 |
Case Study: The Heartland Institute
Submitted By: Diane Bast
The Heartland Institute is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help build social movements in support of ideas that empower people.Our hosting needs are unusual for a nonprofit organization. Our site is huge, heavily trafficked, and database-heavy:
- We have over 10,000 HTML pages—some 356 mb—on the site. We add between 50 and 100 pages per week.
- Moreover, our online PolicyBot library contains over 7,500 documents in Adobe’s PDF format: over 4.5 gb worth! We add between 20 and 50 PDFs to the database every week. The SQL database’s search engine is programmed in ColdFusion, as is an elaborate intranet site that allows for real-time updating of the database.
- We also host a second site, ClimateSearch.com, that offers a similar (although smaller) SQL database and features ColdFusion search engine and intranet management. We have plans to launch additional, similar, issue-specific sites.
- The Heartland site attracts a monthly average of 100,000 visitors generating 1,000,000 hits. ClimateSearch.com attracts substantially less traffic.
We wanted two dedicated NT servers (one to act as the Web server, another as a dedicated database server), with sufficient RAM and hard drive space. Bandwidth and IP addresses were also important. Price and turnaround time were key factors . . . as was the intangible: How easy would our new host be to work with, and how responsive would they be to our needs?
CFXHosting has met, and even exceeded, our expecations. In the roughly 10 months we’ve been hosting with them, CFXHosting has come through for us on all fronts.
- CFXHosting guaranteed—and delivered—complete server setup to our satisfaction within 72 hours of their receipt of our signed agreement and initial payment. This was hugely important: We had originally contracted with a different firm, which after four months did not have the servers up and running. We had promised the small ISP who was hosting the site at the time that we’d be off his equipment by a date certain . . .CFXHosting’s quick, thorough, and accurate work allowed us to meet that deadline even after the several months’ delay caused by the first firm.
- The transition was made especially smooth by ColdFusion technicians who worked hand-in-glove with our ColdFusion programmers. Not all site hosting companies are able—or even willing—to work with third-parties in this way. That cooperation was essential to getting our site up-and-running quickly and correctly.
- Since we began hosting with them, CFXHosting has assisted me with email setup and administration of the site stats program that is part of our dedicated server package; they’ve also worked with me to install a secure server license on the site for our online store. The company has upgraded its email server; added Web-based email administration; upgraded its customer support software; enhanced its online billing system; and implemented security testing/fixing for the servers. They have assigned a Senior Systems Administrator for dedicated servers to our account, and he checks in with us on a monthly basis . . . when was the last time you had technical support staff contacting you?
From my initial contacts with the company’s sales department to my current regular contact with technical support and billing, I have been highly impressed by the professionalism, courtesy, knowledge, and responsiveness of the CFXHosting staff. When something goes wrong—as it inevitably does with computers—CFXHosting deals with it promptly and effectively.
I would be happy to provide additional detail to anyone considering CFXHosting as their WebSite host. I can be reached by email at dbast@heartland.org, or by phone at 312/377-4000.
The Heartland Institute is a nonprofit organization that publishes outreach publications designed to make public affairs interesting and entertaining. We operate a clearinghouse for the work of nearly 300 think tanks and advocacy groups.
|
|