ISP : Java Glossary

by Roedy Green ©1996-2008 Canadian Mind Products
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ISP

Internet Service Provider. A company through whom you can attach to the Internet, or who hosts your website.

The Vendor Lists

I have compiled four vendor lists, now split off into separate documents:

Java-friendly Internet Service Providers

Normally you need your own server attached 24-hours to the Internet if you want to do any JDBC, SQL, JSP, Freemarker, EJB, J2EE or servlet programming. However, there are a few ISPs that will let you run SQL engines and other wombs on their server. Hopefully SQL/JDBC/Servlet hosting will become a commodity service.

This list is eclectic. It includes some free services that don’t run servlets. It includes some shopping cart ISPs.

Offering a custom programmable womb is a high overhead service for an ISP. I have never heard of such a service being given away free or given away in return for advertising. You will have luck only if you are willing to use canned software, that won’t give the ISP nearly the headaches of undebugged custom software you would write yourself.

What To Look For

Before you sign up check out:

What software am I allowed to use?
Am I allowed to modify my own application software? Sometime the ISP insists on writing and testing all software that runs on his servers for a fat fee.
Do I get my own instance of a the server software? If others screw up, will they crash my site and vice versa?
How much disk space do I get?
How much traffic is included? and what is the cost of extra traffic? You could be on the hook for a huge bill if you site became suddenly popular.
Check out some of their supported websites to see how responsive they are.
Ask around on the newsgroups what others’ experiences with them have been.

When you check out the limits, you may find that some of the great deals are not so great after all. They are just loss leaders.

Java/JDBC Friendly ISPs

Once you get your Servlet/JSP etc. server application working locally, then you port it to a ISP webserver for deployment. You have to then make adjustments because the ISP may not offer the same SQL database or womb that you used for development.

u You can find out your local ISP’s from a map showing the world’s ISP providers. You can find ones likely to be Java friendly in the table below. If want a webserver rather than Internet access, it does not matter if the ISP is local. Generally Internet access ISPs are rather pathetic when it comes to anything but pure HTTP web hosting, so you are probably best off to deal with two different companies, one for Internet access and one for web hosting.

AOL
Canadian IAPs
IAP
IPass
ISP Vendors

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