How to buy Internet access, hosting, and services for your business Sometimes the most important technology you can buy for your business is technology you can't see: your Internet access, your Web hosting, and your Internet phone (a.k.a. your VoIP account). When your business demands a lot of bandwidth--say, you provide software downloads to thousands of customers a month--and you have a big Web presence, you may need to call in outside experts to provide you with the online know-how missing from your own staff. In the case of services, you often get what you pay for--the more you invest in, say, a Web host, the more secure your data will stay.

You can buy services in a number of different ways, ranging from administrating your own servers and simply renting the rack space to more complete packages that manage your IT resources for you at a remote facility. Basic hosting plans can start as low as $5 per month. Managed hosting plans that guarantee zero downtime and offer a wealth of e-commerce features are also available. Check out our most popular Web hosts for more info.