SILK Web -- Articles INTERFACE 201

SILK Web -- Articles and Documentation

From INTERFACE 201 - June 15, 1997

SILK Web's Customized Server Facility
Now Available

On June 2, 1997, the newest member of DCRT's Secure Internet LinKed (SILK) services -- the customized server facility -- became available. This facility represents a major advancement in the Web services available to customers of the NIH Computer Center. This new facility can be reached from the SILK webpage http://silk.nih.gov/.

Initial reports from users who have established their own customized SILK servers indicate that the facility will be a huge success. Several users were especially delighted to have effortlessly created their own Web servers in minutes -- without the lengthy process of procuring equipment, installing software, and worrying about security or maintenance. Another user was very impressed with SILK's easy-to-use features that permit a server to be tailored to and managed for an organization's exact needs. Although first reactions to the SILK customized server facility have been enthusiastic, server owners will see the real benefits in upcoming months as they realize the advantages of having a fully-supported system running in a secure, carefully managed computing environment.

Benefits Will Increase Over Time

Owning a SILK customized server is a good way to position your organization to take advantage of other upcoming SILK services. We expect to base many new capabilities on the SILK Web technology because it combines the flexibility of open system architectures with the power of relational database management systems. Over the years this strategy will continue to bring users highly efficient and user-friendly applications using central computing facilities, as well as significant savings in time and money.

Reprinted from December 15, 1997 (page 8)

Charges for Customized Servers

A one-time fee of $50 for setting up your customized server will take effect on September 8 --we are waiving this fee for servers set up before that date. Your monthly fees are determined by the actual level of service provided to your server -- the fees are a combination of the amount of data stored on your server plus the amount of data your server sends to browsers. These rates for SILK servers are competitive, based on our evaluation of the rate structures of similar, commercial providers of Web servers.

Three levels of service will be available -- basic, intermediate, and advanced. The table below details the charges for each level of service:

Monthly Cost of Your Customized Server
Level of Service Maximum	Maximum	Server Fee	Optional Security Fee³	Total Cost
Basic	storage 10 MB¹ traffic 500 MB²	$ 60	$ 10	$ 60 - 70
Intermediate	storage 25 MB¹ traffic 1000 MB²	$ 100	$ 15	$ 100 - 115
Advanced storage 50 MB¹	storage 50 MB¹ traffic 2000 MB²	$ 200	$ 20	$ 200 - 220
^{1 Storage: Levels above the maximum will incur an additional $1 for each 1 MB or fraction of data stored. For example with intermediate service, 26.5 MB of data stored will cost $2 extra -- or a total of $ 102 ($100 + $2), assuming traffic does not exceed the maximum. If traffic goes above the maximum, it will be charged extra. ^{2 Traffic: Levels above the maximum will incur an additional $1 for each 10 MB or fraction of data transferred. For example with basic service, 525 MB of data transferred will cost $3 extra -- or a total of $ 63 ($60 + $3), assuming storage does not exceed the maximum. If storage goes above the maximum, it will be charged extra. ^{3 This charge is assessed if the server uses either the "designated users" security feature or the "group" password facility because both require monitoring. There will be no monthly security fee for servers created with "unrestricted" or "registered users" security.}}}

Editor's note: the monthly charges remain the same. We put the table in a clearer format.