Sprint created a fault-tolerant environment by replicating content on multiple geographically distributed servers at the corporation's San Jose, Calif., and Relay, Md., data centers. The site mirroring it offered would not be merely a hot standby: Sprint promised it would operate the servers simultaneously.

For a setup fee of $3,000 and base hosting fee of $4,140 per month, Sprint provides the gear, the software, 2 GB of storage per month and 10 GB of data transferred per month, six hours of implementation consulting and round-the-clock systems monitor and helpdesk support.

Sprint made a convincing pitch for its network's performance and reliability while delivering a turnkey package. With a Tier 1 connection to the Internet and a well-defined backup path to backbone routers, Sprint has a strong pitch to make for performance.

Additionally, Sprint has an inherent advantage in the performance category. Its data centers are located on Sprint's Internet backbone. To guard against service disruptions, the telecommunications giant provides dual OC-3 connections into its West Coast and East Coast data centers. Sprint promises it will guarantee 100 percent Web site availability or it will issue a credit on the customer's invoice equal to 50 percent of the fixed monthly charges. Of course, there are exceptions such as outages caused by application software or CGI scripts that are provided by the customer.

However, Sprint's proposal was also lacking a few key items: It didn't indicate an upgrade path or indicate options if we didn't like the suggested approach.

Sprint Web Hosting, Sprint Corp., (703) 295-5837; fax (703) 295-5868. www.sprintbiz.com/mps/webhost.html

Verio

The RFP Unabridged Response

Verio serves up an initial lower-cost option with its Miva Merchant Server plan, an e-commerce and Web-hosting solution residing on a shared server. Once Widgets R Us traffic increases, Verio would migrate the company data and software to a NT dedicated server. The basic plan includes the transfer of 20 GB per month; additional bandwidth is available for $100 per month for each additional 10 GB.

The Verio Solution includes Miva Merchant software. The Miva Merchant software offers a shopping cart and other e-commerce functions are integrated. The Web host will also set up digital certificates and a merchant account through its partnerships with VeriSign and Cardservice International.

Verio charges a $50 one-time setup charge and a monthly fee of $125 per month for the Miva Merchant Server plan. The NT dedicated server plan is $895 per month, including software, with a one-time $895 setup fee.

Verio offers a low entry price for a fairly turnkey solution, We suspect the provider will quickly broaden its dedicated services, too. It recently announced the acquisition of the hosting firm DigitalNation. And the company backs up its performance and reliability promises with a 99.9 percent guaranteed uptime policy.

But Widgets R Us' demands appear to be at the top end of Verio's slate of product offerings. That does not mean this fast-growing company couldn't do the job; certainly, it deserve kudos for rising to the RFP's challenge. It does mean, however, that Widgets R Us might be better served elsewhere if its needs were to grow considerably.

Verio Web Services, Verio, (888) GET-VERIO, (303) 645-1900; fax (303) 708-2490. www.verio.com or sales@verio.net

Susan E. Fisher is a Chicago-based freelance writer. Send your comments on this article to her at susan@pcmom.cnchost.com.