Most people don’t need to read this review as they host HTMLDB at their own location with their own Oracle DB, operations staff, etc. I would venture to say that most applications of the technology, which runs on the Oracle database, are meant for data centric internal application building and also extranet applications. It would be incorrect to suggest that there are a plethora of consumer websites built with the technology.

There are some circumstances where hosting of an HTMLDB application is beneficial. For security, cost, or as a 3rd party HTMLDB developer, having a hosted HTMLDB for production purposes can be a good solution. A company could build an application as an extranet applicaiton, and rather than expose their own machines to the internet one could host the application at a service provider, and use database links to view the remote database as it were part of their local Oracle installation. Perhaps someone develops an extremely simple application using HTMLDB, and wants to provide it to customers as a service, but doesn’t want to get into the hosting business. Or consider furhter, a very simple applicaiton, investing in seperate machines for Apache and Oracle (RedHat/Windows) could be more expensive than required when someone else can do the whole thing for $49.95/mo.

That’s just what the folks at revion.com have done. $49.95/mo for an HTMLDB account that you can use for production purposes (remember, the HTMLDB environment at OTN can only be used for development!). I found their service excellent, the hosting reliable (admittedly I only used their service for a couple of months). They were using the newest HTMLDB version, provided access via SQL*Net (big plus for me). Overall, I was very pleased with their service, including my cancellation. Some hosts are downright difficult in cancelling but Revion was graceful, thankful, and inviting for any future HTMLDB hosting needs.

Based on my (limited) experience with them, I’d recommend them. They are much less expensive than their competitors (does not allow SQL*Net access either) so I think they are a bargain. Check them out if you require some “external” HTMLDB hosting!