Online advertising through mobile apps has become increasingly popular among businesses. As per Statista reports, the revenue generated by mobile apps will reach $189 billion by 2020. Most of this revenue will be generated through in-app advertising as well as app sales on app stores like Apple's App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store and BlackBerry App World.
With this increasing use of mobile apps, business owners are channeling a significant investment of resources to mobile back end management. Does your business app use features like usage analytics, extended security, communication between users, push notification, and advertisement handling?
You need a backend to manage data storage, security, and business logic. One of the critical aspects of mobile app backend management is how and where to host it.
Ways To Single-out Mobile App Backend
Let’s discover the suitable answers -
Single Server Hosting
Single server mobile app backend hosting is the easiest setup for businesses that don’t expect to scale quickly. If the single server is set right, hosted by a reliable server and backed up regularly, this is a great and cost-effective approach to mobile app backend hosting. As reported by HostInspection, the only disadvantage of single server hosting is that if one server your app is relying on fails then you experience massive functionality failures that can cause inconvenience to users and potentially affect your business reputation.
There are hosting servers that provide you with easy ways to scale your server as the number of users increases. Examples are DigitalOcean and IBM SoftLayer. For such servers, it is important to ensure that the server instance has fast network connectivity, guaranteed resources, and good tools for load management.
Multi-region Hosting
For businesses that target customers across continents, the location of the mobile app backend influences the overall app experience. It affects network throughput and network latency between the client and the server. There are different other considerations to involve in regional regulations on data residence. For instance, businesses operating within the EU must host their app backend within the EU if there is any personal data on the app’s backend.
Choose a hosting solution that provides great latency across regions. Make sure to ping test any hosting provider from different locations to be sure of acceptable network performance before purchasing the solution.
Assets Hosting
Does your app rely on many downloadable assets such as pictures, videos, fonts, etc.?
Consider using a content delivery network (CDN).
A CDN is a group of servers distributed in different geographical areas and that work together to quickly deliver internet content. A CDN allows assets such as HTML pages, stylesheets, javascript files, videos, and images to be transferred quickly for internet content loading. Most mobile app backend hosting providers have a simple option (as simple as a single-click) to facilitate the sharing of files directly into a CDN.
MBaaS
MBaaS is one of the easiest options for hosting your mobile app’s backend. It allows app developers to quickly build solutions that take advantage of the latest features on mobile devices.
MBaaS providers utilize the as-a-service model where you consume the service as the provider to manage your back end. The benefits of MBaaS include:
- MBaaS ensures that your app works seamlessly across the wide variety of user mobile platforms and devices.
- You don’t have to work on your backend from the ground up.
- MBaaS can take over your user management.
- The service does all the heavy-lifting involved in storing persistent data.
- MBaaS codes push notification services so you don’t have to do it.
- It takes care of the entire API management. There’s is no need for you to code integrations, which saves your programmers a lot of time.
- If you are a start-up, with an MBaaS you don’t need to create dedicated software for the business’ mobile app.
If you choose the MBaaS option, you need to adhere to the following checklist:
- Is the MBaaS easy to use? For instance, how easy is it to manage backend data? The MBaaS provider should provide the appropriate processes, methods, and tools for data management.
- Does the provider store server-side code, databases, files, etc. securely?
- Does the service provider use a well-tested architecture for transaction processing capabilities as well as for database management?
- Does the provider offer APIs to connect your business app to the cloud services you need?
- Is communication between users and servers secured?
- The provider should provide excellent technical support and should be easy to do business with.
Final Thoughts
Mobile app backend hosting providers vary significantly when it comes to their offerings. You can find great differences in the internal network latency of two leading cloud providers. If your business app is not expected to gain thousands of users in the immediate future, go with the MBaaS option or single server set up. MBaaS works perfectly when time-to-market is the top priority.
If you have queries regarding mobile apps, turning to MobileAppDaily will give you better and promising facts.
Sr. Content Strategist
Meet Manish Chandra Srivastava, the Strategic Content Architect & Marketing Guru who turns brands into legends. Armed with a Masters in Mass Communication (2015-17), Manish has dazzled giants like Collegedunia, Embibe, and Archies. His work is spotlighted on Hackernoon, Gamasutra, and Elearning Industry.
Beyond the writer’s block, Manish is often found distracted by movies, video games, AI, and other such nerdy stuff. But the point remains, If you need your brand to shine, Manish is who you need.
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