Overview:
Mia.Net or Maria's Internet Access is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) offering a host of services. We provide dial-up Internet access to our community and Macintosh Server Colocation to the world. We also boast a full service graphic design shop and Internet consulting services.
Services:
Our web site provides information on everything from basic dial-up to web hosting. We also have a number of special and value added services featuring dedicated connections, virtual domains, multiple email boxes, web site design, and more. We also maintain an online support page with graphical documentation about everything from setting up Internet applications to creating your own homepage. we also currently host several client servers with information services, database services and mailing lists.
Hardware:	Third Party Hardware:
Apple Workgroup Server 8550/200 (2) Apple Workgroup Sever 8150/110 (3) Apple Power Macintosh 7300/180 Apple Power Macintosh 7300/200 (3) Apple Performa 638CD Apple Performa 630CD Apple Macintosh Plus 16mhz/4meg (2) Apple PowerBook 1400/133 Apple Stylewriter 1500 Apple ImageWriter Apple Vision 1710 Display Apple MultiScan Display	Microtek Scanner Hewlett Packard Deskwriter Epson Stylus Printer RCA and Hitachi CamCorders Iomega Zip Drive (3) Iomega Jaz Drive Premio Pentium 120 PC APC Battery Backups Livingston Portmaster PM2e's and PM3's. Adtran CSU/DSU USRobotics Sportster Modems Asante' Ethernet Hubs
Software:
Eudora Internet Mail Server v2.0 Rumpus Pro WebSTAR Quick DNS MacRADIUS Timbuktu Pro Clearly Home Claris e-Mailer Claris HomePage Eudora Lite MapServe CGI Several 3rd Party CGI's Keep It Up AutoBoot	Networking: Ethernet 10baseT Apple Share Local Talk C-T1 Stats: Connection Speed: T-1, 33.6, and 56kFlex.
What's Unique:
We are Macintosh Only. We are the only 110% All Mac ISP in our State. To be more specific when a user dials into they are Authenticated by the Mac, thanks to MacRADIUS, their mail is delivered by the Mac, web content is served by the Mac, DNS is also Mac, and FTP is via Macintosh. We do have a PC here but we only use it for software development and customer support. Our rural location is also unique. We operate out of our home in a small town in Southeastern Wisconsin.
Challenges:
Listening to everyone tell you that the Mac cannot do the job. The biggest challenge was RADIUS Authentication. We were told that RADIUS or Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service was only possible with UNIX or LINUX. Bull, was my answer to that comment. I had a Trump card. I new of MacRADIUS authentication for the Mac. It has worked flawlessly, and surprised a lot of people including myself. The next hurdle was even worse. Dealing with a phone company is hard enough as a regular customer with one phone. Call your phone company and ask for 100 lines and a T-1 to boot and you've got a Grade "A" headache. Months of planning and thousands of dollars hung in the balance as we played poker with the big boys, this time there was no Trump card. We just bit the bullet and got it done.
Goals:
While our initial goals were small, they were subsequently reachable. We are continually setting new goals. We want to keep on top of technology and our market, so every now and then we step back a take a moment to review what we have accomplished. Then we keep forging ahead.
What does your web site achieve that you couldn't achieve with any other medium?
True global advertising and marketing. Having our business on the web has generated responses from all over the world. You just can't buy advertising like that. We do a lot of local advertising in newspapers and trade publications, but our audience is limited and the price is overwhelming. The Internet has given us a new form of advertising that is not only cheap but exhibits a global presence.
Advice to a new webmaster:
110% of everything you've got is what it takes, and it doesn't stop there. Set reasonable goals, so that you may reach them. I can't stress enough the importance of creating a site that is both creative and informative. It should also load in a relatively short amount of time. As an artist, I go under the premise that "less is more."
Hits per month
Our companies main site gets about 895,000 hits a month. It has more than tripled in hits since we added such sites as the "MacPlus Info Center" and "McCoy Pottery Online," both of which get hits around 60,000 to 500,000 hits a month.
Pages
Mia.Net serves more than 1200 pages of information on its main web server not including the client sites we host.
Graphics
We have approximately 400 graphics not including client sites.
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Last updated 12/29/97 Web Page Design by: Kingbloom Design and Bella Mia, Inc. Copyright 1997-2011