Northstar Computer Systems was founded in 1991 by Eric A. Smith (resume available here). Starting out as a custom developer of software for the PC, NCS began selling software and hardware as a reseller. In addition, NCS provided consulting services to users getting their first PCs and to some small businesses requiring custom solutions to business problems. While we do not focus on product sales any longer, the expertise of building systems carried over into our hosting business today.
Eric started writing technical books in 1996 and has since written, contributed, or edited 12 books covering topics such as Visual Basic, SQL Server, Active Server Pages, and ASP.NET. Unlike many authors who are simply rewriting the manuals, he is able to bring real-world expertise to help solve real-world business problems in these books. Eric also worked as a trainer for a number of years and taught the other companies how to do hosting and development.
With the explosive growth of the Internet starting in 1995, NCS seized the opportunity and started providing web hosting and design services in 1996. NCS provides even more services today and can offer a variety of programming platforms to host your sites. We have also added Managed Web Hosting for those clients who just don't have the time or expertise to maintain high-quality web sites.
Northstar current operates its web hosting from an enterprise-grade data center operated in Indianapolis, Indiana. We've grown from a single server into a highly-reliable set of machines following industry best practices for security and reliability. All servers are custom-built using the best SuperMicro chassis, Intel processors, and other enterprise-grade components.
Through all these changes, the one thing that hasn't changed is our respect, appreciation, and responsiveness to our customers. In many cases, the bigger companies get, the worse the service becomes. While we may never be the biggest specialty ISP or product reseller, we will ensure that our customers are ecstatic about our products and services and will refuse to go anywhere else.