Newcomer!
Hi there
This is my first post, Im sure a lot of the info is already here, but I have been doing web design for 3 yrs and using a hosting company to host all my sites and then losing these costs from the price I charge people for their sites. I would like to look into setting up my own server at home so I can start charging for hosting and not lose the income.
Can anyone point me towards an easy to use website that gives you step-by-step instructions and advise about starting your own server.
Thanks very much.
James posted this at 10:39 — 14th December 2005.
He has: 127 posts
Joined: Dec 2005
If you are going to be selling hosting - The last thing you want to do is run the business off a "server" from your own home. Think again.
mairving posted this at 03:27 — 15th December 2005.
They have: 2,256 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
Amen to that.
The reasons are quite simple.
Power - unless your system is hooked up to a backup generator, your power cuts off, all your sites are down.
Connection - a T1 line would really be the minimum connection. Pretty costly solution at about $400-600 month. Couldn't even consider one of the cheaper solutions like business class cable.
Hardware inventory - you need to stock a router and a spare, some hard drives, RAM, etc.
So say you invested all the money in the above, well you still wouldn't have near the pipes and the redundancy built into it as you would using a host.
Hosting progression is like this: host a site or 2, get a few more become a reseller, get a bunch get a dedicater or colo server. Those give you the advantage of always on power, big pipes to the Internet, usually a good supply of parts and also some expertise. If you get enough sites then you might want to setup your own NOC but that would be a long way down the road and still is hard to be cost efficient.
With hosting you have to have a lot of customers to make any kind of money. To me a better business model is to have only a few customers but charge them a maintenance fee which includes hosting, site maintenance, backup, etc. I once charged a guy $150 a month for hosting, maintenance and his hosting plan cost me $6. He was a pain in the butt and wasn't worth that even.
Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states
DC_Sara posted this at 22:27 — 14th December 2005.
She has: 392 posts
Joined: Jan 2002
Hi and welcome!
We resold hosting through an established webhost business. That was great, we set up the accounts and banked the profits. They did all the upkeep and upgrading as well as helped us along the way.
~*Sara*~
ChrisL posted this at 11:36 — 15th December 2005.
They have: 68 posts
Joined: Dec 2005
Thanks for all the advice wasnt sure where to start. Iv done about 20 sites and just purchased hosting individually each time and taken it off my fee for the site.
If reselling hosting through an established webhost business is the way forward for me can anyone suggest one which offers economy of prices and good support. Maybe you are not allowed advertising in the forums. If not feel free to pm me the details.
Thanks again.
mairving posted this at 12:51 — 15th December 2005.
They have: 2,256 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
Nearly every host has a reseller plan. I usually use Hostmatters unless I need a dedicated server. You can also check with JLHost who also posted in this thread.
Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states
Renegade posted this at 05:53 — 15th December 2005.
He has: 3,022 posts
Joined: Oct 2002
Hi ChrisL, welcome to the forums, why don't you stop by the introductions forum and introduce yourself?
I will agree with what everyone has said so far. The way I see it, hosting is a very competitive business and anyone can setup a server in their basement. But having said that, just because you can do it doesn't mean that you should.
IMHO, you'd be far better off getting a reseller account.
timjpriebe posted this at 15:04 — 15th December 2005.
He has: 2,667 posts
Joined: Dec 2004
I've also heard good things about Pair.com's reseller program. I've not used it myself, though.
DC_Sara posted this at 22:05 — 15th December 2005.
She has: 392 posts
Joined: Jan 2002
You can go to WHT and look for hosts that offer reselling.
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