rajan82 — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 08:02:50 +0000

Dear Rajakvk:
Having a server is what you want to do then you need to start it at some point. ADSL or DSL may be not the ultimate solution to run a server anyhow it would be good to build your skills and then when you feel comfortable you can move into a big business. Wot I try to say is you need to start learning at some point.

Ubunto and the Suse are my fav linux distrubution when it comes to server. I’m not against Microsoft, nut I strongly will not advice you to go with windows.

To start with you need an FTP and and an HTTP servers running simultaneously so start with SFTP and APPACHE server programmes that comes with SUSE.

Give it a crack and there are so many online resource to help u mate.

FrankR — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 21:46:36 +0000

Hey Rajakvk:

The web hosting market is huge and fragmented. As for server operating software, the preference could be OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Linux, and then finally Windows. However, you can find lots of things about the technical details. You need to ask yourself if web hosting is a hobby or a business.

You say that you want to go commercial at some point after becoming comfortable administering a server. However, technical issues are the smallest of your problems. What is your marketing plan? What are the common characteristics of the people to whom you intend to sell your services? Do you have a business plan? Are you familiar with various laws that affect the provision of digital services within the United States and the European Union? You are going to need a business plan with some serious market research behind it.

In 1999, you could set up a reseller account and have 16 customers within the first four weeks. Web hosting was a booming market then. Now, the market place is much different and harder to get into. I suggest you focus first on learning everything you can about marketing, how to do market research, and how to develop a solid business plan. These skills will be undoubtedly useful both now and in the future.

Four short business books that are very useful for anyone doing business on the internet are:

"Permission Marketing" by Seth Godin
"The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" by Malcolm Gladwell
"Unleashing the Ideavirus" by Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell
"Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore

I hope this helps. I think it is really great that you are interested in starting your own hosting business. However, it would be wise to look into the business side first. You need to pick a target market segment and plan a compelling offering.

Best regards,
Frank

2mob.net — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 04:31:00 +0000

rajakvk;207170 wrote: thanks for your reply prOgr4mm3r.

Before going commercial, i want first I want to setup my PC as server & test it locally using internet. After i am comfortable with all technical issue, then move to a dedicated server at a data center.

To set up a server what are all the steps to be taken?
Is there any web resouce to help to setup by a server step by step?

- rajakvk

For hosting you need a dedicated server on the Internet backbone.

Linux or Windows?

Have you ever done any work on administration of either platform?

The first thing I would start is to learn about security of whatever platform you choose. Playing with server at home is ok, but the moment you put it out on
the Internet, it will be hit hard and fast. If it is not hardened, you'll lose control of it
very soon.

Second thing is you need to figure out what software you are going to put on it,
how you're going to provide access to your users, think about the whole setup
to minimize your involvement.

The last thing is marketing of it, hosting business is not easy. It is hard to compete
with FREE offers. So what do you offer that others don't?

QiSoftware — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:01:15 +0000

Yes, a reseller account is probably what you want to look into.

Q...

ablaye — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:41:27 +0000

rajakvk wrote: thanks for your reply prOgr4mm3r.

Before going commercial, i want first I want to setup my PC as server & test it locally using internet. After i am comfortable with all technical issue, then move to a dedicated server at a data center.

To set up a server what are all the steps to be taken?
Is there any web resouce to help to setup by a server step by step?

- rajakvk

I don't think that it would be serious business running a hosting service on your home PC. For one, you will be using your PC to perform other tasks and you can cause your PC to crash or freeze.

nbh1 — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:15:52 +0000

It really depends on the market you are try to appeal. If you are going to host Linux servers then there is going to be a lot to learn. There are control panels (cPanel for example) available which will help with most aspects of hosting until you run into technical issues which needs an administrators intervention. If you are looking to host on a windows server there are also control panels available. The most popular one is Helm. Keep in mind you will also need a billing system and the ability to accept real time payments. The best way to start off as mentioned is to get a reseller account and then as you build your client base move up to a dedicated server.

pr0gr4mm3r — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:56:36 +0000

When I decided to tinker with a web server, I built a computer out of spare parts, and followed the tutorial at http://www.howtoforge.net/perfect_setup_ubuntu_6.06 to get it up and running. I then signed up for free DNS hosting at editdns.net because I didn't want to have nameservers located at my office - couldn't figure out how to configure 'bind'.

I now have a fully working webserver @ pr0gr4mm3r.net. I use it for my backups and some DNS tools.

soundtank — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 05:38:08 +0000

No thank you to me? Was I harsh? Hehehehe, anyway if you really want to test it on your Home Pc, visit this link:
http://www.dslwebserver.com/ - It teaches you everything you want to know about setting up a web server on your Home Pc. It covers everything.

rajakvk — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 05:29:54 +0000

thanks for your reply prOgr4mm3r.

Before going commercial, i want first I want to setup my PC as server & test it locally using internet. After i am comfortable with all technical issue, then move to a dedicated server at a data center.

To set up a server what are all the steps to be taken?
Is there any web resouce to help to setup by a server step by step?

- rajakvk

soundtank — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 05:27:27 +0000

Are these specs your home PC? PIV, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD, WinXP(P) - looks like it. - If it is, don't host it on your Home PC man, web hosting is a data business.

If you decide to start a web hosting biz be sure you have ample knowledge on what you're doing, don't be a fly-by-night outfit. If your budget is minimal, try getting a reseller account first and when your customer base get's bigger, then go with a dedicated server.

Check out http://webhostingtalk.com - It's a forum where web hosts hang around.