Web hosting

[bwhatley87]

So I've been hosting websites for years. Over the last year I've been using a shared reseller account so I could manage/bill. When I set thisup, I have been more interested in pushing the web hosting side of my business. I'm wondering, should I keep using shared reseller hosting or should I expect to need a dedicated server soon? Why? What is the most economical way to host sites. Also secure? If I have a dedicated server, do I have to do my own backups and such?

 

[Robert]

So I've been hosting websites for years. Over the last year I've been using a shared reseller account so I could manage/bill. When I set thisup, I have been more interested in pushing the web hosting side of my business. I'm wondering, should I keep using shared reseller hosting or should I expect to need a dedicated server soon? Why? What is the most economical way to host sites. Also secure? If I have a dedicated server, do I have to do my own backups and such?

If you don't yet have enough customers to justify a dedi, then there isn't much point going for one yet. Just like if you're doing 10 service jobs a week, you're not likely to rent a whole warehouse.

If you're using a standard control panel (such as cPanel), and have your own private name-servers for your client's domains, then migrating to a VPS/Dedi down the track will be relatively painless.

Irrespective of whether you are on a reseller, vps or dedi, you want to have some sort of backup system in place. Customers don't tend to appreciate data loss (Note - provider backups are *NOT* a substitute for your own backups)

 

[bwhatley87]

With whm how do I do a backup?

 

[DCGPX]

With cpanel I suppose you could setup autobackup and use that to store site backups, alternative maybe to download via FTP each site on a regular basis. I download mine weekly, takes about 30min for all of it . If I create a backup via cp then this download only about 5min.

All depends on how many sites and the size of data to what is the best solution


www.tornadopc.com

 

[ProTech Support]

Typically the way it works, the higher up the server chain you go (example from shared to dedicated), the more responsible you become for maintaining the server.

In regards to a dedicated and backups, for the most part you will be responsible. The vendor may have some sort of rotating backup for a couple of days, but they are not going to hold backups weeks on end, and most likely are going to charge you a restore fee.

In regards to hosting and what server you should be on, it really depends where you are trying to take this. Honestly, if you are going to be selling the hosting as a secondary service, I would stay on the reseller. The reason for that is because it is on a resellers, you really don't need to worry about troubleshooting and maintaining software. You can more or less hand that off to the vendor.

You will see on a dedicated the cost per gb is much lower, but you have to factor in the point that you need to manage that entire server, which is going to cost you time, which costs you money.

 

[bwhatley87]

What about on a managed dedicated? I guess my big thing IS the cost per GB. Customers are looking for lots of space and as a shared reseller I just can't compete. Currently reselling with site5 they're not expensive but not cheap and their support is well worth it.

 

[ProTech Support]

Heres the thing, 90% of the worlds dedicated hosting providers work like this:

1) They are responsible for hardware
2) You are responsible for software

Which means you are responsible for installing & troubleshooting control panels (like cpanel), billing systems (like whm), and other odd's and ends that your customers need on the server.

Not only that but currently you probably receive billing software and control panel software for free with your reseller server. Thats because the vendor has some deal worked out with the software vendor to absorb the cost. Usually when you switch to dedicated, that deal goes away and now you are also responsible for the software costs as well.

What I am saying is it is a big jump, do your homework and be ready. You are going to be dealing with a large increase in costs (bigger server bill, software bill,), more responsibilities, and more work overall. Crunch those numbers and make sure the move is going to be beneficial and profitable at this very point.

 

[bwhatley87]

So dedicated is definitely the way to go eventually if this is something I want to go full force into.

I'm not big on support contracts for businesses. While I'm capable of doing it, its not something I'm actively going after. That being said, I enjoy the web hosting and it provides a good income as I add more clients.

Whats a good reputable company for dedicated servers and vps? As I said earlier, I like site5 but their pricing is a little high I think.

 

[Robert]

So dedicated is definitely the way to go eventually if this is something I want to go full force into.

I'm not big on support contracts for businesses. While I'm capable of doing it, its not something I'm actively going after. That being said, I enjoy the web hosting and it provides a good income as I add more clients.

Whats a good reputable company for dedicated servers and vps? As I said earlier, I like site5 but their pricing is a little high I think.

Dedicated will typically be where you end up eventually. By this time, you've usually had enough time with a reseller and vps to get to grips with at least basic management, so it will be less daunting as time goes on.

There are 3rd party management companies that you could look into as well, like bobcares.

With whm how do I do a backup?

Using something like this: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1014898

 

[bwhatley87]

Do any of you actually use your own servers, or do you rely on leasing dedicated servers? Even though I'm in such a rural area, I'm right next to a data center, and I think I can get rack space from them very inexpensively. They have plenty of bandwidth, I would just need to provide a server (also wouldn't be a problem).

What kind of specs should I put into this server, and how many sites should I be able to host. (Based on Processor)

 

[Robert]

Do any of you actually use your own servers, or do you rely on leasing dedicated servers? Even though I'm in such a rural area, I'm right next to a data center, and I think I can get rack space from them very inexpensively. They have plenty of bandwidth, I would just need to provide a server (also wouldn't be a problem).

What kind of specs should I put into this server, and how many sites should I be able to host. (Based on Processor)

I don't own any servers myself, I have a couple of VPS', a few shared hosting accounts and a reseller or 2.

As for how many sites on a server... how long is a piece of string? You could fit 100,000 static sites with little-to-no visitors on an atom box, or you may need 1000 quad cpu servers to host a single popular site.

 

[bwhatley87]

Thanks for your help. I think I'm going to setup a server and try it out for several months and compare it to my remotely hosted servers. Will hear back from these guys tomorrow to tell me what backspace will cost me.