I am just starting to look at dedicated servers, and I noticed some providers charge a one time fee for more RAM while others charge on a monthly basis. To me, it seems a one time fee is appropriate. Is there a reason I am not aware of (other than making more money) why some providers charge per month?

It's all about the money. That's why you are starting to see hosts offering servers with only 256MB of memory. You will be forced to upgrade.

I wouldn't say all about the money....but some clients prefer one way, others prefer the other way. I'd been working on coming up with the best pricing structure for hardware upgrades actually, and yet to find the best way.

You will find that most clients are willing to pay the retail price plus 10% for a one time upgrade or pay an additional monthly fee for a set length of time. It's the concept of continuing to pay $20 - $40 extra per month after the host has recovered the cost of the memory that customers really hate.

Ask the provider if they'll do a one-time fee instead of a monthly fee - many providers offer one-time fees but don't advertise them. It makes sense to pay monthly if you're only going to have the server for a few months (or if you don't have enough cash upfront), but after a certain amount of time, it's not worth it anymore.

- Matt

Originally posted by Xenos
You will find that most clients are willing to pay the retail price plus 10% for a one time upgrade or pay an additional monthly fee for a set length of time. It's the concept of continuing to pay $20 - $40 extra per month after the host has recovered the cost of the memory that customers really hate. That's exactly where I stand. I would gladly pay my provider the cost of the memory plus a percentage as profit as a one time fee. I just don't want to keep paying monthly fees after the memory is paid for. I didn't know if there was a reason I did not know about.

Thanks for the advice, all.

I agree with one-time ONLY memory fee.

I also think that same (one-time only fee) should also apply to Hard Disk upgrades.

What do you think?

Regards,

Kumar

One time fees are great, now if the hardware that you paid for with a one time fee goes bad (if and when it happens), is the provider expected to pay for that or will you be willing to pay another one time fee for the replacement hard drive/memory?

Just a point of view from the providers side.

I know that Kingston & their lower end ValueRAM both come with lifetime warranties, not sure about other suppliers though.

- Matt

Originally posted by WebHozt
One time fees are great, now if the hardware that you paid for with a one time fee goes bad (if and when it happens), is the provider expected to pay for that or will you be willing to pay another one time fee for the replacement hard drive/memory?

Just a point of view from the providers side.

I would expect the provider to use hardware that is covered by a manufacturer's warranty. If it fails after the warranty period I doubt many customers would mind paying a fee to replace it.

I totally agree with 1-time setup fees, I know that my supplier offers setup fees for extra hardware, and thats the reason I went with them. I don't want to shell out monthly especially as I see myself as a longer-term customer (as long as the support & service is there). So I might as well pay as little money per month as possible :)