Hey,

I know I will probably get flamed for this and be told to get a reseller account but hear me out. In a few months I would like to start a webhosting business, mostly gameserver but I would offer webhosting with it. I have been planning for about 6 months now and learning anything I could but I feel as If I am getting nowhere. I am thinking about getting a cheap dedicated server for about 2 months to learn my way through it and start hosting some websites from friends of mine. You know, get the word out about my company.

I have gotten almost all of the information I need in terms of control panels, live support, and sites like 2CO. It will all come out to quite a price but I am willing to save my money so that I don't go bankrupt in my 2nd month of business. Any suggestions?

I suggest provisioning for enough money so that you will not go bankrupt in your 1 year of business. I don't think normal startup biz can break even in 2 mths time.

Why would you get flammed for this?

If you can afford it, you should start with no fear. but make sure you include nice marketing & that you set your plans, prices, business targets, and type of advertising. Doing this to avoid paying monthly fees while getting nothing.

Starting as a reseller is good for low-budgets, a person who is starting out in the hosting scene, but a reseller account won't give you all abilities and full control.

e.g. you can't offer reseller accounts. Some customers avoid companies listing only shared plans (thinking they are resellers.)

This is just a point of view. If you have the knowledge, and have set all plans completely, you should start then...but make sure you target a common business in your market area with competing prices.

I think, you may want to get a VPS instead of a cheap server. This way, you get quality as well as some first hand experience.

I agree with the VPS suggestoin.
And use the money you're saving every month for marketing, or for a nice billing system or something to that effect...
Though, you wont be able to do GameServers I guess...

Can someone give a short explanation on what VPS is all about?

[non-educated guess on how things work]
I'm not sure, but I would assume it is a resource allocated section of a server. In other words, of the server's 80GB disk space, 1000GB bandwidth, 2GB RAM, etc. (Depending on what you're buying) . They have programs that physically partition the drive, the RAM, and the bandwidth. So maybe you get a 40GB partition, 500GBs bandwidth, and 1GB RAM allocated to you (In Window's XP, as well as many Linux distros, there are ways to reserve certain sectors of RAM for a specific use, or program).
[/non-educated guess on how things work]

If you can afford it then it's fine. Start with a reseller account, read a few articles.

For recommendations, I would recommend that you use cPanel/WHM

I recommend a Managed VPS solution beacause the company or data center can deal with issues that you have with it and it will be cost effective with easy upgrades.
Some good VPS providers are:
PowerVPS.com - A division of DefenderHosting
ServInt.net/vps

I did hope I didn't get any suggestions to go with a reseller account -- he-he. Thank you for all your opinions so far guys. I guess I can got with a VPS for about a month or so? Then maybe go with a small dedicated server or a dual xeon from servermatrix :). Any other suggestions? I'm getting my website for $250 from an individual whos been my friend for about two years. A gaming control panel for a one time fee license for $200... and the server could be about $250... Quite alot of money for my current job and hours I work currently. I will probably get a friend of mine help me with the business while I'm busy.

try fdcservers.net dedicated. the company ssupport is very reliable and you can find a lot of support from other subscribers as well in their forum. good choice i might say.

I'm checking out fdcservers.net and I have a question: The unmetered bandwidth thing... how does that work? I don't trust these things very much...

Originally posted by Deval
I'm checking out fdcservers.net and I have a question: The unmetered bandwidth thing... how does that work? I don't trust these things very much...
Instead of giving a fixed number like XXXGB with burstable speed FDC offers shared unmetered bandwidth on a 100MBPS, you can probably burst around 10-15MBPS which is around 3-4TBs of bandwidth. Their support is not excellent but it's good enough for thier price. I recommend for file hosting but probably not for production servers.

So when someone says unmetered, it doesn't mean they don't care, but only that you can use as much as the connection can handle... right?

Originally posted by Deval
I'm checking out fdcservers.net and I have a question: The unmetered bandwidth thing... how does that work? I don't trust these things very much...

If you're after unmetered servers, look elsewhere.

Look to www.servermatrix.com, www.ev1servers.net, or www.layeredtech.com (not sure if they still offer unmetered boxes.. might be worth it to ask). :)

Now as for getting a server to learn, get a VPS that you can have reloaded as many times as you want to and learn away.

Take a look at www.jvds.com or www.vpscolo.com (same company). Rus offers some good pricing and quality services. :)

Originally posted by axe9
So when someone says unmetered, it doesn't mean they don't care, but only that you can use as much as the connection can handle... right?
Correct, this is usually a data centers interpretation of unmetered. Technically, this is exactly how most co-location offers are as well.

Ah, kool :)
Though, unlimited isn't correct.
So, if they say unlimited, they mean "use until we think you've used too much"... or something.

I should just got with a VPS for a little while since it's almost the same thing as a normal dedicated server but with less capacity right?