Greetings

We've been tossing and turning on reseller services for about 3 months. The first box is ready, and the numbers are already keen to populate it. But one thing sticks in my mind...

"unlimited domains"

I can't get beyond this. Isn't it asking for trouble? Somehow I equate it to "unlimited data transfer" because it just doesn't seem feasible.

If one client comes along looking for a low cost solution, and puts their own design client sites online...say 20 of them, then that's good. But what about the reseller that wants to build a fully blown hosting outfit there, and bomb the same space up with 200 or more (I mean...hey, they've got a few gig of space, right?). And you factor in 10 resellers per box. And 20 or so of those resellers' sites proves to be very resource intensive?

We've seen some results of what can happen...certain scripts get banned that might have otherwise been okay on a better managed server. Extreme sites get shuffled and moved around between servers to even out some load.

Can someone convince me or otherwise, of the feasibility of "unlimited domains" as opposed to the "multiple domain" scenario...a specific amount of resellers with *up to* a specific amount of domains.

Cheers

Gary

Hi Gary,

I'm not clear on your dilemma.

Surely if you set your resource limits per Reseller properly [HD, b/w, CPU, allowed apps etc], then you're OK?

As far as I can see, it should be much easier to balance load between 1,000 sites than between 10.
We've seen some results of what can happen...certain scripts get banned that might have otherwise been okay on a better managed server. Extreme sites get shuffled and moved around between servers to even out some load
If a site chews up resources, is it relevant that there are 9 or 90 other sites on the same server? Presumably you're going to shuffle the hog somewhere, so the others don't really impact the issue.

To my completely inexperienced eye, it looks like load management would be much easier when based on resource usage rather than number of users.

I guess our main concern is ensuring the stability of x amount of sites, when that "x" is beyond our direct control by putting forward an "unlimited" domains offer.

Time will tell.

Cheers

Gary

As long as unlimited means...You can fit as many domains as you like in the space provided...you have no issues....!

Simon

I do have an issue...with if it's the best way to go. :-)

Gary

We had a discussion like this a few months ago, when Alan from SplashHost brought it up.

Personally, I believe there is nothing wrong with unlimited domains - why limit the number of domains you can use with your webspace?

Your question is not as relative to unlimited bandwidth as it would seem though. With unlimited domains you have a fixed amount of space to fill up. If its a GIG and you're selling 10 MB sites then there are a lot of domains but if you're selling 100 MB its going to be considerably less.

We get this question a lot and we describe that you have a given amount of space and you can put an unlimited amount of domains on your alloted space. If you run out of space then, yes you can't add anymore.

I would stay away from a host that would offer say, unlimited space. That could be scary.

Originally posted by Everyday


We get this question a lot and we describe that you have a given amount of space and you can put an unlimited amount of domains on your alloted space. If you run out of space then, yes you can't add anymore.



That was what I was trying to say :) I managed to beat around the bush without hitting the nail on the head.

Very well put Matt,

Regards
Matt

Originally posted by voxtreme-matt
I managed to beat around the bush without hitting the nail on the head.

That's like being sunk right off the bat. :D

The way Matt K. describes it is exactly how I do it and so far have not run into any major issues.

Originally posted by Everyday
With unlimited domains you have a fixed amount of space to fill up.

There are some overheads with the number of domains on a server though. However small, it would add up. We wouldn't put 2000 domains on a single server...so surely it's asking for trouble to give 20 resellers a few gig each and tell them to go for it?

Cheers

Gary

We need a word for "you can use as much untill your space/bw fills up.

Thats true Editor but at the same time you can fit a whole lot more 1 ro 2 MB static business card type sites then you can larger sites using mysql, flash and similar resource hogging apps. Most resellers (at least for us anyway) are selling 25 to 100 MB sites so we never really come across a problem.

Thanks Matt. We're getting various bits of feedback here and in another forum where I raised the question. There seems to be a "she'll be right, mate" opinion on it, which we're trying to look beyond...to ensure that it will in fact be alright.

We've never oversold, and it concerns me that telling 20 resellers on a box that they can have "unlimited" domains is asking for trouble.

Cheers

Gary

Well its really relative. Depending on the host. If a host says to themselves I have this much space so I can put this many sites on that server, reagardless of the processor usage, bandwidth, etc... then there could be a problem.

If you do it like us and look at a servers resources on a monitored basis there is no set amount of customers or sites that we put on one server. When the server is at capacity, resource wise then we stop putting new accounts it.

The only exception is if one shared customer is using up all of the server resources. We tell them whats going on and either move them to a VPS or dedicated depending on their needs.

Thanks again. We've got some homework to do, but we'll get there. :-)

Cheers

Gary