Let's tale a hypothetical case here so you guys can bring light to another one of my newb questions. I wasn't sure if
to put this in dedicated servers or reseller, so I just picked here.

Ok, say I've been running a reseller webhosting site for about 5-6 months now, and the reseller host has included
a free support ticket program, a free billing program, and maybe even some free discount rates on all their
hosting packages so I can make a better profit buy buying and reselling. It's a good host with reliable server uptime and
technical support.

Now, over these few months I've been updating my package for increased specs, (GB transfer, space, etc.) I'm spending up to around $80 per month now and I'll have to keep on adding, say $5 for each extra GB I want addedd to my account and additional add-on fee'sto suite my needs. I've realized there are dedicated servers for the same price I'm paying, with specs twice as good. So what do I do?

Is it a rather pain-free proccess to switch from your reseller account to a dedicated server ? (buying from a completely different company) What about the billing program and support ticket program and the free-of charge C-Panel
licenses? Would there be any dedicated server hosts with deal on these same programs, or would I have to start paying
an extra $30 a month for each of these programs, which once came free with my reseller account?

Thanks for any advice,:)

The Regulator

Looks like a VPS is what your after - www.powervps.com is one of the good VPS providers around. They actually have a special going on now where you can get 100GB of extra bandwidth every month as well as free RVSkin (and they include free ClientExec as a standard).

right now i suggest getting a dedicated box from servermatrix.com they will make sure cpanel and fantastico is installing correctly and you wont have trouble copying the accounts. You will need the users to change their name servers though. As for the ticket / billing software get ready to spend some money.......

I checked this VPS thing out a little, but I don't see the benefits. I can get a reseller account with the same specs for the same price. What I meant was a dedicated server with INCREASED specs. If VPS had some better specs, i'd consider it...

Hi TheRegulator - do you already have a reseller account? Typically speaking, you would be responsible for all these licensing fees once you got your own server.

However, some control panels dont require all these add-ons, so, if you havent started this process yet - maybe you should take a look at all the control panels and determine which one is a best fit for you and equates into the lowest total cost of ownership.

Originally posted by CartikaHosting
Hi TheRegulator - do you already have a reseller account? Typically speaking, you would be responsible for all these licensing fees once you got your own server.

However, some control panels dont require all these add-ons, so, if you havent started this process yet - maybe you should take a look at all the control panels and determine which one is a best fit for you and equates into the lowest total cost of ownership.

Ermm.... like H-Sphere? ;)

Originally posted by TheRegulator
I checked this VPS thing out a little, but I don't see the benefits. I can get a reseller account with the same specs for the same price. What I meant was a dedicated server with INCREASED specs. If VPS had some better specs, i'd consider it...
A fully managed dedicated server is going to cost you quite a bit. I suggest you don't jump into a dedicated server without at least intermediate server management knowledge. A VPS usually includes full management & troubleshooting. Forget about the "specs" as it seems to you the "specs" are merely disk space and bandwidth. You will soon learn that disk space and bandwidth mean NOTHING and really shouldn't be considered as "specs". Judge a server by CPU, RAM, and if it includes management. Don't judge a server by disk space, bandwidth, and price.

HTH

-GSV

Originally posted by elix
A fully managed dedicated server is going to cost you quite a bit. I suggest you don't jump into a dedicated server without at least intermediate server management knowledge. A VPS usually includes full management & troubleshooting. Forget about the "specs" as it seems to you the "specs" are merely disk space and bandwidth. You will soon learn that disk space and bandwidth mean NOTHING and really shouldn't be considered as "specs". Judge a server by CPU, RAM, and if it includes management. Don't judge a server by disk space, bandwidth, and price.

HTH

-GSV

100% agreed and seconded!

Originally posted by mripguru
Ermm.... like H-Sphere? ;)

LOL - I specifically didint mention a particular control panel - rather, I was trying to stimulate the TS into examining all their options :)

Hmm, this HSphere seems like a solution. It has Automated customer signup , Integrated customer billing solution , Integrated helpdesk solution, Integrated Registrar Services and more.

Oh, and I wouldn't dare do something as stupid as get a dedicated server with my level of experience. I believe in careful planning and learning/researching a lot before I start anything that could cause major ( or atleast not very minor) financial threats if done otherwise.

So, Hsphere has all these things. Can you guys name some of the more popular reseller accounts with Hsphere?

Yes, Elix, excuse me, I didn't really mean to judge a dedicated server just by its hard drive space. I understand that the proccessors and RAM, and RAID..etc. is important too but I was being a little focused on just the differences between the specs of reseller accounts, in where the specs of the proccessors and RAM mentioned since its not a dedicated server....and with those of the dedicated server.

Thanks again,

The Regulator

H-Sphere isn't cheap but, it is quite nice.

Check www.diyhosting.com

-GSV

I'd like to mention (in case I haven't already): CartikaHosting (www.cartikahosting.com).

H-Sphere isn't cheap?

Looks to me like all you do is pay for setup($99) if you want, and then every time you make a hosting account it costs you 4.99. Most plans are $10 and over anyways and it's a one-time fee.

Or am I missing something...lol. sorry.

Originally posted by MegaGeo
H-Sphere isn't cheap?

Looks to me like all you do is pay for setup($99) if you want, and then every time you make a hosting account it costs you 4.99. Most plans are $10 and over anyways and it's a one-time fee.

Or am I missing something...lol. sorry.

H-Sphere can be anywhere from $3.50 to $4.50/lic (one time) depending on your vendor/host. BTW, that's not per hosting account, thats per billing/support instance. You can make unlimited domains under that one account. You can sell multi-domain hosting that way without incurring such a penalty on the licenses.

Originally posted by MegaGeo
H-Sphere isn't cheap?

Looks to me like all you do is pay for setup($99) if you want, and then every time you make a hosting account it costs you 4.99. Most plans are $10 and over anyways and it's a one-time fee.

Or am I missing something...lol. sorry.
Sorry, I mean't most providers that offer H-Sphere aren't cheap ;)

:stickout: Heh, no, not very cheep indeed. I think I would stick to Fantastico, they got acceptable ticket support and billing scripts.

Originally posted by TheRegulator
Heh, no, not very cheep indeed. I think I might stick to Fantastico, they got acceptable ticket support and billing scripts.

UMMMM..... those are NOT integrated into the control panel and thus aren't guaranteed to work. That said, HSPHERE is a very stable platform that can allow you to utilize Windows and Linux in the same account.

Can cPanel/Fantastico do that? :confused:

Originally posted by TheRegulator
:stickout: Heh, no, not very cheep indeed. I think I would stick to Fantastico, they got acceptable ticket support and billing scripts.
......They also don't update their auto installer very often with new versions of scripts which causes instances of the scripts to be exploited.

-GSV

Is it a rather pain-free proccess to switch from your reseller account to a dedicated server ?In terms of moving the accounts, it can be a bit labor intensive and some issues might occur, but it's doable.

Often times the datacenter from which you get your server can help you cut some costs for some licenses you need (control panel usually).

You must remember though that besides licenses you would also need to get some type of backup system in place, the server management would be another cost (if you can't do it yourself) etc.

While often it may seem that the road is "reseller account ->dedicated", I would say that the better (more profitable and manageable) road is 1 reseller acount, 2 reseller accounts, 3 reseller accounts... -> (managed) dedicated server(s). Just my opinion... :)

Dammit you guys got me. Well I'll continue my search on Hsphere

Originally posted by elix
......They also don't update their auto installer very often with new versions of scripts which causes instances of the scripts to be exploited.

-GSV

They actually have regular release update cycles too.

:bkick:

Originally posted by elix
Sorry, I mean't most providers that offer H-Sphere aren't cheap ;)

There's a price associated with redundancy and full automation - however, as I have said many times before - the total cost of ownership of an h-sphere environment is significantly less then that of some of the other options.

......They also don't update their auto installer very often with new versions of scripts which causes instances of the scripts to be exploited.


H-Sphere has a solution called easy app - their answer to fantastico - however, we currently dont use either - as they both lead to vulnerabilities that simply arent worth the risk. There's almost no way to keep these autoinstallers updated with the latest and most secure versions of these scripts

Originally posted by TheRegulator
Dammit you guys got me. Well I'll continue my search on Hsphere

Might want to take a peek at www.psoft.net then.

oh, 4.50 per a support ticket. Damn that is expensive, especially if you get around a 100 a month if not more.

Originally posted by MegaGeo
oh, 4.50 per a support ticket. Damn that is expensive, especially if you get around a 100 a month if not more.

No.... support user instance. (1 client = 1 instance). Not per domain. Each client can have unlimited domains under it.

So it only charges you ONE time per a client? That's it?

No more for support tickets, or other things?

Originally posted by MegaGeo
So it only charges you ONE time per a client? That's it?

No more for support tickets, or other things?

H-Sphere charges a 1 time fee per license (account). However, most hsphere reseller providers include x number of licenses with each reseller account and make additional licenses available at a fee (either recurring or 1 time)

You will not be charged for the billing solution, helpdesk, etc - as these are included with hsphere.

Hope this helps...

Ah, that makes a lot more sense.

Thanks Cartika.

Originally posted by ldcdc

While often it may seem that the road is "reseller account ->dedicated", I would say that the better (more profitable and manageable) road is 1 reseller acount, 2 reseller accounts, 3 reseller accounts... -> (managed) dedicated server(s). Just my opinion... :) [/B]


Hmm, I'm curious onto why you say this Idcdc. I intially thouht, with my little knowledge of course, that it would be "reseller accounts>dedicated server. I'd agree with that, but then you suggest 1 reseller acount, 2 reseller accounts, 3 reseller accounts, etc...

Don't you also mean just upgrading reseller acount number 1 to better support your needs instead of getting reseller acount numbers 2,3,4, etc... then then dedicated servers? What's the upside of your suggestion and the downside of mine? :confused:

Thanks,

TheRegulator

Originally posted by CartikaHosting
H-Sphere has a solution called easy app - their answer to fantastico - however, we currently dont use either - as they both lead to vulnerabilities that simply arent worth the risk. There's almost no way to keep these autoinstallers updated with the latest and most secure versions of these scripts
EasyApp SDK is fine (allows you to build the packages yourself, as you know). The EasyApp collection that psoft distribute has been branded by one of my guys as "ill advised".

It didn't, and won't make it on to our cluster, as there clearly has been little or no research done before releasing it.

Simon

While often it may seem that the road is "reseller account ->dedicated", I would say that the better (more profitable and manageable) road is 1 reseller acount, 2 reseller accounts, 3 reseller accounts... -> (managed) dedicated server(s). Just my opinion...

I would say the only advantage to this formula is security - ie) not putting all your eggs in 1 basket - however, as far as managability goes - this scenario is a nightmare. The trick is (and isnt it always) to find the right provider - thereby achieving peace of mind :)

Andrew (CartikaHosting) is right, you can get reseller accounts from different providers just so that in case something happens with one of them, it doesn't affect your whole business.

My reasoning for getting more reseller accounts was that a reseller account can only be so big (depending on the host you choose to go with). The OP's initial question was putting a heavy weight on the total cost of having a dedicated server, and it was from that point of view that I wrote my post. The business has to be large enough to easily afford those costs, and IMO that would usually mean using more than a single reseller account (unless some other solution can be worked out with the reseller hosting provider, of course).

But that's just me and my way of seeing things. I put a lot of weight on reasonable margins and financial stability, and most likely would move to a dedicated when it would actually cut costs in some way. :)

I'd personally go for a dedicated server per each 3 reseller accounts. With the extra capital to work with you can purchase higher-end dedicated servers that come with 24x7 monitoring and full management :-). Full management is *best* way to go for a dedicated server if you're migrating from resellers.

-GSV