Hey I've done webhosting in the past but it has always ended up in failure since I've been with some bad hosts or I've made some bad decisions but now after much planning and thinking I think I will be able to make it work. I've only done resellers in the past and now I am thinking of just getting a cheap dedicated. Should I just continue and use a reseller or just get the cheap dedicated? It's a Celeron D with 3.06ghz, 512mb memory, 800gb BW, and a 80gb HD. I've never used a dedicated before so I'm thinking of using this chance to also learn how to use one.

I prefer a good reseller account than cheap dedicated server likes that. Looking for someone offering services on clustering and having high recommendations, you will be happy.

You have to think about all the things you need for your dedicated server vs a reseller account, with a good reseller account the host has the servers managed with spam protections, brute force detections, DDOS monitoring, 24/7 staff monitoring, and so much more (that of course depending on the host you chose). Getting your own server seems easy, but later on you'll see how much more you need to keep that server up and secure.

But it is a good learning experience at the expense of quality services to your clients..

Hmm what about doing it this way? I would start off with a reseller and if the company is starting to do good I will purchase the cheap dedicated so that way I can still have some customers on the reseller, use the dedicated, and learn how to operate the dedicated properly. Once I have learned how to properly operate the dedicated I will have everyone transferred to it.

if you want to go that way, I would suggest a reseller account, then a managed vps. The cost might be the same with cheap dedicated server, but you will have someone behind to correct your mistakes. Managing a server is not a easy task, and you will need to spend time into it.

jwong, I would recommend you to start with a good reseller package. You are looking for CHEAP dedicated means your budget is not good enough to start with a dedi!

Your host will provide you with technical support thus you wont have to concentrate on that section while you can simply concentrate on getting sales for your company!

If you are talking cheap, then chances are you are better to stick with the reseller hosting at this point.

I would always start with a reseller.

Once that moves on i say VPS and then further onto a dedicated server.

Hey I've done webhosting in the past but it has always ended up in failure since I've been with some bad hosts or I've made some bad decisions but now after much planning and thinking I think I will be able to make it work. I've only done resellers in the past and now I am thinking of just getting a cheap dedicated. Should I just continue and use a reseller or just get the cheap dedicated? It's a Celeron D with 3.06ghz, 512mb memory, 800gb BW, and a 80gb HD. I've never used a dedicated before so I'm thinking of using this chance to also learn how to use one.

getting a dedicated server requires more works from your part, such as server security, maintenance, update...etc.. You will definitely learn more, but there is another risk if you are not familiar with torubleshooting the server, you might get unhappy clients if they run into problems that you can't fix.
If you are good with server management then that would be best to just go with dedicated; that would definitely gives you more privileges to change server settings and stuff for your clients.

getting a reseller would probably get more helps from your upstream; but other than that, i would vote for dedicated.

Hmm what about doing it this way? I would start off with a reseller and if the company is starting to do good I will purchase the cheap dedicated so that way I can still have some customers on the reseller, use the dedicated, and learn how to operate the dedicated properly. Once I have learned how to properly operate the dedicated I will have everyone transferred to it.

Not a bad plan, mate. If you are able to obtain shell access with your reseller account, then you can at least begin the learning process which will help you run a dedicated server later.

Happy New Year,
Rick

As others have suggested here, I also recommend to find a good reseller or a managed vps will also do. With fully managed vps, the techinical server aspects can be addressed to your host, and you have root access as well to learn things. I would not suggest vps below 512mb, especially if you run cpanel.

I'm thinking of getting DirectAdmin on my VPS. What would be a good amount of memory to run DirectAdmin on a VPS? Would 256mb be enough to run Directadmin and host some clients?

The good thing with a dedicated is the freedom. You can also offer VPS, which IMO, is a better market (seems to be for us). We were on old resellers, but the lack of freedom is frustrating.

Also, if you pay for a decent dedi like we did (not that celeron), yes, you might loose money in the first month (or break even, its possible), but you become a million times more motivated to get customers, I know we did.

Hey I've done webhosting in the past but it has always ended up in failure since I've been with some bad hosts or I've made some bad decisions but now after much planning and thinking I think I will be able to make it work. I've only done resellers in the past and now I am thinking of just getting a cheap dedicated. Should I just continue and use a reseller or just get the cheap dedicated? It's a Celeron D with 3.06ghz, 512mb memory, 800gb BW, and a 80gb HD. I've never used a dedicated before so I'm thinking of using this chance to also learn how to use one.

Dedicated is a good way to go. Lots of room for expanding, no other resource hogs on the server that you have no control over, etc. I think the flexibility of a dedicated server sells itself.

However, if you have just a couple sites that don't do much and you don't want to spend the money, the reseller is a good way to go. Reseller accounts can be dirt cheap, but then again, so can dedicated servers..

What does your operating budget allow you to spend initially? Sounds like not much, so my opinion is to go with a midrange priced reseller account from a reputable provider and work off of that. Sell some hosting, make a profit, and sleep at night knowing that the server you are on is still up.

A 'cheap dedicated server', when you don't know much about managing the server is going to result in far too much time spent on figuring things out, when you could be doing something much more productive like selling some hosting.

Start with a reseller for sure. You have the option of a cheap dedi, or a highly reliable reseller. Go for the reliable reseller and forget the headaches associated with server management until you are ready.. No reason to rush into a dedicated until you are ready..

I've seen many people jump the gun and go for a dedi or VPS only to realise it is not worth it and downgrade to a reseller. Yes you get freedom with a dedi, but with hosts offering so much features already, one really needs to think whether the extra freedom will even be of any advantage.

I have to say, when we started we jumped the gun and went for a VPS, but with no customers and not too much server admin skill, we quickly moved down to a reseller (innohosting as it happens). Now we've taken the full jump to dedicated, and those extra months of reseller access just help that little extra IMO.

And now we're up and running and it's going great, but we'd never had made it without that initial experience.