Hi,

We are thinking of offering Dedicated servers too. Our signups have slowed down a little bit and was wondering if offering dedicated servers would help bring in the income.

Thinking of offering Fully managed dedicated, offering top of the line -- probably will get supermicro server with SCSI drives in raid 1(maybe even hotswap drive) with offisite backups daily at bqinternet /using r1 software. 4 GB RAM to start with. WIll have the server located at colo4dallas

What would the possibility be of the server being rented out fast enough if advertised on WHT at really competitive rates?

Appreciate the feedback

TIA

We have found that the dedicated server market is a very good one, as long as you have the staff and facilities to back your product. Colo4Dallas is well regarded on these forums, so that's a good start!

One item we have seen that's particular to the dedicated market as opposed to others is the prevalence of fraud. You will want to have safeguards in place to combat fraud. At your volume, a phone validation following the order would suffice.

It is agood idea to move one level up be do some test and you need to be prepared to serve business class customers.

It is a good thing to offer but just make sure you the money to invest in this kind of business. You will also spend more time with the customers in case they ever have any problems and you will have to help setup with the servers since it's not automated like shared and reseller accounts.

1) - If you have staff who can handle/manage a server then you surely can add it to your business.

2 - You want to offer managed server so make sure you are well equipped cause clients will kill you with small small requests. They will expect super fast support as well.

Make sure you are ready and prepared to offer managed dedicated servers and then go for it. Good luck...

Thanks everyone for your opinion.

Anyone else fell free to comment also on

"----- What would the possibility be of the server being rented out fast enough if advertised on WHT at really competitive rates?--- "

Thanks

I don't see any reason why not if your offering the managed servers in quality data centers at competitive prices. good luck

You've received some good advice above, but I'll throw in a little tip of my own as well: Before you start taking orders for dedicated servers, ensure that you have a fool-proof method to detect fraudalent orders. There's nothing worse than receiving chargebacks on several months of hosting fees for a resold dedicated server. The datacenter you bought the server from will not refund you so you'll be out for hundreds; effectively elimanating your margin from dozens of other resold dedicated server sales.

I am presently subscribing to maxmind premium and only allow orders after i manually check everything.

anything else that comes to mind please let me know
Thanks very much

Use MaxMind call verification too.

Its dead cheap and saves you hundreds!

Use MaxMind call verification too.

Its dead cheap and saves you hundreds!

The call verification is only US based is it not (thats where i am located anyways)

But if the customer is non-US based -- then ?

I will ck out maxmind today -.

Does anyone know how reliable maxmind is for placing non-us verification calls ?

thanks

Dedicated servers, especially managed dedicated, are an excellent business...but I wouldn't necessarily recommend advertising on WHT. The prices for "FULLY MANAGED!!!111" servers here on the forums make me shudder. I strongly recommend you don't go under $450-500/month. Network locally and go to tech meetups to find customers...don't expect to find the really good ones here.

Network locally and go to tech meetups to find customers...

can u expand more on "----Network locally and go to tech meetups to find customers..."

tech meetups -- how do i find these?
i am presently in NY city

thanks

Offering dedicated servers is good if you have long term customers. Be ware of short term customers as they used dedicated servers short periods of time and mostly for illegal activities.
There is a very fast turn around. You will have to have contact traffic on your website and new customers to keep your servers sold.
But a few long term customers :-)

berlin56 --- what exactly did you mean by "---- contact traffic -- "?

I am presently in NY city -- what do you suggest that i do to get more clients for webhosting -- and also for dedicated servers? -- in terms of advertising in ny city.

I suppose i could give out flyers (near the subways :-))etc -- but that would not be effective.

Thanks

2 Questions that come to mind:

1)If i can have a customer sign a 3 month or 6 month minimum contract -- how can i make sure i can **Enforce it? -- what steps can i take to do that.

also i have seen one webhost offering dedicated asking customers to sign a 6 month contract and have them pay the first and last month --- what exactly does it mean first and last month? --

2)Ericabiz: i would really appreciate if you would elaborate on "tech meetups" - how and where do i search for these.



Thanks

Contracts are bad, especially for dedicated servers and is not something you should get into. Find a dedicated hosting provider that sells UNMANAGED dedicated servers such as softlayer or theplanet and then start selling their servers on your website with maybe a $20-$0 profit margin.

Additionally, add a value service such as unlimited support tickets which most unmanaged hosting providers don't provide.

At first your service will only appeal to your existing shared hosting clients offering them a route to upgrade to (therefore you don't lose an existing client because you don't offer what they need) and eventually you should start making some money with the dedicated servers where you will be applicable to signup for a reseller program. The rest is history.

However in all terms, stay away from contracts because you'll be in debt before you know it.

------- maybe a $20-$0 profit margin.

------where you will be applicable to signup for a reseller program. The rest is history.



The profit margin the figures -- can you please clarify. Also please can you tell me about "being applicable for a reseller program" ------ what exactly did you mean by that?

thanks very very much --- you are being very helpfuly -- appreciate your time

Regards

Profit margin being how much extra you charge your customer so you make a profit. Eventually you will have enough servers that you will be applicable for the reseller program at whichever dedicated server provide you find and they will give you a discount for your server so therefore your profit margin is a bit larger.

AnmolTech, walk before you run. If you offered ded servers, you'd probably have to resell someone else's servers, and that can work ok if you have a reasonable margain there. Also remember that you have to pay for those servers that you've resold, no matter if your clients pay you for them. I wouldn't head down this path unless you've built up a good chunky revenue base, where you can absorb the cost of the servers, if your clients are slow to pay for their servers.

I am already started in Dedicated market and really it is very good.

We started by selling large service contracts to local companies for their networks (ie, content filters, networks with domain controllers and offsite backups, etc) and used the income from that to purchase our own racks and own hardware. Might be something to look into.

We're having issues, being a newer company (Created on: 27-Mar-06 - Our "other" very similar domain before we could acquire our current one) getting national customers, but have a decent local customer base.

Being applicable for a reseller program sometimes means the reseller needs assurance of gaurenteed payment, or an idea you know what your doing. If a reseller is going to drop the price for you they need to know you are a lower risk client then someone who blindly opens an account.

Dedicated servers are definately the way to go, I love to go through the offers section and make notes as to how many people read the posts and reply, by far dedicated server and VPS have more activity here then anything else.


The profit margin the figures -- can you please clarify. Also please can you tell me about "being applicable for a reseller program" ------ what exactly did you mean by that?

thanks very very much --- you are being very helpfuly -- appreciate your time

Regards

All the comments including aussie bobs,jkca etc are very much valid.
Guess i just have to give it more thought and build a good client base/revenue -- before i attempt to take the risk.

Do keep the discussion going -- its very helpful getting all these insights regarding dedi servers

AnmolTech, walk before you run. If you offered ded servers, you'd probably have to resell someone else's servers, and that can work ok if you have a reasonable margain there. Also remember that you have to pay for those servers that you've resold, no matter if your clients pay you for them. I wouldn't head down this path unless you've built up a good chunky revenue base, where you can absorb the cost of the servers, if your clients are slow to pay for their servers.

How about i colo a couple of servers and offer a good service fully managed? -- rather than reselling someone elses servers -- where i am sure the profit margin will not be great. I know it will take a year to 18 months to recoup the investment before i even see any profits.
I have about $10,000 -- $17,000 to spare ---- and am debating ----

Check out upcoming.org to find local tech meetups. Also, get involved with some networking groups in your area. Upcoming or your local craigslist will have many meetups. Try to pick groups where you share common interests that would also have members who are interested in your services. Don't goal with only the interest of promoting your service... make sure you have something to offer others as well. Often, people will become your customers if you help them out and it turns out they need what you offer.

Become a well-known face in your local tech community.

-Erica

THANKS ericabiz -- for sharing the info. appreciate it.

Regards
vijay

just wondering if it would be viable to do the following:

How about i colo a couple of servers and offer a good service fully managed? -- rather than reselling someone elses servers -- where i am sure the profit margin will not be great. I know it will take a year to 18 months to recoup the investment before i even see any profits.

Regards

Your post interests me because I have a few dedicated servers and thinking about offering shared dedicated servers. How did you do in your venture regarding preventing fraud and managing your servers?
thanks