Hi,

I've been looking into being a host, but I'm now thinking about being a reseller as well. I'm a bit more clueless in this area though about how things work.

Where does one get their servers and bandwidth from? Also, if one lives in Australia but gets a server over in the US where bandwidth is cheaper, how does one setup and maintain that server? Do they have to be there in person or can it be done remotely, or is there usually help support at the other end that takes care of any problems and things setup on it? For example if I wanted to setup cpanel or later versions of php or whatever, can this all be done remotely by me, or am I dependant on some guy at the other end?

Also. Does anyone have suggestions on who are good to go with?

All the best,
- Kurieuo.

Instead of going ahead and answering those questions, I am going to suggest you start out as being a reseller. From what it looks like, you may not be ready for a dedicated/managed server. They cost a lot if you are a starter on a small budget and aren't the easiest to maintain. Reseller plans seem perfect from you. Just to give you a short explanation, a reseller plan is a plan purchased from an established hosting company which gives you the ability to create domain names/hosting accounts and sell web space/bandwith. As a reseller, it is hard to loose a great deal of money as most starter reseller plans are below $40-50 USD.

Good luck in the future. :D

Kurieuo

I have to agree with smidwap, you shoud start as a reseller and learn the ropes for a while. Maybe get a small reseller account and start off learning about Cpanel and Web Host Manager. Host a couple of friends sites etc then branch out.

To answer most of your questions yes almost 99% of Sys Admin can be done remotely, the data center where your server is housed will normally take care of hardware failures. This is normally how a unmanaged server works.

You can also get a fully managed server where the data center does it all but you are looking at $400.00 US a month and up for a decent solution. And that still leaves you to answer your customers questions, so you will have to know a bit about it anyway.

Thanks for the tips - and so quick.

You guys are right about it being a bit much to plunge into the deep end so quickly. Really, I was more interested in how it all worked more than taking it up straight away. Because when things do start progressing pretty well (if I get to that stage) I'd like to go a step beyond and be a ?reseller-seller? :eek:.

One thing I'm wondering now though is... how exactly would one go about transferring accounts to their own servers when they became a reseller-seller?

Best regards,
- Kurieuo.

If you use the same control panel say cpanel for both servers then the transfer is not that bad.
Or you can use the tar command in a SSH session and wget the files from one server to another.

I would have to agree with smidwap and Monte, start off as with a reseller package and move up from there.

It is the way we started.

You can learn a lot along the way and once your comfortable you can step up to your own dedicated servers.

Good Luck.

Yes :D get started with a reseller account - when you're making double what a dedicated server costs, get yourself your own server. Then when you get some more growth, get another server and place your site + helpdesk etc on that server and keep your clients on the other server. Then just keep adding servers as your client base expands. :)

Hello,

I'd personally recommand you to start with being a reseller. There's a very nice article about how to bulid your web hosting brand and company. Very usefull for everyone and I can share it with all you my friends...

Here's the link:

http://www.thewhir.com/reseller/articles/byobrand.cfm

It's really helpful, I hope with this article you'll find your path.

If you want to become a reseller-seller right away, you might look into some affiliate program or some sort of partnership to market those plans and then you can test the waters.

If indeed you decide to purchase a reseller package (from any desired host), you'd be able to take care of all server issues remotely, and in most cases.. the host will assist you with this. I also suggest reading the faq over thereroughly before plunging into a dedicated server. Rackshack.com has great deals, but alot of dicking around comes with the package. You have to have a good deal of server administration and installation knowlodge before purchasing a dedicated server.

Rackshack.net are the guys/gals that sell the servers ;)

Originally posted by StoaVio
Rackshack.com has great deals, but alot of dicking around comes with the package.

I just noticed this thread back up a little on the list of threads. I can't believe it's only been 10 days since I asked this questions. I did decide to just resell and am also taking it on a more professional level. It'll be good not having to look for jobs anymore, and looks as though if done right it will generate a nice sum of money. :D

Let me recap on what I've done since my post. I've researched resellers, compared prices and have decided on a place I trust a lot and they offer great deals. I've also researched reselling domain names, have already registered and am already a reseller. So I've got those two things lined up for when I launch my site. I've also researched domain reselling for the .au 2ld of my country and am still deciding which way to go.

I had to think up a business name that wasn't taken (this was the most frustrating part so far and I'm still dreaming about names :stickout), register it in my country and snag the domain name. Now more recently the payment systems have taken my attention and I've finally decided to settle on one which I won't say as I know that some people here don't like them (that should be hint enough :stickout). Oh and not to forget the certificates which seem to raise a few tensions amongst certain people here... hehe... but I've decided on one although I won't say which one so there's no haha-ing the other person. :)

Still got a bit to go, but I'm amazed it's only been 10 days since I posted that message where I sound as though I don't have much clue at all. These forums have been fantastic and have saved me so much of my own time.

Anyway, cheers all.
- Kurieuo.

id suggest getting a $99 dedicated server and trying going straight with hosting if your experienced with linux or whatever your using.. it wont hurt.. if you dont have the money to take chances with then do resller and eventually move your customers to a dedicated server

I don't have too much money and there's the added hassle of the other things one has to take care of such as licenses for things like cpanel and so on (although I know some places offer such things with their server deals). I still feel more at ease going with reseller packages, then migrating across to dedicated servers later on.

Best regards,
- Kurieuo.

Kurieuo

Make sure you take care of all the business side of things e.g getting your ACN and ABN so you can invoice your local customers and be a proper business.

Remeber to also setup some sort of invoicing system so you can track and invoice people as needed being online and or a simple Access DB or even MYOB accouting as backup.

Write your self a good business plan and missions statement of were you would like to be in a few years and be realistic about it ( Lets face it, many start up hosts are not )

Make sure you got all your customer service links in place, knowing how you will support your customers e.g email, live support and or phone. If using phone get yourself a 1300 number.

Think about advetising in your local market - I hope your not in Sydney :)

When building your pricing make sure they are realistic and not to cheap.

Get ready for many hours infront of your computer until you can afford support staff.

Good luck and i hope to see you do well...

Kind regards

Phillip

As another newbie, I also would like to ask a couple of questions.

1. Right now, I run 5 websites, total cost for those being about $65 a month. If I were to get a reseller account, would I be able to host my sites on there as well? How would that work? Do I resell to myself and have to pay myself to run the sites?

2. Most of the reseller accounts that I've seen in my research so far have been for about 3Gigs of space. How is that enough to host more than a few people? That's only 6 people with 500megs a piece. Am I not understanding this correctly? I understand that not everyone will want a package with 500MB, but it just seems like that space will run out pretty quickly.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Ryan

Originally posted by Kurieuo
Hi,

I've been looking into being a host, but I'm now thinking about being a reseller as well. I'm a bit more clueless in this area though about how things work.

Where does one get their servers and bandwidth from? Also, if one lives in Australia but gets a server over in the US where bandwidth is cheaper, how does one setup and maintain that server? Do they have to be there in person or can it be done remotely, or is there usually help support at the other end that takes care of any problems and things setup on it? For example if I wanted to setup cpanel or later versions of php or whatever, can this all be done remotely by me, or am I dependant on some guy at the other end?

Also. Does anyone have suggestions on who are good to go with?

All the best,
- Kurieuo.

Hello,

I can recommand you to read the following article very carefully :

http://www.thewhir.com/reseller/articles/byobrand.cfm

I hope it helps you. Have a wonderful day :-)