My friend and I are starting up a reselling company (Domains, and plenty of them, web sites, ect, like www.ehostpros.com ), we have $100-800 for funding (Depends on the quality and risk.), and don't have anyone to host us or much knowledge of this subject.

So I was wondering, what should we use? Dedicated? Shared? What?

WHO should we use?


All of those questions that normally get asked by the local newbies, can someone point me in the right direction?

Find something that fits your budget and requirements.

However, do not, under any circumstances, pick something solely because of its price. As these forums are great for pointing out, there is a lot of fraud and questionable business practices in the Web hosting industry.

So, you need to be very careful in your purchasing decision. Ask for references. Check them and then double check them. Delve into the history of whomever you place on your 'possible' list.

Smart and informed purchasing decisions will payoff handsomly in times of need.

I suggest you spend a lot of time reading these forums, you will learn a great deal more than can be answered in a single thread. If you are just starting out I would suggest a reseller account if you are looking to host those domains. For a single site go with shared. No need to spend excess cash if you won't use the features but again I am not familiar with all the details of your situation that is why I recommended reading the forums

Hi,

What is the $100-$800 funding earmarked for?

Do you plan to run the entire operation on that type of budget? or is that for the initial setup of the server?

Depending on the number of customers that you have you will probably want to start out with a good shared reseller account with a good established host. Do some research and choose carefully, without jumping on the first site that looks good or throws a sweet offer your way. In this business you honestly get what you pay for. You will want an uptime guarantee of some sort and quick support response. Don't forget that when your customers have problems they go to you and then in most cases you need to go to your reseller account provider.

By starting out with a shared hosting reseller account you can avoid the cost of running and managing a dedicated server, which takes both time and money.

With a good reseller account you should also avoid the cost of buying control panel licenses, which can add up on a dedicated server.

Good luck with your business!

Rob

I certainly agree with AutomateHost, A good rule in checking around is that if it sounds too good(cheap) to be true it probably is

Best way is to browse the forums and ask questions as you'll find a lot of people happy to provide advice

The $100-800 is just to start out, and I've been reading these forums for a month or so, I really just need to know who I should use now

It all depends on what exactly you need.

Will you be running a large, popular, website or a small, simple, website?

If you're running something mission-critical or large-scale in nature, you might want to invest in a dedicated server or even a co-location service. However, you will need to factor in the capital expense associated with purchasing (or leasing) a server.

If you're running a small website a shared, virtual web hosting provider should suit you well.

Hope this helps :)

We have some good information in this thread: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=88401

From what you have been saying (and correct me if I have misinterpreted) and from the site you used as an exaqmple it sounds as if the first step you should take is to get a reseller account

These can be obtained on average for about US$35 per month. this would allow you to start reselling and build your business. Down the track you will feel confident enough inthe future of your business to move up to a shared or dedicated box

The reseller account will allow you to effectively be your own host at a realistic price. you can then use the rest of your budget to promote your business and generate clients

I want to start out some-what small, making a decent profit, saving it up and moving bigger...

I'd LIKE to have somewhere around 40gigs of space and 500+ gigs of bandwidth, somewhere around that area.


Edit: Anyone know a good dedicated (or semi-dedicated) managed server with those type of specs?

If you're looking for those figures then you're talking half a server's storage space and about an entire server's bandwidth so it's not exactly starting small lol

Reseller plans are usually along the lines of
1GB storage 15GB transfer
2GB storage 40GB transfer or figures around those areas

If you're after someone to give you a quote then you should post in the appropriate forum as this is not the right place for it

Those plans are too small, and what forum would that be?

If you are going into the hosting business - someone else should not be making your plans - you should be doing that. The business is not easy - and running it from the inside is the only way to go -

Post in the Web Hosting Requests forum if you'd like some offers.

Originally posted by dherman76
If you are going into the hosting business - someone else should not be making your plans - you should be doing that. The business is not easy - and running it from the inside is the only way to go -

When did I say someone else is gonna make my plans? I'm not lazy thank you very much :D

what you need to do (and probably have already) is work out how much space and BW you need for current clients then find a provider who will allow you to upgrade your plans as you grow which is the secret to growing a successful hosting business without tying up too much dollars at the start

<COMPLETELY-OFFTOPIC>

Originally posted by dherman76
......

IncubateIt.org - Incubate It! free business consulting online for ANY form of business



Scanning quickly through this thread I ran across your post and sig. For some reason I read it: LubricateIt.org, not IncubateIt.org...

I did a double take and thought - what the hell is that doing on WHT?

Then, I scrolled back up and read it again. Oh...... :-)

Take care,

Brian

</COMPLETELY-OFFTOPIC>

Can I ask your age? Not to be rude, but starting a "BUSINESS" for $100 - $800 is not typical - but I have seen stranger. It just doesn't give you any cushion, no marketing, no room to make tons of mistakes like we all have.

You may want to experiment with some good CHEAP resellers - I think I saw one in the advertisement area for less than $10/mo!

I just don't want you to deplete the whole nest egg at once...
GL

This makes sense to start smaller and grow (unless you have a few hundred clients ready to jump in with you) otherwise you are shelling out for space you don't need.

the secret is to grow at your actual pace not at the pace you hope to

Originally posted by bteeter
<COMPLETELY-OFFTOPIC>




Scanning quickly through this thread I ran across your post and sig. For some reason I read it: LubricateIt.org, not IncubateIt.org...

I did a double take and thought - what the hell is that doing on WHT?

Then, I scrolled back up and read it again. Oh...... :-)

Take care,

Brian

</COMPLETELY-OFFTOPIC>

hehehe

WWW.EHOSTPROS.COM
If you guys did that site yourself, it is very well designed. It doesn't look like a template to me.

Excellent work, I would concentrate on design work - if you made that site - it really is very nice.

I think they say they want to run a business LIKE ehostpros

Originally posted by Lejendz
My friend and I are starting up a reselling company (Domains, and plenty of them, web sites, ect, like www.ehostpros.com ), we have $100-800 for funding (Depends on the quality and risk.), and don't have anyone to host us or much knowledge of this subject.

So I was wondering, what should we use? Dedicated? Shared? What?

WHO should we use?


All of those questions that normally get asked by the local newbies, can someone point me in the right direction?

Yeah- they said LIKE EHOSTPROS...

Originally posted by Lejendz
Those plans are too small, and what forum would that be?

Why would you think those plans are too small? With 1G of space, you could put a couple/few dozen sites on there before you needed to move up, and then all it usually takes is to ask. Why pay for the space now when you don't need it?

If you want someone reliable for a reseller acount, I would suggest someone like http://splashhost.com or who comes up along side him (Alan) when you do a search.
If you decide to go with a dedicated server, better get a managed one. http://rackforce.com is a good place to go if you need someone who will be there when you have problems.

Heck I started with 1GB of space and got 300 sites on it !

Originally posted by Albator
Heck I started with 1GB of space and got 300 sites on it !

I hope to have higher plans, like 500mb and 15gigs of bandwidth, the people I want to host = gaming sites, somewhat-big sites, sites that have about 1,000-8,000 hits a month.


Can I ask your age? Not to be rude, but starting a "BUSINESS" for $100 - $800 is not typical - but I have seen stranger. It just doesn't give you any cushion, no marketing, no room to make tons of mistakes like we all have.

I'm 23, and I don't really mean a BUSINESS, but more-like a small money-flow, something to do in the 12 hours a day I have spare, ect. And I already have a few sites that can advertise for me, for free, a few newspapers I know of, tons of friends to spread the "word of mouth", ect.

Thanks for your concern though.

I'd be very careful aiming for sites like that as they are high trafic, high cost, high demands and in turn high maintenance