I currently have a decent amount of stuff on Dreamhost but performance has, of course, suffered a bit (although I'm somewhat amazed at how far I've pushed a single $10/month shared hosting plan, in one instance). Some are HTML sites, some Drupal, some with Ubercart/SSL.

I'll be getting a few new clients and I'm tired of signing clients up for their own plans and managing things between several accounts. What I'd like to be able to do is manage everything from one account and bill the client directly for the hosting. I'd also like to be able to sell them domains, SSL certificates, and static IP addresses. Basically everything in one place, all billed to the client without me having to get their credit info and sign up for them. I notice a lot of hosts sell the fact that their control panel is fully brandable, but for the people I'll be working with, once they pay the initial fees (or checkout) they won't be touching the control panel. So based on what I've said, is reselling hosting the right idea? I'm obviously new to this, having done most everything on Dreamhost so far (who do actually have a very nice custom control panel) so please correct me if I have the wrong idea here.

One of the main things I'm looking for is database performance. I primarily use Drupal and will have more than one ecommerce site with the Ubercart module. Beyond that I (think I) need:

SSH (Drush is very helpful)
Resell domains
Resell SSL Certs
Resell static IP addresses for SSL
Private/white-label DNS
Some sort of billing application
Would prefer unlimited domains/subdomains, I don't like arbitrary limits, especially for something like a subdomain in a Drupal multi-site config where the subdomain merely points elsewhere
Also would prefer unlimited DBs
FFMPEG


I'm not too concerned with user support or migration, although either would be nice. So far, InnoHosting and VPS.net have caught my eye.

InnoHosting looks quite good but what kind of hosting is it exactly? Shared, VPS? I'm guessing shared since VPS is a separate category on the site and is more expensive. I don't know if jumping from shared hosting to another shared host would have much benefit for MySQL performance. Also, I've read somewhere that they don't have drive redundancy, but they do have offsite backups at regular intervals. I'd prefer some sort of RAID redundancy, though.

VPS.net seems more expensive but I really like the idea of instant scalability/cloud redundancy. On the other hand, it's not managed so I might have to do a lot more work to get the most out of it (although in the long run that might be a good thing!). But they also offer 5-minute Turnkey Linux deployment of Drupal 6, which might actually save me time. I'm also a bit confused about their reselling. InnoHosting seems to spell out what you can sell for how much. I asked about reselling on VPS.net's instant chat and they said you can resell domains through resell.biz. So how is everything integrated with regards to reselling, or is it all integrated at all? In regards to MySQL, their FAQ says: "We do not provide centralised database servers, however creating a MySQL VPS is quick and simple, giving you full control over your database." So if I get one node, is that enough for the hosting plus the MySQL VPS? Or would that be another node? Lastly, does anyone know how the performance is for MySQL there, particularly with Drupal? On their forums, one of the admins said Drupal is one of their most popular applications, so I assume so but I wouldn't mind hearing from an actual user.

Thanks for reading this monster post and feel free to suggest another host or even something entirely different if it would work better based on what I'm looking for.

I have a VPS.net VPS and they're very good, as much as it pains me to say it :D
Setup was fast, support is good, the network seems solid. The only problem I've had is the bandwidth graphs not working correctly, their control panel is reporting I've used 2TB of transfer this month, but I know for a fact it's nowhere near that, not even over 100GB... We'll see if they try to charge me overages.

If you've never managed a server before it may be a good idea to get a cPanel server, 1 node wouldn't really be enough and you'd need two to run it reliably. Installing cPanel would take care of the MySQL and Apache setup for you too.

With a VPS you are responsible for setting up any software to interface with resell.biz - such as WHMCS.

Seeing as MySQL runs on your VPS the performance is very good, it isn't shared like regular hosting so nobody else can hog resources.

We'll see if they try to charge me overages.

dont worry - we wont :)

As far as I know innohosting doesn't provide SSH or FFMPEG. Most shared hosting/reseller providers don't offer FFMPEG due to the high resource usage(cpu/memory), so a fully managed VPS may be your best option. Expect to pay a premium for this though.

Also I just want to add that Dreamhost isn't exactly know for there performance, so you should definitely notice a performance increase when switching to another shared host who properly manages there servers and have them optimized well.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. So far no one has told me that I'm heading in the wrong direction, so that's good.

Surprisingly, Dreamhost does have FFMPEG and it even works quite well.

Based on what everyone has said I'm going to try VPS.net and see how it works out. There just seems to be too many gaps in what InnoHosting offers, although I do always appreciate when the owner of the business is as active on the forums as Rameem (I think?) is here. I'd still welcome feedback/answers here.

I would suggest getting a VPS for sure. Your requirements might grow later on or you might require custom php settings or other installed components. This might be provided by shared low costing hosts, but if you have a long term goal and progressive interests, a VPS would be a good option.

Optionally start small and then go big (Shared to VPS) is a good option as well , assuming SSH access is not compulsory for your first phase.

Those would be my recommendations.

Reseller web hosting service is the service to be resold. That was created for that. You need that solution for the personal need. So I assume VPS is the one. You need to work with the solutions but you are working with web hosting companies' brands That is not correct approach

I'm not sure I Understand what you mean. I didn't pick these two by their branding, but by what they offer.

although I do always appreciate when the owner of the business is as active on the forums as Rameem (I think?) is here. I'd still welcome feedback/answers here.
Yeah Rameen is very active here and eming also.

who did you end up going with?

:)
D

I'm configuring my VPS.net server right now! I think you helped me in a thread on your forum, as well.

I'm configuring my VPS.net server right now! I think you helped me in a thread on your forum, as well.

oh, ok - glad to hear that, welcome on board - let us all know how it goes :)

Yes, I'm planning on doing that once I get things going.

Yes, I'm planning on doing that once I get things going.

We welcome your updates on VPS.net :) .