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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan, USA
    Posts
    5

    looking to purchase, new to dedicated

    Hello everyone, my name is Mitch and I am a professional web developer. I've been hosting my own clients for about a year now on a 15 gig reseller chunk in chicago. Business is going well and I'm looking to expand.

    I was thinking of getting 2 more locations with 10-15 gigs each as resellers, but I was advised to get my own dedicated server. Only thing is, I'm not that good with linux or configuring things, but I am a fast learner.

    I guess I'm looking for some answers if you can help me out...

    1: Is it possible to get a dedicated server already set up with what i need? apache / php / sql / mail / cpanel / whm / etc... Or if i buy one is it bare, like a brand new pc?

    2: Who has the best reliablility / security? Money is no object.

    3: If it's my own server, can I allow or dis-allow adult material? I'm not getting into this stuff but I hear there is a big market for adult content allowing hosts.

    4: What would you reccommend for processor / hd / ram... there will be a lot of php & sql running...

    I know a lot of you will probably laugh, but i'm a noob in this business. I've been making sites and graphics for about 6 years now, I'm certified, I have a great client base, and I have a good reputation for what I do. I'm just worried about putting all my eggs in one basket, and If I put them all in a really safe basket I'll be able to do better business by feeling confident in telling clients that their data is secure (eventho nothing on the internet is 100% secure, permanant, or has 100% uptime).

    Thank you for your time, I hope to hear great things from this board.

    Mitch,
    President, Sphox

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Posts
    833
    Congrats on business well and expanding.

    I recommend that you get a fully managed dedicated server that you can use it like a giant reseller account. Leave the headache of administering a dedicated server to the provider and concentrate on what you do best...web development.

    For the purpose of web hosting, I feel that any hardware will do including the Celerons that are frowned by many. Weaker hardware pack less accounts and stronger hardware pack more accounts. However, if for the purpose of impressing the clients/prospects get the highest server you are willing to pay and boast to them.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Tampa FL
    Posts
    2,380
    no doubt , a fully managed server is the way to go in this situation , or maybe even a managed VPS.
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,783
    1: Is it possible to get a dedicated server already set up with what i need? apache / php / sql / mail / cpanel / whm / etc... Or if i buy one is it bare, like a brand new pc?

    Yes any server ordered with Cpanel?WHM will come with all the services installed by default.

    2: Who has the best reliablility / security? Money is no object.

    Hard to answer that one there a many companies that can do it for you look for a managed server or get an unmanaged one and hire an out side admin company to secure it and set it up for you.

    3: If it's my own server, can I allow or dis-allow adult material? I'm not getting into this stuff but I hear there is a big market for adult content allowing hosts.

    Read the TOS of any company you consider most data centers will allow you to host adult content as long as it is legal on your own dedicated.


    4: What would you reccommend for processor / hd / ram... there will be a lot of php & sql running...

    If you are going to have lots of MySQL and PHP I would say go for a dual processor set up with plenty of ram at least 2 gigs..

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    2,203
    I recommend you go with a fully managed server and a lot of ram, 2GB with at least a P4, Dual Xeon better, gives you room to grow! Good luck.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Posts
    833

    Re: looking to purchase, new to dedicated

    Originally posted by Sphox

    2: Who has the best reliablility / security? Money is no object.
    We are very happy with Idologic

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Blue Springs, Missouri
    Posts
    366
    as far as server specs goes ...

    I'd recommend dual xeon/opteron with 2GB RAM and scsi disks. in my opinion that's a pretty ideal shared hosting setup.

    I'd also look into some sort of off site backup, so in case you drop the basket all the eggs don't break.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Brighton, MI
    Posts
    1,583
    for sql heavy stuff I would say go for the opteron and CentOS 3.X, and a server management company as well like serverwizards.com or rack911 should get you taken care of. layeredtech is a good one and also steadfast networks is a good provider as well for machines

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Blue Springs, Missouri
    Posts
    366
    I would advise against rack911, but not from personal experiences. I've just seen a lot of negative experiences as of late

  10. #10

    Re: looking to purchase, new to dedicated

    Originally posted by Sphox
    Hello everyone, my name is Mitch and I am a professional web developer. I've been hosting my own clients for about a year now on a 15 gig reseller chunk in chicago. Business is going well and I'm looking to expand.
    congratulations, well done.

    I was thinking of getting 2 more locations with 10-15 gigs each as resellers, but I was advised to get my own dedicated server.
    excellent advice. a dedicated server is a logical step up for you and should allow you to offer more flexible service to your clients. as a web developer who makes most of his money completing projects, it is extremely important to capture recurring revenue from your customer base. even more importantly than that, as you keep in touch with your clients in the process of hosting them, you develop more trust and remind them of your development services. provided that the interactions are positive, you improve your chances of being offered work on their future projects as a sole source, which allows you to charge higher fees since you're not bidding for the job.

    Only thing is, I'm not that good with linux or configuring things, but I am a fast learner.
    excellent. what you are looking for is a managed server.

    1: Is it possible to get a dedicated server already set up with what i need? apache / php / sql / mail / cpanel / whm / etc... Or if i buy one is it bare, like a brand new pc?
    if you lease a managed dedicated server from a solid company which specializes in providing an upgrade path from reseller accounts to managed servers, all this and more will be taken care of for you. a lot of work and expertise goes into tuning your machine for optimal performance given a shared hosting workload as well as setting up disaster recovery strategies and procedures, so a good provider won't just stop at the 'install OS + cpanel' step, but go much further.

    2: Who has the best reliablility / security? Money is no object.
    there are many good providers, but see below for my recommendation.

    3: If it's my own server, can I allow or dis-allow adult material? I'm not getting into this stuff but I hear there is a big market for adult content allowing hosts.
    provided that your host's TOS does not prohibit (uncommon on managed dedicated servers) adult material, this is your call to make. with that said, hosting adult sites is *not*a simple feat by any means. moreover, although the market may be big, in adult business is usually done on the basis of long established business relationships. i would not recommend getting into the adult hosting game in your case, at least not yet.

    4: What would you reccommend for processor / hd / ram... there will be a lot of php & sql running...
    this depends entirely on what your current and projected workload look like as well as your budget. i would suggest talking to the providers you will be looking at - they should be able to discuss your options with you in an intelligent, exhaustive manner. in fact, this is an excellent way to establish the competence level of a managed services provider even if you already know what you need in terms of specs.

    If I put them all in a really safe basket I'll be able to do better business by feeling confident in telling clients that their data is secure (eventho nothing on the internet is 100% secure, permanant, or has 100% uptime).
    you've hit the nail on the head, bravo! your good reputation and the new business it will continue bringing in is invaluable - going with a solid provider who will make sure the technical side of things is taken care of will protect your reputation and enhance it, whereas cutting costs by cutting corners carries the risk of destroying the reputation you have worked so hard to build.

    my personal recommendations are voxtreme.com and clook.net, although i see that clook.net is sold out on their managed servers. voxtreme is a very reputable reseller and managed hosting company which has built its business around providing an upgrade path from reseller accounts to managed servers. this is important because vanilla managed services providers such as rackspace can not and will not provide the same level of abstraction as a reseller account does (simply because they do not specialize in that), whereas voxtreme will ensure that you can treat a dedicated server as a large reseller account in terms of management work required on your part - namely none whatsoever. i've worked with matt@voxtreme for quite some time now (they collocate some of their machines with us) and he's accessible, helpful and a pleasure to do business with. i strongly recommend that you add them to the list of providers to consider and i do not make such recommendations lightly.

    -p
    * Rusko Enterprises LLC - Upgrade to 100% uptime today!
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  11. #11
    Hello Mitch,

    Glad to hear that your company is expanding. Now, if your knowledgeable about the hosting industry you could answer your own questions. Have you done research on this as of yet? Good luck!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Posts
    66
    Best company - and most expensive - seems to be rackspace.com The cheapest fully managed server starts at 400$. Here you have a good data center (place of your server) and good management.

    Other option would be to choose severmatrix.com (good datacenter) and buy you external service management plans by companies like geeks4help.com Servermatrix.com and theplanet.com are the samo data center. They both offer additional server management plans which are expensive, but these plans do not manage your server 100% and if you're not familiar with server management, I would forget it to buy a plan direct from servermatrix or the planet. That's why you need additional service like geeks4help. It's far cheaper than rackspace, but the packet is not offered in one hand.

    I would go with most expensive rackspace, if security is the most important issue for you. If you take less, you increase risk. But maybe rackspace is too secure for you So it's just up to you.

  13. #13
    I agree with everything here except the part about Celerons. These are not recommended for sites heavily dependent on mysql/php. Minimally you should be looking at a Dual Xeon with 2GB RAM. SCSI drives would also help.

    Originally posted by efarmer
    Congrats on business well and expanding.

    I recommend that you get a fully managed dedicated server that you can use it like a giant reseller account. Leave the headache of administering a dedicated server to the provider and concentrate on what you do best...web development.

    For the purpose of web hosting, I feel that any hardware will do including the Celerons that are frowned by many. Weaker hardware pack less accounts and stronger hardware pack more accounts. However, if for the purpose of impressing the clients/prospects get the highest server you are willing to pay and boast to them.
    • Ddos, DOS, Brute force protection • White Label Reseller Hosting. • Proactive Server Management
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  14. #14
    I recommend http://www.servstra.com for a managed server, they have a good line of managed servers with good prices.

    Good luck with your business

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Lansing, MI, USA
    Posts
    1,548
    Sometimes I think it's pretty funny to see people spending other people's money .

    Seriously, just because the OP said money is no object... would you tell some one to buy Bus for their own vehicle when they're currently using 'part of a bus' to commute but probably could get by with a Mini van?

    Mitch, spend time keeping an open dialog with the companies you believe will assist you with growing your business... let them know what your traffic levels are and how your sites are coded in general, which should allow them to give you a decent estimate of the REAL server solution your looking for to cover your immediate needs plus allow for some growth.

    I'm not saying you wouldn't be happy going out and buying a dual xeon or anything, just that if your only on a 10/15gb reseller account now, it MAY be overkill, and there is no business sense in paying for too much server, especially when it is way beyond what you want/need/desire at the moment.

    Ask your current host what kind of machines your on. If you account for a machine half as powerful as that, in most cases, you will be quite fine, and avoid paying more than necessary.

    I'm not saying you need to be cheap, but there is always a way to ensure your at least frugal in your business decisions.

    As an example, our first shared hosting server was an AMD Athlon XP 2400+. Not such a 'powerful' machine, but it served it's purpose, and more than handled all of our clients at the time. As we grew, we moved to more powerful hardware, because it then made sense to pay more to get more.

    Good luck in finding the provider that is right for you, and let us know who you go with in the end.
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