Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Starting a new hosting company. . .?

[3x-a-D3-u5]

Well sorry to be so'duh' but i really want to offer my customers a web host solution... i have looked at a billing system as i thought this was a priority ...

but now i'm not sure how to host my own website.!^_^

I was toying around with the idea of getting a reseller account, planting my account an that and selling rom there. is this a good idea? should i rather use the software they provide? the thing is if this grows i don't want to have to move servers regularly (duh...)

i looked into dedicated servers but these prove to be expensive for a small company. any feedback on what i should do is appreciated.

thanks guys
regards 3x

[rghf]

Before you go any further have a read of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=94

[The Stealthy One]

Also, if you're just getting started, something like ResellersPanel may be the way to go, at least while you learn what you're doing.

[prudents]

please read review carefully about any web hosting company before you join them...
Good luck

[3x-a-D3-u5]

I do apolagise ^_^ oops i didn't even see those and they're proving to be very useful.

something like ResellersPanel may be the way to go, at least while you learn what you're doing.

do you mean something like WHM? i have found that that is pretty easy to handle.

WOW those tutorials really were AMAZING, cant wait for the fith...
thanks for the help guys!
regards paul

[Sinai-Hosting]

Reseller hosting is probably the way to go for starting off and if it grows quickly or largely if that then switch to a dedicated server. When you see a host on here they will probably tell you what control panel they have so you know what to look out for ;-).

[BrettB]

ResellersPanel is not like WHM, ResellersPanel(.com) is a service which you create your own plans, and brand the website (either using a template they offer, or your own custom design), and they take care of pre-sales, technical support, etc... all aspects of your hosting company. Basically, it is a very fancy affiliate system with your own brand. You would have very little involvement in this kind of system, but it might be the right one for you.

When you are starting off, I agree with the others that a reseller account can be very useful. Yes, the power of a dedicated server is tempting, but in almost all cases, when you start out, it will be quite some time before you will need to upgrade to that level. A good thing to look for is a host which offers a range of services so that once you outgrow their reseller plan, you can upgrade to something else.

As always, be sure to do research before you pick any host!

[XeHSean]

Originally Posted by Sinai-Hosting

Reseller hosting is probably the way to go for starting off and if it grows quickly or largely if that then switch to a dedicated server. When you see a host on here they will probably tell you what control panel they have so you know what to look out for ;-).

I agree with him. As you are fairly new to the business, it may be best to just start off with reseller hosting to get a feel for the market. Once you learn more about hosting (and have more money to invest if you do not have much already), and perhaps how to manage a server efficiently, you may wish to consider upgrading to a dedicated server.

[GamePhreak]

I wouldn't start with ResellersPanel. You don't get much of the experience or involvement, most people can tell a ResellersPanel website immediately and tend to stay away from them, and for those customers that you do manage to get on board, you won't easily be able to move them to your new server wherever that may be when you're ready to move on to something larger.

A reseller account is a good idea, but if you have the knowledge or know somebody that does to run a server, a VPS is probably best. That's how we started and I'm glad we did. It gave us the experience to learn how to run and manage a server well before we had a large client base to screw up with.

[3x-a-D3-u5]

Originally Posted by GamePhreak

You don't get much of the experience or involvement,...

this is what i was thinking. . . i would like to be able to expand but also learn to manage it properly... not take the easy way and have to learn with whm then with vpn etc.

(although I know that this will happen if i get enough customers... to upgrade etc.)

[James-Fagan]

Originally Posted by GamePhreak

A reseller account is a good idea, but if you have the knowledge or know somebody that does to run a server, a VPS is probably best. That's how we started and I'm glad we did. It gave us the experience to learn how to run and manage a server well before we had a large client base to screw up with.

I agree
I suggest you have these 4 things in mind the whole way
1) find someone with the knowladge of the industry, 2) find a decent plan/host/server provider to work from 3) have a reliable billing and support system worked out 4) dedication to your company

[James-Fagan]

Let us know how you go!! I love new companies

[3x-a-D3-u5]

Thanks for the advice. i was planning on doing something similar already though! my current host is great and always ready to serv, (ironic that's the name www.serv.co.za)

i want to bind a better billing system and some more packages to his knowledge to enable him to grow... its a win win situation(well at least i hope so...) i gain necessary knowledge and experience while he benefits from getting more exposure,(two heads better than one)

thanks for all the comments so far guys

[3x-a-D3-u5]

Well i've started to look at a back up plan, being a reseller. here are some comopanys i found can anyone suggest good ones? i dont have much starting capital but already have a few custermers so i want somthing small but can easily grow. so iv got these together spent time looking and loads of reseller accouts. if you have any experiance or any suggestions please post!

here are my findings:

http://imageleet.com/index.php 3.99 slow to load their own website - indication on their servers? but they say only 7 day money back...on their home page it says 30 day money back (if you look closly at the picture) 100 Gb TRANSFER 3000 Mb STORAGE (sounds a little suspect for 3.99) 33.3BandMB/SpaceMB

http://www.tekneeks.net/solutions/re...ing/index.html $10.00 Domains Unlimited, Disk Space-2,000 MB Bandwith-50,000 MB daily backups, what i liked was that they have WHM, Crontab Manager, RVskin, own DNS Branding. 25BandMB/SpaceMB

http://www.cirtexhosting.com/resellers.shtml expensive,

http://innohosting.com/reseller.html - Webspace 700mb $4.99 Bandwidth 50GB Account Limit is 10 however. good support do have privite name servers but at an extra 2 bucks a month.

regards 3x

[KNL-BSW]

You might look at cpchosting.net, hostgator.com, cartikahosting (they use Hsphere though) as a few others.

Realistically, for a quality Reseller account, expect to pay $10 or more a month. Make sure they have upgrade options for you also so you can move to you can move to a larger account later.

2GB/50GB for $10.00 doesn't sound to bad, neither does the 700MB one. At least they are fairly realistic. The 3gb/100gb is massively unrelastic.