Web Hosting

[James W]

Hello all,

I'm currently in the second year of my degree at University and i'm considering opening a business selling web hosting.

Could anyone recommended me a company for renting server space. I'm aware that running and maintaining my own server would be much better with regards to price, however, I have very little space nor the time to maintain them.

I'm also aware that the web hosting market is very competitive but I do believe I can make money with the contacts I have at University.

Thanks in advance,

James

 

[Cromulent]

Hello all,

I'm currently in the second year of my degree at University and i'm considering opening a business selling web hosting.

Could anyone recommended me a company for renting server space. I'm aware that running and maintaining my own server would be much better with regards to price, however, I have very little space nor the time to maintain them.

I'm also aware that the web hosting market is very competitive but I do believe I can make money with the contacts I have at University.

Thanks in advance,

James

It really depends on the type of web hosting you are planning to offer and the experience you have with system administration. Can you provide some more information? Are you looking to provide shared hosting? VPS instances? Dedicated servers? What is your monthly budget? Do you want managed or unmanaged services?

 

[James W]

It really depends on the type of web hosting you are planning to offer and the experience you have with system administration. Can you provide some more information? Are you looking to provide shared hosting? VPS instances? Dedicated servers? What is your monthly budget? Do you want managed or unmanaged services?

Looking to offer three packages to the customers ranging from 5GB to 50GB. All three packages would come with unlimited bandwidth, mySQL DB's, free sub-domain and CPanel.

The servers would have to be maintained else where as I haven't got the time to spend fixing them.

Basically looking to rent a server with space of around 100GB to start with.

 

[lynxus]

You might just find it easier to become a reseller?

 

[James W]

You might just find it easier to become a reseller?

Hi Lynxus,

That's sort of the idea. I Just want to provide my colleagues with cheap web hosting to launch their portfolio.

 

[Posilan]

Looking to offer three packages to the customers ranging from 5GB to 50GB. All three packages would come with unlimited bandwidth, mySQL DB's, free sub-domain and CPanel.

The servers would have to be maintained else where as I haven't got the time to spend fixing them.

Basically looking to rent a server with space of around 100GB to start with.

So you are only looking to sell a package to two customers? (2 x 50GB packages on 100GB space?)

Also,

All three packages would come with unlimited bandwidth

Why are you wanting to sell a product you cannot supply or buy yourself? Unlimited bandwidth does not exist - it is by it's very nature limited (see http://www.posilan.com/2011/09/19/why-unlimited-web-hosting-is-a-bad-thing/ for specifics).

We offer reseller packages, which may be a good starting point for you if you want to leave looking after the servers to someone else - but like any other reputable hosting business, we do not offer unlimited bandwidth or webspace...

Steve

 

[James W]

So you are only looking to sell a package to two customers? (2 x 50GB packages on 100GB space?)

Also,


Why are you wanting to sell a product you cannot supply or buy yourself? Unlimited bandwidth does not exist - it is by it's very nature limited (see http://www.posilan.com/2011/09/19/why-unlimited-web-hosting-is-a-bad-thing/ for specifics).

We offer reseller packages, which may be a good starting point for you if you want to leave looking after the servers to someone else - but like any other reputable hosting business, we do not offer unlimited bandwidth or webspace...

Steve

Hi Posilan,

Many thanks for bringing this point to my attention. I was researching the market leaders in web hosting and noticed a lot of them included "unlimited traffic". Am I getting confused?

As for the 2x50GB = 2 customers. You're correct, the maths doesn't really add up. I was simply using that range as a starting point. As most of my customers will be uploaded simple / basic websites, I highly doubt they'll need more than 5GB of space.

5GB each leaving me with 20 customers to begin with.

Edit - I should also note that the article was an interesting read, thanks.

 

[Posilan]

Hi Posilan,

Many thanks for bringing this point to my attention. I was researching the market leaders in web hosting and noticed a lot of them included "unlimited traffic". Am I getting confused?

As for the 2x50GB = 2 customers. You're correct, the maths doesn't really add up. I was simply using that range as a starting point. As most of my customers will be uploaded simple / basic websites, I highly doubt they'll need more than 5GB of space.

5GB each leaving me with 20 customers to begin with.

Edit - I should also note that the article was an interesting read, thanks.

Thanks.

Yes, ignore "unlimited traffic" promises - no-one can actually supply that and you will find there are other T&C's hidden that limit you.

Starting off with 100GB is fine, but make sure it's very quickly scalable if you need it - otherwise, if you have 1 customer with a 5GB package, and another with 50GB package, if you see another 50GB package, you are then either unable to provide it or are overselling.

Steve

 

[James W]

Steve,

Just looking at your reseller package. Will work some figures out and contact you soon.

James

 

[Posilan]

Steve,

Just looking at your reseller package. Will work some figures out and contact you soon.

James

No problem. Email us or PM me on here if you need any assistance.

Steve

 

[webhostuk]

Looking to offer three packages to the customers ranging from 5GB to 50GB. All three packages would come with unlimited bandwidth, mySQL DB's, free sub-domain and CPanel.

The servers would have to be maintained else where as I haven't got the time to spend fixing them.

Basically looking to rent a server with space of around 100GB to start with.

In that case you should surely look for managed webhosting provider. We offer end 100% whitelabel end user support for managed Web hosting customer if you require more details you can contact us from the link in my signature.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Hi James,

Steve's right, there's no such thing as unlimited space or bandwidth, and anybody claiming that is a sign of a dishonest business. You often get a lot more actual resources when you opt for a host that places real limits.

A common example is "unlimited" hosts using inode limits. Every file and email counts toward that limit, so you can quickly reach your limit from a lot of emails, without coming anymore near the bandwidth or webspace limit an honest host would provide.

It's always a good idea to read the terms and conditions.

From the sound of it, you'd be best off with a small reseller package. If you were to ask us, that's what we'd recommend. Any decent host will let you scale that up as your needs increase, without any trouble of downtime.

This helps you keep costs low to begin with. We find the majority of users massively overestimate their bandwidth and webspace needs. You'll find the typical website will probably take no more than a few hundred Mb of space.

If you're serious about starting a web hosting business then you'll want to opt for a package that's fully whitelabel, doesn't have database and other feature limits (it can get very expensive when you need more if a provider limits those) and if you'd like everything you need to get started, then a free SSL certificate and dedicated IP address are also worth looking for, as these aren't cheap but are generally necessary (at least if you're going to let people order from your website).

I hope that helps.

It is a very competitive market, but we have a number of clients who do just what you're intending, selling hosting to their friends and contacts, making a decent profit, and allowing them to host for free.

Good luck!

If you've got any questions I'm happy to help.

Dan