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mneylon

Administrator
Staff member
Its easy to set up a web hosting business!!!!!!
It's easy to set it up badly ...



For a FULL server that manages payments etc... You can use Windows with "HElm"

Helm is horrible

http://www.parallels.com/products/helm/details/
Then Plesk is the bigger daddy of it :D
Huh?
Plesk is a totally different product which has been around for years.

Helm is Windows only and was acquired by Parallels about 18 months ago

Plesk has both Windows and Linux versions and has been available for years
 

link8r

New Member
After you setup your hosting company, don't forget to set up a tech support line, a backup server, a trouble ticket system, a good understanding of the many many stupid & impossible things you'll be asked, a knowledge base (i.e. populate it), a managed forum, a reputation for reliability and uptime, and an award winning blog.

Then, to make it a business, start throwing money and time at advertising, SEO and online marketing.

Oh wait it's been done.
 

Toiletroll

New Member
It's easy to set it up badly ...

Not really - if he were to use you as a dedicated host for example, dont you offer your tech channels and knowledge sections to your customers (with a fee or not)?

Helm is horrible

Opinions ;) ... You are experienced so maybe I need to revisit which app to use.

Huh?
Plesk is a totally different product which has been around for years.

Helm is Windows only and was acquired by Parallels about 18 months ago

Plesk has both Windows and Linux versions and has been available for years

I didnt state it was windows only!

I dont care about the timeframes. Both are owned by parallels, both work and do different things but one does most of what the other does and some... isnt it?
 

link8r

New Member
Not really - if he were to use you as a dedicated host for example, dont you offer your tech channels and knowledge sections to your customers (with a fee or not)?

No it really is - that's just an arrogant, unthought come back. Just think about what you've said: you're encouraging someone who clearly hasn't a clue to go and potentially waste a lot of money while providing a bad service to people who need reliability and will be charged while he learns on the job. Learning on the job is fine if you're making a chair for your own study, not so good when people have online businesses and it goes bad. Get some responsibility. just because it's potentially possible doens't mean you run with it

Register365 are a big company with big money and they've cocked it up royally. It's cost me tens of thousands. Now quickie host is going to setup and whats going to happen when something he didn't know and you didn't know/point out blows up?

FFS.
 

mneylon

Administrator
Staff member
Both are owned by parallels, both work and do different things but one does most of what the other does and some... isnt it?
Parallels have been on a buying spree for the last couple of years and have bought up a load of smaller companies and their products. Some of the products are being folded into their existing ones (Plesk billing for example was Modernbill) while others are being quietly dumped
 

mneylon

Administrator
Staff member
Not really - if he were to use you as a dedicated host for example, dont you offer your tech channels and knowledge sections to your customers (with a fee or not)?
Of course, but the thing is that while it may appear to be relatively easy to setup a hosting company, setting up and maintaining one properly is far from easy. (I have the grey hairs to prove this!)
 

Toiletroll

New Member
No it really is - that's just an arrogant, unthought come back. Just think about what you've said: you're encouraging someone who clearly hasn't a clue to go and potentially waste a lot of money while providing a bad service to people who need reliability and will be charged while he learns on the job. Learning on the job is fine if you're making a chair for your own study, not so good when people have online businesses and it goes bad. Get some responsibility. just because it's potentially possible doens't mean you run with it

Register365 are a big company with big money and they've cocked it up royally. It's cost me tens of thousands. Now quickie host is going to setup and whats going to happen when something he didn't know and you didn't know/point out blows up?

FFS.

Fair point - I live to learn, its always been my way. I have not ****ed up for any of my clients.

Perhaps, my ability might be different to others, but if he is clever enough to get big clients then he should be clever enough to set up a simple hosting system correctly. its quite easy to run a windows server without an interface also...

I did it without previous experience... Running two servers now with big clients. I cannot really see how I could cost them so much unless I cut corners / costs to set them up on a pile of crap in the first place...

My motto is if you want to do something badly enough, then do it! We need more people who are willing to put in the work, it is then up to THEM on the quality of the work. We need people who will give things proper go, I support them!
 

Toiletroll

New Member
Of course, but the thing is that while it may appear to be relatively easy to setup a hosting company, setting up and maintaining one properly is far from easy. (I have the grey hairs to prove this!)

hehe, I only have 60 sites on my servers. They require no maintenence... Everything is automated. I pay $40 extra per month for 4 hourly backups of my server along with a basic fee of $100 for 250GB B/W 2gb RAM 100GB machine.

I use Smarter Tools Enterprise for all my customers which is also great and 100% reliable...

I have been hosting from reseller using cpanel to gainign a dedicated win 2003 server... I do it all myself, along with the web development and SEm :)

I will be back to this thread :) BTW blackknight I think you site and services look awesome!

EDIT - As long as my customers email / stats etc are ok then there are no worries... BUT !!!! big observation! I dont sell to other webmasters!! which means most of what I said above is pointless as I was coming at the whole thing from MY point of vew rather than the OPS.. so yes link8or I am a big arrogant twat :p :D
 

link8r

New Member
My motto is if you want to do something badly enough, then do it! We need more people who are willing to put in the work, it is then up to THEM on the quality of the work. We need people who will give things proper go, I support them!

I agree - but we have to be responsible about it. Lets hope no wannabe surgeons come here for advice ;)

Yes we do need more entrepeneurs, but look at the taxi industry. Just because you can drive a taxi doesn't mean everyone can jump in and build a taxi business. The shorter the perceived step to creating a business, the more likely it will be swamped. There is so much more to be a web business, a hosting company, a consultant, a H&S trainer, an educator than simply opening for business.

Just because you can get a page to load in Internet Explorer doesn't mean you build a web / internet business.

Just because you can play flight simulator doesn't mean you can take on Virgin Atlantic.

I can go on.

Any business has to have marketing, an idea, a niche a need. Hosting is not niche, there is probably oversupply already.

GOLDEN RULE: Open a business based on demand and market need, not because you want it really baldy. This isn't a pair of D&G jeans and a 0% APR credit card situation. Businesses are risky.

I couldn't agree more about setting up companies, I work with them every day and volunteer with LOCC/Bizcamp Limerick + many others. But I dont ever say: you know what, you really want to go build a hotel, just do it. Fuk the recession. I've been self-employed for 11 years, I'm independent. I've created more jobs than I've had. And it's not always rosy. There are many legal requirements that all operators have to comply with. Just because you want to doesn't cut if for me. Whats the point of setting up hundreds of wannabes for no other reason? how will that help.

Consumerism for business? not good in my opinion
 

Toiletroll

New Member
I agree - but we have to be responsible about it. Lets hope no wannabe surgeons come here for advice ;)

Yes we do need more entrepeneurs, but look at the taxi industry. Just because you can drive a taxi doesn't mean everyone can jump in and build a taxi business. The shorter the perceived step to creating a business, the more likely it will be swamped. There is so much more to be a web business, a hosting company, a consultant, a H&S trainer, an educator than simply opening for business.

Just because you can get a page to load in Internet Explorer doesn't mean you build a web / internet business.

Just because you can play flight simulator doesn't mean you can take on Virgin Atlantic.

I can go on.

Any business has to have marketing, an idea, a niche a need. Hosting is not niche, there is probably oversupply already.

GOLDEN RULE: Open a business based on demand and market need, not because you want it really baldy. This isn't a pair of D&G jeans and a 0% APR credit card situation. Businesses are risky.

I couldn't agree more about setting up companies, I work with them every day and volunteer with LOCC/Bizcamp Limerick + many others. But I dont ever say: you know what, you really want to go build a hotel, just do it. Fuk the recession. I've been self-employed for 11 years, I'm independent. I've created more jobs than I've had. And it's not always rosy. There are many legal requirements that all operators have to comply with. Just because you want to doesn't cut if for me. Whats the point of setting up hundreds of wannabes for no other reason? how will that help.

Consumerism for business? not good in my opinion

Good post, I agree with everything you say. I never meant that someone should join an already saturated market. If he is clever enough to get the clients in to support the business then go for it!

He could be a good reseller for an existing host though, and could make it look very much like his own hosting service. But alas, you must need clients.

However, another thing to look at is that with hosting and anything web related, the market is still growing, one of the few! So, what he will learn from attempting to set up a host, should benifit him with his other online endeavours. Even if he fails, if he didnt spend lots of cash, or hurt some clients, then the experience will be valuable.
 

Hsekhar

New Member
If you don't mind, Can I ask you if you have tried to find the information on your own? Almost everything is available on Google. All you have to do spend some time on researching about the business.

There are many ways to start your own web hosting business. Some of them are "Reselling packages of other big and established hosts", "Hiring a dedicated server and then selling", Or you can even start your own hosting company by buying a couple of disks and putting them in a data center.

The easiest way is to "Resell other hosting packages branded as your own company", until you are comfortable with the business.
 

jmcc

Active Member
Setting up a mediocre hosting operation is easy. The web is full of them. Most of them never break 100 customers hosted. That's completely different to the number of domains hosted. Often these small hosters will inflate their domain count with self-registered domains. However that does not negate the very hard task of getting and keeping customers. It is almost like that old expression about battles and military history: Amateurs talk tactics while professionals talk logistics. So while newbie hosters talk specs, the professional hosters talk customers. :)

Regards...jmcc
 

TheHoban

New Member
Setting up your business is the easy part...

Try managing your server, advertising, offering support, design / development, doing the accounts, keeping everyone happy, having a life (thats the most important).

You then have all the kids buying plans who moan about anything and everything. Also the fraud orders that flow in after a while...

I'll give you one tip though, locate web-designers and photographers and offer them discounts. The ammount of people I have hosting online wedding photos in un-real and it does pay off after a while.
 
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