Web hosting

[hack2much]

I want to start a web hosting bussiness does anybody know how to start. I have a Linux box and I want to know what kind of specifications I need to accomplish this task. Any help?

[JPnyc]

You need a pretty serious server and connection to host, usually a T line at least. There's so many hosts out there now that this has become a really competitive business. Be prepared to scratch and claw even to get a single client, to begin with. And if your load speeds aren't up to the norm, those you might get won't stay very long

[dcomiskey]

I would drop the idea altogether. What you should do, is search the sites of many of the major ISPs and sign up for one of their reseller programs. You pay an annual fee (~$50-100/yr), get people to sign up and the ISP takes care of ALL the support. Basically, all you do is collect a monthly fee based on the hosting package your "customers" pick.

Like JP said, you'll need a hell of a lot more than a Linux box to start hosting. You'll need at least a T3, IT infrastructure, security up the wazoo, a way to accept orders, allow users to access their domain via FTP, etc. and a LOT of capital.

It sounds to me via your post that you have no experience even starting a business (I don't mean that offensively), so you should do a ton of research on starting a business. It's not easy.

[Gromit]

That reseller idea is right on. Why reinvent the wheel when the big wheels already out there will only crush you as they rumble past? Even opening a reseller business is challenging -- but at least you stand a chance to make some money.

And you can't hear this enough: research, research, research --- then research some more before you spend a dime.

[EricS]

yes re-seller not even a question we host on seekdotnet there reseller program is cheap and the control panel is great. Technical support is non existent though very frustrating when there is an outage you have to email and just wait. You will not make any money doing it yourself unless you have over 100 clients

[bluegrassjeff]

I started selling reseller accounts to my clients (I do programming/server admin services for designers) as an added service for them. I lease dedicated servers and give my clients (and my clients' clients) 24/7 on-call service. It's a hard way to make a dollar, but my view is...if you're just a middle man and not adding any value, you're not going to keep the business for long.

Hosting is an *extremely* competitive business, especially if you're trying to market to the world. Hosting has become a commodity, so if you're not adding something to the deal...there's always someone cheaper.

I tried the low-cost offering to the world. Try running an adwords campaign in Google for this and see what happens. I pumped up my bid until it wouldn't even be worth it...and still didn't rank on the top four pages!

I don't mean to be negative, but just trying to give you a feel for what I've come up against. If you're serious about doing this, I suggest you :

1. Read up on Apache, mysql (as an application, not just for scripting database calls), and Linux. Your Linux box will be great practice for this.

2. Make sure you know how to start/stop services, set up and maintain dns records, set up and delete users, etc. (Yes, I know whm/cpanel does this for you, but it's software, and it can and will fail. If apache goes down, you can't use the panel anyway...you have to be able to use the shell to get in and make things work again.)

3. Join a local LUG (Linux User's Group) if there's one available. You'll learn a lot and make some great contacts.

4. Start by targeting potential clients in your area. Part of your value-add here is giving people a name, face, and local presence for their hosting. You'll also be able to charge better rates this way too. It's hard to compete with the under-ten-bucks-a-month hosting companies.

5. If you can find a niche, that will help you narrow your marketing when you go beyond your local community. My niche market is web design companies that lack technical skills. I try pushing the programming first, and the hosting as an added benefit.

Hope this helps some. Good luck.

[tim24]

I would suggest host by yourself. Besides the demands like fast connection and things of that nature, servers go down like crazy. My friend and I have tried a hosting bussiness, and we know what we are doing, and nearly twice a week the sever would go down, and we would have to fix it. I gave up after a while a let my friend manage it. I heard that he now rents out a comercial hoster so people pay him and he goes and pay the dirt cheap hosting site to host his client's site. Of course his client's don't really know of this 2nd hosting guy.
Point is hosting is a tough bussiness, only go for it if you are up to the challenge.