Dedicated server or Reseller plan ?

**ace2010** · December 11th, 2011, 21:56

lets say that i want to start a hosting business, what will be better option

pay for a dedicated server (i already have one) + $400 something for cPanel per year + $16/month for WHMCS
or just get a reseller plan with $20-$30 per month ???

even that i already own a server looks that will come cheaper to just buy a reseller plan

did i miss something ?

**Tyler** · December 11th, 2011, 23:01

Originally Posted by ace2010

lets say that i want to start a hosting business, what will be better option

pay for a dedicated server (i already have one) + $400 something for cPanel per year + $16/month for WHMCS
or just get a reseller plan with $20-$30 per month ???

even that i already own a server looks that will come cheaper to just buy a reseller plan

did i miss something ?

It may be better for you to go back to the basics if you have to ask this kind of question. Let's start with your business plan, what's your projected theoretical clients for the first six months? Less then twenty @ $3/month?

Stuff like that matters. I'd avoid a reseller in general because usually they're oversold and poor quality. But if you know a quality reseller provider, and your projected numbers isn't that large, then yeah go with that.

But you know, if you already have a dedicated server I don't see the harm in using it -- you're going to be paying for it either way, correct?

**wswd** · December 12th, 2011, 01:05

There are different schools of thought on this. Some say start with the reseller account, then move to VPS, then dedicated.

Me personally, I like the control of a VPS or dedicated server, and will almost always recommend it right off the bat. I'm also for eliminating as many people as possible between the clients and the datacenter. If you start dealing with resellers and master resellers and uber alpha omega resellers, how many people are you going to have to go through if something goes wrong?

Client reports to you that something is wrong, for example. You then go to your reseller. Who knows how long it takes to get a reply? If it's a server or network issue, the reseller then has to contact the datacenter (or the dedicated server provider...their server provider might not even be the datacenter). The datacenter might ask them for more info, and they might in turn have to go back to you, who needs to go back to the client, etc. What a freakin' mess!!

If there is a problem with my dedicated boxes, I can pick up the phone and immediately talk to people who have access to my server. I had a problem on one of my dedicated servers about 6 months ago, for example. The server just completely stopped responding, wouldn't do anything over SSH, internal KVM over IP stopped responding, etc. Drives and components checked out great. Within 5 minutes, I had an external KVM over IP hooked up to my server. Between me and the remote hands at the datacenter, we had things solved and the server running again within 20 minutes.

With most resellers, you'll be extraordinarily lucky if you even get a response to your support ticket within 20 minutes, let alone be able to get the problem resolved. So for me, it's a no-brainer. I recommend the path that's best for the clients.

**ace2010** · December 12th, 2011, 03:04

i know that with a dedicated server i will be able to offer better services but worth to pay for cpanel and whmcs ?

**wswd** · December 12th, 2011, 03:30

That's the cost of doing business. People need to realize that to "play business" in this industry, there are costs associated with that.

For me, that $50 extra per month would be well worth it, knowing that you could provide far better service to your clients.

**Haclker** · December 12th, 2011, 04:36

You could try a reseller hosting first, because you must know what are you doing on first step. Then you can upgrade to dedicated server if your service is bigger.

**storminternet** · December 12th, 2011, 07:02

Originally Posted by ace2010

lets say that i want to start a hosting business, what will be better option

pay for a dedicated server (i already have one) + $400 something for cPanel per year + $16/month for WHMCS
or just get a reseller plan with $20-$30 per month ???

even that i already own a server looks that will come cheaper to just buy a reseller plan

did i miss something ?

I suggest you to go for reseller plan first. Here you will save server cost, whmcs cost and control panel cost. As your business grows you can then easily upgrade your hosting package to vps or dedicated server.

**rodenjurst** · December 13th, 2011, 23:49

Originally Posted by storminternet

I suggest you to go for reseller plan first. Here you will save server cost, whmcs cost and control panel cost. As your business grows you can then easily upgrade your hosting package to vps or dedicated server.

He already have a dedicated server. It's really not bad to test out if his dedicated hosting can work well with reselling hosting services.

**cassiejmiller** · December 14th, 2011, 18:14

If he has then continue with it then test to reseller hosting.

**PanosZ** · December 15th, 2011, 07:32

If you have money right now you can buy the licences and low the amount of money that you will pay per month for a dedicated.

**JamesZach** · January 24th, 2012, 04:40

I would say get a business plan ready and do a market study, plan your budget for marketing,hardware,staff etc. Start of with a vps and move to dedicated servers as that would be a safe route.

**jcarney1987** · January 24th, 2012, 16:34

Great you own a dedicated server but is it colocated? Where ever its located at do they have a fully redundant systems? If you have to pay extra to co-locate then I would suggest getting a reseller or a decent vps to start with. If your server is colocated already then it may be cheaper just to purchase your license and go from there. But build you a business plan and go from there.

**web3k** · January 28th, 2012, 17:59

If you can manage a linux server, keep it properly patched, secure etc, then go for a VPS - if you're able to grow fast, and that comes down to your business plan, then you'll appreciate the flexibility of a VPS.

If you're still learning the ropes with system administration, start with a reseller account. Much of the hard work is taken care of with a reputable host, which leaves you to market, sell and grow your base for scale.

**jcarney1987** · January 29th, 2012, 12:29

Don't forget if you attend to host using your name servers make sure ns1 and ns2 are in different subnets. ns2 should be on a offsite location. For example my server ns1 is located is georgia where ns2 is located in L.A Cali. Even if you buy a reseller plan Unless they give you an offsite ip address for the 2nd name server you should still consider getting a vps just for redundant dns.

**wswd** · January 29th, 2012, 14:37

Originally Posted by jcarney1987

Don't forget if you attend to host using your name servers make sure ns1 and ns2 are in different subnets. ns2 should be on a offsite location. For example my server ns1 is located is georgia where ns2 is located in L.A Cali. Even if you buy a reseller plan Unless they give you an offsite ip address for the 2nd name server you should still consider getting a vps just for redundant dns.

I think it's overrated and unnecessary, to be honest. Unless you have actual redundant servers with the clients' accounts, off-site nameservers aren't going to do you a bit of good. You're just wasting your money.

For example, let's say I host a server in Chicago, and have both nameservers in that datacenter as well. The only time something is going to go down is if there is a routing issue within the datacenter, the physical server itself is broken, or the entire datacenter (or parts of it) lose connectivity. If that happens, the hosting server is going to be inaccessible regardless. Doesn't matter where the nameservers are, the server is going to be unreachable.

If you have a redundant server somewhere with the clients' accounts (which unless you're running a tiny company, you aren't going to have), and can switch everything over using some failover method, really doesn't make a bit of difference.