Offering VPS/dedicated Servers

[kattouf]

I have never had a dedicated server but am getting a lot of requests. Does anyone know how i can start offering dedicated servers? If i rent a Vortech server, can i let my customers use it instead, would it be transparent?

On the other hand i am also thinking of offering VPS hosting but have no clue on how to go about it. I could get a Windows Server here, but i am not sure which is the best VPS software to go with and what else i need. Or is Unix the standard VPS platform?

I SUPPOSE i won't need much more, since the user will install what he likes, but i am not sure.

Any help is appreciated!

[byron]

VPS runs on Red Hat here, which is technically the "Linux" platform. Our standard VPS can run the Plesk hosting package pretty easily, or you can just get it up and running without Plesk and just install your own choice of configuration. It is basically a low-cost alternative to the everyday dedicated server solution we also offer. Right now we aren't offering any Windows type of VPS setup, but we are offering dedicated servers at some pretty good prices, and competitive prices at that.

You should send an email to sales@vortechhosting.com and Craig will be able to send you much more information on the dedicated server question, as well as more information on the VPS solution we presently offer. Hope this helps you out.

[kattouf]

Thanks, What i meant is that i would go for a dedicated server here, but i am not sure how to turn it into a Windows VPS server to offer my users. I suppose i will have to do more research...

[suki]

I would suggest looking at their managed specials - http://www.vortechhosting.com/dedicated/specials.php - they start at $169 - but are included within the hsphere cluster and are fully managed - so no hassle or worries about software etc and is the best way to start off with, they take care of it all plus can install custom software too i think - been seriously considering one myself for sometime but the only thing holding me back is I like the fact that with the current setup my accounts are spread over a wide range of servers which is a nice safety feature.

[kattouf]

Are the managed servers web servers only? I mean are the users emails/databases still on a shared server? How does that work?

But managed server looks very tempting, for my next plan upgrade i might go for one.

[generic]

if your gonna manage them, you can get them anywhere, if they are going to, you will need a good whilt lable company.

If you want hsphere, you cant beat vortechs dedicated ones here, if you want one outside vortech:

crystaltech.com
fastservers.com
servermatrix.com
theplanet.com
ev1servers.net
rackspace.com

[ixie02]

I too need to look at this as I'm going to end up losing my business if I don't do something about all the screw up ups around here. Unfortunatly I don't know anything about them; I don't need much bandwidth or hard drive space, just need something where I'm in control and nothing every changes. I can run my local host server, do you think that would be enough to start move accounts? *NIX only Can you put more than one site on them?

[Vantage]

We still have some of the Specials left. Thats a pretty good deal.
http://vortechhosting.com/dedicated/specials.php

Also, Our dedicated servers in general are very well priced. They will allow you to run the server in any way you like. A dedicated server can handle a lot of sites.. But you should have a good idea of how to manage them prior to moving live sites over to them. Running a production server with one or two sites is pretty easy to do.. Running one with a few hundred is a good deal more complicated.

[mresell]

ix,
you probably want managed vps or server. Running a server is no small task...

[ixie02]

Originally Posted by mresell

ix,
you probably want managed vps or server. Running a server is no small task...

Well, you've always given me good advice in the past so I'll take your word for it when you say it's no small task and I certainly don't any extra time on my hands. But on the other hand, I spend a lot of time fixing things that suddenly stop working in the shared environment.

Vixen, do you mean that if I get an unmanaged vps and the hard drive goes out I have to pay to fix it? And moreover, the reason I would want a vps is that nobody ever upgrades or changes anything unless I requested it. I don't sell hosting and do my billing via quickbooks. I just offer managed hosting to clients I have done sites for. Probably could set one up in my home but I'd be afraid my dog might eat the damn thing! Good thread; I'm learning a lot.

[DigitalSkyline]

Personally I think $100 a month to do nothing more then plug a server in to the HSphere cluster here then call it managed is a bit outrageous... but thats just me... maybe there is something worth $100/ month that I don't see or that hasn't been explained but I can get unmetered bandwidth and rack space for a server locally and OWN the equipment for much cheaper... to each their own I guess I just don't see any value in the pricing. As much as I'd like to have a dedicated here within the cluster for ease of maintnance... I just can't justify the cost and I haven't seen anything that compels me to think otherwise.

The dedicateds by themselves are not a bad deal and I could see maybe charging a per incident fee if they needed to actually do anything on the server to justify the cost... but I don't know.

I would like to see a trusted cluster for resellers like me who don't actually sell hosting directly to users and maintain 100% of their customers accounts because the up and down nature of the current set up sucks. Still a good value for the price (if you oversell), but QOS is not very good because of the uncontrolled shared nature of the beast. All it take is one bad coder to bring down a server of 500+ websites.

Lets be honest, no one would look at the dedicateds if it weren't for the problems on the shared servers.

[generic]

come on, $100 a month is cheap compared to any other company like fastservers, planet, etc. thats only $25 a week additional than the cost of the server to have a totally managed server?

If you know how to do everythinig yourself, save the money and go somewhere else, but for those of us who don't know how, or dont want the hassel, its WELL worth it.

would also be interested in the link to the product you mention.

[DigitalSkyline]

Servers in general do not require a lot of maintenance once they are set up... so what does the word management mean? When there is a problem, the server gets the reset button pushed? See this is all I'm saying... I don't know, but to me it doesn't sound like a deal.

You asked for a link, here is one from my bookmarks:
http://www.waveform.net/colo/

They are local to me... I supply a server and off and running. There are others, but I'm on my way out right now no time to babble .

Originally Posted by DigitalSkyline

Servers in general do not require a lot of maintenance once they are set up... so what does the word management mean? When there is a problem, the server gets the reset button pushed?

Managed means a lil bit more than pushing the reset button. It means if there is a hardware failure, we replace the hardware. It also means if there is a software issue we reinstall the software or fix the issue. It also means we do all the updates, etc to make sure the server is up to date.

Unmanaged means the server is YOUR responsibility (i.e. you break it, you fix it or pay tech support charges to have the server fixed).

BTW, it also takes a lot more than 1 server to make up an Hsphere cluster.

[DigitalSkyline]

I'm not trying to bash you guys... you need to make your money as everyone else and are free to charge what you want... just stating an opinion (unpopular as it might be around here, I'm sorry too, honest to a fault sometimes). Just my perception of the value being offered, and may be completely off base, it wouldn't be the first time.

I think I've found decent value with your reseller program... but as someone else pointed out in another thread, one could set up a reseller account, and get an unmanaged ded, and still have access to the hsphere cluster at a fraction of the managed cost and get more out of it in the process. Maybe its only something the more advanced people could do but its still an option... and as far as pricing I'm talking long term here...

While 169/month + 125 setup fees ... doesn't sound extreme, its over the course of a year, 2 years etc...where this becomes high priced. $2153 for the first year... $2028 every year after. After that cancel the account and you get nothing... when one could spend maybe $1500 on a decent server that they own, set it up at a place like the link I posted, and spend $600/ year... say it drops a drive after 2 years... replace with another say $200 drive (stretching these prices a bit just too be fair).... still would be much better off... and have a server that you own to show for it. Yes you would be responsible to keep it up to date... and backup your data... but how hard is that really? Worth $1200/yr ... I guess just not to me. Loyalty only goes so far.

Its a decent business model I suppose... in the first 6 months or so you pay for the hardware (take in to account depreciation) -- the following months are close to what... 90% profit? Overhead is a lot I'm sure... of course when you have hundreds of servers... this becomes less and less of a factor. If you get saturated with hardware from cancellations you can always lease them out at a reduced price, or unload it on ebay. babling on again... night.