Hosting Web Sites

[watchdog]

Hi Folks....Just wondering what it takes to run a web hosting company besides massive disk space. Ive developed sites before, but would like to get into the hosting end of it someday. Thanks for your input.

Juan

[jerdo]

Stable, secure (not talking about ssl) servers, lots of bandwidth (t3 might work if you only have a few customers), lots of storage space, lots of RAM (if you are going to allow DB access which you will have to in todays market), a strong CPU or multiple strong CPUS (if you are going to allow scripting which you will probably have to). The most important part of this to begin with are the first 3 things listed. You can get by with a T1-T3, a few gigs of space, 512MB of RAM and a 1 GHz CPU for a while but once you get more customers you will need to get those bumped up, especially the bandwidth.

[planetsim]

I think what jerdo suggested is good for the start.
But it also depends what your gonna try and host. Now most hosting sites have things like We dont host Porn sites. etc

Now jerdo didnt tell you costs. Now i dont have a server but costs can outway profits.

So you must be careful and before buying anything like this. research the best value for money. Also research what the expensers are.

Connection
Repairs
Installation if you dont know how
Cost Per Month

You will also need to expect that there are many hosting companies out there now, so your gonna need a lot of luck, time and patients before you start getting any real customers.

[mpirvul]

Or ... just find a hosting company that already has it all together, and puts its clients into a position to profit without the constant headaches associated with designing, deploying and maintaining such a network. I mean, obviously you need to find a REAL hosting company, not some schmuck on a DSL line behind a Linksys DSL router/firewall or running a handful of lame little Cobalts. lol ....believe me, I have seen it.