Uk based reseller

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Posted by Roysmith, 06-26-2011, 04:22 AM
Hi I am looking at starting my own reseller hosting business and would like some advice. As I live in the UK and I expect most of my customers may be in the uk, is there any downsides to have my hosting reside outside of the uk? Or would it be better to offer uk customers uk-based servers? Also, I am keen on offering both linux and windows options and most of the hosting companies I have seen provide one or the other. Is there any way I can do reselling and offer both Linux and Windows options? Would a Master reseller account solve this for me? Any help is much appreciated Roy
Posted by HostXNow_Chris, 06-26-2011, 05:34 AM
Hi Roy, Definitely UK if most of your customers are from the UK. They should get better routing and latency = their websites will load faster. Do you have experience with both Linux and Windows? If not, I recommend sticking to Linux to begin with. You can always offer Windows later. Cheaper this way too. Do have a budget? Do you need a billing system like WHMCS? Or use BoxBilling (FREE) Do you need End User Support? You would not need much diskspace and bandwidth to start with as you are starting up. I recommend a host that allows you to upgrade diskspace/bandwidth and packages/server specs. Easier to upgrade/downgrade everything with the same hosting provider. Will you be needing SSL to secure billing area? Just a few questions to get started. - Chris
Posted by Roysmith, 06-26-2011, 08:33 AM
Thanks for the reply Chris I have more experience with Windows than Linux, so may be more keen to start with windows and then offer Linux later. I do some .net development myself but I would like to offer such things as Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal hosting which I believe are better run on Linux platforms. Looking around, it seems I would need 2 reseller accounts - 1 Linux and 1 Windows. Am I correct in that? Roy
Posted by BeZazz, 06-26-2011, 08:39 AM
Yes in most cases you would need 2 separate accounts. I am sure there would be some reseller accounts out there where you could have just the one account but I do not know of any. Have you used a Linux server with a cp like cPanel before? It is actually quite easy.
Posted by HostXNow_Chris, 06-26-2011, 08:57 AM
Yes, I recommend cPanel. End users love it. You could get a Linux and Windows reseller account. That is going to cost a little extra is all.
Posted by PremiumHost, 06-26-2011, 08:57 PM
Master reseller account cannot create both linux & windows hosting. If you have a good budget, you can consider getting two small reseller accounts Linux & Windows to start your hosting business. Hosting on UK server is recommended if you target customers in UK.
Posted by astutiumRob, 06-26-2011, 09:06 PM
Yes, although it may mean having 2 distinct reseller accounts - one for each OS type No.
Posted by Jennifer Robinson, 06-27-2011, 12:32 AM
Welcome aboard Roy! Hsphere control panel offers the feature of managing Windows and Linux reseller hosting from a single interface, however I cant think of any UK host that uses Hsphere now. I would recommend you to go with two reseller plans. Would highly recommend Cpanel with Linux and Plesk with Windows. Cpanel with Linux will be the most user-friendly control panel for you and your end users and also wont be a problem later, if you wish to migrate away to a new server or host. For wordpress, Joomla, drupal; a linux server will be an ideal choice whereas if you are looking for websites with .net and mssql support, then you will need Windows (preferably with Plesk).
Posted by Roysmith, 06-29-2011, 05:42 AM
Thanks to all for the advice so far. How difficult would it be, as a reseller, to offer both Windows and Linux packages to customers, but have the Linux and Windows options hosted with different providers? Basically, having a Linux reseller account with hostA and Windows account with HostB. Is this possible?
Posted by HostXNow_Chris, 06-29-2011, 09:52 AM
I don't suggest going that route unless you have a lot of staff who know both Windows and Linux. It's best to specialize with a certain OS Win or Lin. I would say that is much better for smaller companies. It can be a bit too much having to deal with Windows and Linux day in, day out, especially if their's only a few staff who only know the basics of each OS. As you'll be starting this yourself, I suggest starting with Linux first as it'll be cheaper due to lower licensing prices, etc. Besides, Linux/cPanel seems most popular for reseller hosting anyway.
Posted by XelionOne, 07-02-2011, 07:31 AM
Hi Roy. Right... Firstly, welcome aboard! All the help so far is all accurate (for as much as I read). I would like to give you some business pointers before you launch yourself into all this. I understand that you will want to offer both windows and linux platforms - and in time this may be a great option for you, however, I would highly recommend that you start with just one. Start with one reseller - learn to ropes, "lure" in some clients, break even or even make a profit AND THEN consider to offer windows hosting. If you start with everything at once you may make a large loss before you even have enough customers to break even. The reason why I recommend starting with Linux is because it is just a hell of a lot less hassle than windows. Windows has some... very few... advantages... If you configure your Linux environment correctly (or your host does) you will be able to also have .net (asp) running smoothly on a Linux machine making almost everything that can run on windows run on Linux. I would debate that the location of the hosting does NOT matter. What does matter however is the quality of the host, the quality of the service, the load on the servers, the quality of the datacenter in which the servers are located, the upstream providers and the facilities available. I currently run 20 servers in many datacenters worldwide - being based in London, UK; I ping my server in Leeds, UK I get a return at around 45ms; I then ping my server in Chicago, USA I get a return at around 115ms; If you manage to see the difference between 45ms and 115ms I will honestly award you a prize!! I have the same websites on both servers, when I load them on my 100MB virgin or 20MB BT connection - I honestly cannot see the difference. They are both graphic intensive and video intensive websites and they load just as fast! So in this case I honestly would not worry too much about the location as long as the servers and datacenters are in good states! The only time that a shorter ping time would be beneficial would be for gaming servers where the few milliseconds difference will create a little lag - especially on already high server loads. I would also recommend preparing an exit strategy - if you do not make a profit after a year and you no longer want to just throw cash in the pot to keep the services up - what will you do? How will you tell your customers that you are closing? Will you organise a deal with another provider to take the accounts over? Other than that... Good luck and let us know how you get on! Best.
Posted by Roysmith, 07-02-2011, 08:29 AM
Guys Thanks for all the advice. A bit of background. I currently do some website development and have a handful of clients. I develop primarily using asp.net and MS SQL which is why I need windows hosting, as I am not happy with my current package. So I will be moving my current sites to my new host. I see reselling as a way to expand my client base and business. I have a lot more experience of Windows than Linux, as my work experience has been supporting and developing Windows server solutions. My plan would be to start with windows reselling and at a future date start offering Linux packages, in the hope of broadening my client base. I was simply trying to get a handle on how much extra effort would be required to offer both Windows and Linux from the start or should I go with my plan above? I have been getting a lot of information from this and other forums. I appreciate the advice, especially on creating an exit strategy and will certainly look in to that. Roy
Posted by CyberHostPro, 07-02-2011, 10:25 AM
Hi Taking two plans is probably the best thing to do one plan for all your windows stuff then take a Linux plan for your new Linux accounts.
Posted by Jennifer Robinson, 07-02-2011, 03:55 PM
No doubt this is true, however, .net often goes with mssql which LINUX never offers.

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