webmasterbeta
New Member
I run a reselling business that hosts roughly 125 domains at this time after starting out in the fall of 2005.
Currently, I am with a host that is local to me, provides great features and services, but as of late, their support has been absolutely non-existent, and even emails to their sales address have gone unresponded to. I can answer about 85-90% of my support emails, and rely on them to help me with those I can't. The also install SSLs, provision IP addresses, etc.
I am running on a shared setup with them, on a dual xeon 2.6 machine. However, I am considering an upgrade to a dedicated box - and my question is this: is it better to remain on a shared setup on a high end box, or go to a dedicated box that is lower end hardware-wise?
Thanks for any help - I am really struggling with what my next step should be, as I contemplate leaving my current host.Your main problem is going to be administration and I guess that is why you posted in this area. I would go for a managed server if your going to get a dedicated server.A low end server for the amount of domains you have should be ok (as long as none of them use to many resources) however you many want to consider using a VPS before your step up to a dedicated.The step from shared -> dedicated is a bit learning curve as there are many more things to worry about. So for the first few months I would suggest getting an admin company like rack911.com or serversupportguys.com to look after your server and teach you the ropes in a sort of weird way (they wont 1 on 1 teach you)Thanks for the reply. I guess I should have qualified my last post by saying I want the most hands off approach possible, so I can stick to the business side and the client interactions as well.I have a pretty dialed in setup at this point with a system that automates everything (account setup and billing), and I don't really want to have to do anything beyond supporting my customers...Well you then really have two options go with a fully managed hosting provider. Or going with an unmanaged service provider and then get a server management company to manage any problems for you.Fully managed seems like the best for me. Can you recommend any, preferably west coast located?What I am looking for is a cPanel / php / Linux setup (because that is what I am currently on). I currently pay about $65 a month for 10GB space / 100GB transfer plus about 8 dedicated IP's. I'm willing to step up to $150-$175 or so if it gets me great support and reasonable space/bandwidth.You can go for a reseller like server4sale or a company like liquidwebI suggest you to go for a dedicated server . you will avoid many problems like you will se in a shared hostingWhat is your current growth rate of you company?
Do you add many new customers a month? if you add alot of customers a month you will want to go with a dedicated server that is managed or with a management company like stated by some of the others.
If you are stable as far as clients and only see a couple of new clients per month then a large VPS plan would do well for you.
The budget you have for a fully managed server is pretty low for quality service but there are some out there so you may have to look hard to find one to get a managed server at that price.
On the other hand for a fully manged VPS you could spend less money.
Currently, I am with a host that is local to me, provides great features and services, but as of late, their support has been absolutely non-existent, and even emails to their sales address have gone unresponded to. I can answer about 85-90% of my support emails, and rely on them to help me with those I can't. The also install SSLs, provision IP addresses, etc.
I am running on a shared setup with them, on a dual xeon 2.6 machine. However, I am considering an upgrade to a dedicated box - and my question is this: is it better to remain on a shared setup on a high end box, or go to a dedicated box that is lower end hardware-wise?
Thanks for any help - I am really struggling with what my next step should be, as I contemplate leaving my current host.Your main problem is going to be administration and I guess that is why you posted in this area. I would go for a managed server if your going to get a dedicated server.A low end server for the amount of domains you have should be ok (as long as none of them use to many resources) however you many want to consider using a VPS before your step up to a dedicated.The step from shared -> dedicated is a bit learning curve as there are many more things to worry about. So for the first few months I would suggest getting an admin company like rack911.com or serversupportguys.com to look after your server and teach you the ropes in a sort of weird way (they wont 1 on 1 teach you)Thanks for the reply. I guess I should have qualified my last post by saying I want the most hands off approach possible, so I can stick to the business side and the client interactions as well.I have a pretty dialed in setup at this point with a system that automates everything (account setup and billing), and I don't really want to have to do anything beyond supporting my customers...Well you then really have two options go with a fully managed hosting provider. Or going with an unmanaged service provider and then get a server management company to manage any problems for you.Fully managed seems like the best for me. Can you recommend any, preferably west coast located?What I am looking for is a cPanel / php / Linux setup (because that is what I am currently on). I currently pay about $65 a month for 10GB space / 100GB transfer plus about 8 dedicated IP's. I'm willing to step up to $150-$175 or so if it gets me great support and reasonable space/bandwidth.You can go for a reseller like server4sale or a company like liquidwebI suggest you to go for a dedicated server . you will avoid many problems like you will se in a shared hostingWhat is your current growth rate of you company?
Do you add many new customers a month? if you add alot of customers a month you will want to go with a dedicated server that is managed or with a management company like stated by some of the others.
If you are stable as far as clients and only see a couple of new clients per month then a large VPS plan would do well for you.
The budget you have for a fully managed server is pretty low for quality service but there are some out there so you may have to look hard to find one to get a managed server at that price.
On the other hand for a fully manged VPS you could spend less money.