In my last two posts, I talked about two options you could choose from when deciding to start your own Webhosting business. You could either start off as a Reseller, or go for your own VPS. This week I’ll talk about a third option, getting your very own Dedicated Server(s).

Dedicated servers are no longer the holy grail of Webhosting. At one time, the best options for a Webhost was their own set of Dedicated servers.

With the advent of VPS and Cloud services, customers now have alternatives to getting a Dedicated Server(s). But I don’t feel Dedicated servers are out of the picture just yet, far from it actually.

As mentioned in my previous post, VPSs have disadvantages that can be avoided with a Dedicated server. And are Cloud services really cheaper than a Dedicated server?

Most Cloud services are offered as a “pay only for what you use” option. Though this may sound like a good deal, you should find out how much it would cost to use all the resources on your Cloud package for a month, and then compare it to how much it would cost to rent a similar Dedicated server for the same period.

As you must know by now from my previous posts, the biggest advantage of a Dedicated server is, Control. Total and complete control over the server.

Like a double edged sword, this means you would also have to take care of server management. Compare prices of managed and un-managed servers when deciding.

If you started off as a Reseller and moved your way up from VPS, you may have the technical know how to mange the server, but will you have the time?

Starting of with a un-managed Dedicated server might be cheaper if you have the technical know-how, but if you run into problems, you wont have the time to handle it all. Go for a managed server, or a 3rd party support team if you are serious about growing your business.

Spend a lot of time designing your SLA and TOS, and make sure all your customers are aware of it. A mis-configured or vulnerable site could result in a lot of down time.

Even though security is always important, it is even more important if your server is un-managed. You won’t have your hosting company running regular security checks on your server, so make sure you do those, or if you get a good support team, they’ll take care of this for you.

I hope these ramblings of mine will be of some use to you if your planing to start your own Webhosting business. I’ve haven’t gone into much detail on the pricing of these three options compared to each other, mainly cause they keep changing and will depend on when you come across this post.

Keep these points in mind when checking out pricing options, so you’ll know what to expect from your package, and how much more you’ll have to pay to get what you need. Well, that’s it for now. I wish you success in your business!