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Website Reseller Hosting?


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Hey,

I'm a self-employed graphic designer and currently have a holding page for the business via Mr Site. Now before you say, "WTF. Mr Site. Crock of ****". I basically got free domain registration and hosting for a year when I opened my business bank account. Now, that year is coming to end in a few months and I want to change my hosting company. At the same time, I was thinking about offering reseller hosting. For the sake of argument, I'll use Web Hosting UK as an example. If I was to have their base package at ?14.99 per month, does that mean I can only offer the same sort of package as a reseller or does it mean I would be able to offer my own packages as long as they adhere to the limitations of reseller package I signed up with?

I also have a personal site hosted with 123-reg but I don't think they offer reseller options, unless I'm mistaken. What would be my best option? I'd like to move my business domain name (which is a dot com) to the new hosting company as maybe my personal domain (dot co dot uk) to keep everything in one place.

Any advice or options would be helpful. :)

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generally, once you purchase the reseller package you can divide it up however you want. your host should only care about what they're giving you, how you use it is up to you.

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I've had reseller web hosting before and it allowed me to create my own packages. Mine was unlimited so I could create what I wanted, but if we use the Web Hosting UK specs they offer 10GB space and 50GB bandwidth a month - I would expect that you would have to break this down into smaller chunks to make your packages, i.e. you could have 10 x 1GB plans with 5GB bandwidth each a month.

I don't think 123-Reg do offer reseller accounts. The prices for Web Hosting UK look good but I don't know what they're like - I'd also look at Just Host, Minthost and Heart Internet. Heart Internet is more expensive, but if you can get the business it might be worth it - I've got a few sites hosted with Heart Internet resellers and they're much faster and more reliable than others. However, they don't offer cPanel which might be a deal breaker, I personally find their own version fine.

Hope that helps - let us know what you decide to do.

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Site5 is pretty good, I've been with them for hosting and reseller hosting for a few years now.

GE

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1.) You do not need to transfer your domain away if you have it with 123-reg right now and are satisfied with their service/support. If you do want to transfer it away, do not transfer it to the the company you want to host with. I always recommend to keep both separated even though my own company offers this up.. I only truly recommend transferring to your host when you want them to manage everything of yours. So, either stay with 123-reg or transfer to somewhere like Namecheap or perhaps some other UK-based registrar (Clook). There is no harm in keeping all domains together with one registrar and your hosting separate. :)

2.) A reseller account is specific to one thing: you have a 2nd "tier" control panel that allows you to create hosting packages, features for packages and create new control panel accounts for domains. The example you posted is perfect in regards to it using cPanel/WHM. You'll have access to WHM (webhost manager) which is your "reseller" control panel that will let you create the aforementioned. Your clients will then have access to cPanel which is their domain's control panel. I would only ever recommend cPanel/WHM as out of all of the control panels, this is honestly the best.

3.) Are you dead set on the example provider you gave and/or it being a UK based company? The prices for what you get with their reseller are pretty bare minimum and you are slightly overpaying a bit. Their bandwidth compared to their disk space is also a little off.. One can use 1GB in disk space but go well over that 50GB :\. This is especially a concern for you as essentially you plan to host multiple websites. This small bandwidth quota might not be justifiable for what you want to do.

If you're not dead set and are keen to other suggestions, let me know. While I haven't utilized resellers in many years with some companies, I still am aware of their support/services so I would be able to recommend to you a plethora of hosting companies that offer resellers :).

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I've had reseller web hosting before and it allowed me to create my own packages.We provide Reseller as well as WHM Master Reseller hosting.I've been with them for hosting and reseller hosting for a few years now.

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I've had reseller web hosting before and it allowed me to create my own packages. Mine was unlimited so I could create what I wanted, but if we use the Web Hosting UK specs they offer 10GB space and 50GB bandwidth a month - I would expect that you would have to break this down into smaller chunks to make your packages, i.e. you could have 10 x 1GB plans with 5GB bandwidth each a month.

I don't think 123-Reg do offer reseller accounts. The prices for Web Hosting UK look good but I don't know what they're like - I'd also look at Just Host, Minthost and Heart Internet. Heart Internet is more expensive, but if you can get the business it might be worth it - I've got a few sites hosted with Heart Internet resellers and they're much faster and more reliable than others. However, they don't offer cPanel which might be a deal breaker, I personally find their own version fine.

Hope that helps - let us know what you decide to do.

A few people have recommended Heart Internet. They are a bit more expensive though and don't use cPanel. I'm wondering is it Suzi Perry's company, she's all over that site. Not that that's a bad thing though. :p

1.) You do not need to transfer your domain away if you have it with 123-reg right now and are satisfied with their service/support. If you do want to transfer it away, do not transfer it to the the company you want to host with. I always recommend to keep both separated even though my own company offers this up.. I only truly recommend transferring to your host when you want them to manage everything of yours. So, either stay with 123-reg or transfer to somewhere like Namecheap or perhaps some other UK-based registrar (Clook). There is no harm in keeping all domains together with one registrar and your hosting separate. :)

2.) A reseller account is specific to one thing: you have a 2nd "tier" control panel that allows you to create hosting packages, features for packages and create new control panel accounts for domains. The example you posted is perfect in regards to it using cPanel/WHM. You'll have access to WHM (webhost manager) which is your "reseller" control panel that will let you create the aforementioned. Your clients will then have access to cPanel which is their domain's control panel. I would only ever recommend cPanel/WHM as out of all of the control panels, this is honestly the best.

3.) Are you dead set on the example provider you gave and/or it being a UK based company? The prices for what you get with their reseller are pretty bare minimum and you are slightly overpaying a bit. Their bandwidth compared to their disk space is also a little off.. One can use 1GB in disk space but go well over that 50GB :\. This is especially a concern for you as essentially you plan to host multiple websites. This small bandwidth quota might not be justifiable for what you want to do.

If you're not dead set and are keen to other suggestions, let me know. While I haven't utilized resellers in many years with some companies, I still am aware of their support/services so I would be able to recommend to you a plethora of hosting companies that offer resellers :).

I'd prefer UK as if I ever need to phone them, it will only be a local call. I am open to suggestion though whether they are UK/US based. :)

I've had reseller web hosting before and it allowed me to create my own packages.We provide Reseller as well as WHM Master Reseller hosting.I've been with them for hosting and reseller hosting for a few years now.

Who are you with? unsure.gif

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A few people have recommended Heart Internet. They are a bit more expensive though and don't use cPanel. I'm wondering is it Suzi Perry's company, she's all over that site. Not that that's a bad thing though. :p

I'd prefer UK as if I ever need to phone them, it will only be a local call. I am open to suggestion though whether they are UK/US based. :)

Heart Internet reseller is £29.99 a month but it's unlimited everything. It is a bit more than some of the other plans with less space and bandwidth, but is cheaper than their higher plans so it depends on what you need - if something like 10GB space is enough you might as well save some money and go with one of the cheaper plans somewhere else. It isn't Suzi Perry's company, she's just 'the face' of Heart Internet and I agree ;)

cPanel is the standard and it's a shame Heart Internet don't use it, but I find their control panel very similar and simple to use - you can try it out here: http://customer.heartinternet.co.uk/manage/demo_hosting.cgi?account=1. See what you think before you write them off due to not having cPanel as I wasn't sure either but once I tried it found it fine.

I also agree with Cupcakes about keeping your domains separate - I register all my domains with 123-Reg and use a number of different hosting companies. I wouldn't be concerned about transferring them to a reliable host, but I'd never transfer them to a hosting company I'd picked just because they were cheapest. There's no need to transfer them, just change the nameservers and away you go.

Hopefully a few more people with give you some recommendations, also look at some reviews as you want to go with someone who's reliable with a good uptime - you don't want to get bombarded with emails from customers asking why their sites are down for the sake of saving a few quid a month!

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I'd prefer UK as if I ever need to phone them, it will only be a local call. I am open to suggestion though whether they are UK/US based. :)

I'm not sure why people are always so keen on phone support when it would be more beneficial for support ticket based systems.. I can see if you have a more premium service (eg: dedicated server) but for a reseller? I wouldn't say that phone support is that detrimental for a hosting service.

I'd really see if their reseller control panel is something you want to utilize for the rest of your time. The industry is primarily utilizing cPanel/WHM and not something custom made, although you'll also run across DirectAdmin, Plesk and other open source ones. It's just a bigger market full of cPanel/WHM and what people have been utilizing far more often.

Take a look over at Webhostingtalk:

Forum on reseller hosting in general - http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Forum for reseller hosting advertising - http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=130

Don't jump with any company when after seeing their prices/specs. Just look at their reviews first (keep in mind you want reviews from the last ~6 months and not what happened three years ago.)

Also, to whomever suggest the unlimited plan--stay away from ANY COMPANY that offers unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth. That is just asking for trouble. More often than not you'll be tossed onto an already crowded server. Not only that but it's never unlimited.

You might want to take a look at their Active Usage Policy and get acquainted with it. Do you really want to pay ?29.99/month but be limited to 25GB of bandwidth if you'll have clients that are offering up their own downloadable content for videos, music and "other files"? I think not.

Unlimited sounds great in theory but it's physically not possible. This is merely a gimmick by companies to lure you into the thought that you need more for less. You don't. If you think you need that much, save you money for a dedicated server and look into services like SingleHop[/ur] that give you 10TB bandwidth with a server, or 100TB that .. include 100TB bandwidth plans with their servers.

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While I agree that you should be wary of some companies offering unlimited plans, I don't think it's a major issue with the bigger companies - unlimited is just a way of saying they have sufficient resources that can cover whatever hosting needs the majority of people will have. There will always be a limit somewhere, and you should be aware of what it is just in case, but for 99.9% of people it will feel like it is unlimited as they'll never hit the imaginary thresholds. Heart Internet explain it here. If you fall into the bracket of needing massive space and bandwidth you should be looking at a dedicated server anyway, but they're so much more expensive I doubt there's any point looking into those yet as you're only just starting out.

It's the same as mobile phone companies offering unlimited minutes and texts - they'll always have a limit in place but it's unlikely many, if any, people will reach them. Don't dismiss a host just because they have an unlimited plan - check out some recent reviews and see what they're like, get recommendations etc. If we ignored all the phone companies that offer unlimited plans there wouldn't be any left to choose from!

In any case it doesn't really matter anyway as you will set your own plans so you can specify a set capacity and bandwidth to keep things realistic. Again, if people want a video streaming site that uses massive amounts of bandwidth they shouldn't be looking at buying from a reseller host.

Have a look around to get an idea of how much hosts charge, then maybe mockup some of your own plans and work out how many accounts you'd need to have to cover your costs. At the end of the day you'll be doing it to make some cash so you need to make sure you at least cover whatever you'll be paying for your reseller account. It's also worth finding out if friends and people you know might be interested in using your hosting once you're set up - I personally wouldn't like to be forking out ?15-30 or whatever a month and then find that nobody uses you.

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Unlimited disk space and bandwidth =! A mobile phone service offering unlimited minutes/text messages.

I don't need to read up on what Heart writes about unlimited hosting. It's the worst conception ever to come into the hosting industry and completely misguides people. I've run my own hosting company for six years now, so that is why I detest any company that advertises for a completely limitless hosting package when it's not true at all.

Not only that but did you skim past the link I gave for their AUP? If you have a client that offers legitimate downloads for their own videos, mp3s and "other files" Heart can, at their discretion, limit your bandwidth to 25GB. Now how do you feel paying that ?29.99/month? Not only that but why pay that much per month when you are just starting off? You take baby steps and give yourself an actual boundary to work with.

Are you really going to suggest that and have the OP setup packages with quotas he has no idea if he can support it (based on the AUP and the server's limits itself?) Creating a 50GB disk space package and a 200GB bandwidth quota.. when you've got a strict policy in place gives very little room to succeed. If any user needs a large amount of disk space and bandwidth, then a reseller package is not the route to go.

I still stick by my recommendation of going with a provider that a.) has limits on their disk space and usage and b.) offers up cPanel/WHM (although.. this is purely preferential so I guess it doesn't matter much when it boils down to the person paying).

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The mobile phone company comparison was clearly to show that unlimited plans, although not really unlimited, can and do work and the OP shouldn't be put off just because of it. The principles are the same - 'unlimited' usage and reliability. Reviews and recommendations are key, along with deciding exactly what he wants to offer.

I'm only using Heart Internet as an example as many major hosts offer unlimited plans, but if the OP was looking at a 10GB plan with 50GB bandwidth reseller account like he said in his first post, he isn't going to be offering 50GB disk space and 200GB bandwidth plans to his customers is he - he's clearly looking at smaller plans to just get started. The 25GB bandwidth limit that Heart Internet may impose could be concerning (no I didn't skim past it but had actually covered it in my previous post), but the OP can set a limit on all his plans so he'll never get near that - it's unlikely that all of his customers will max out their bandwidth at the same time so it shouldn't be a problem. Also, ?29.99 a month is a lot to start with, but as you can see from my first post I also linked to other cheaper hosts so it's up to him how much he wants to pay. He can start off with one of the cheaper hosts, or if he's got the business lined up go straight in with a more expensive but more suitable plan. I'm not only recommending Heart Internet - there are plenty of hosts that offer unlimited reseller accounts, but I'm glad you don't need to read the information I linked to as I posted it for the OP so he can read about how Heart Internet explain their unlimited hosting.

All I'm saying is he shouldn't rule hosts out just because they offer unlimited plans - that doesn't make them a bad host, and with more and more hosts offering them you're really minimising your choice. I agree it's misguiding - but unfortunately it's just the way it is and a marketing tactic that more and more hosts are using, probably to compete in a very competitive market.

The main thing is to read lots of reviews and go with a proven and reliable host, be it a fixed limit host or an unlimited one.

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