Article in Hosting & Security

What you will need:

Dedicated Server (Linux Preferred)

Plans/Packages

Design

Billing Management Software

Ticket Support System

Communication with Clients

Alright, so you've got all of the above right? Well, now a day's many people would prefer to have a web host that they can trust. However, there are a lot of web hosts out there who are just in it for the money. You can't really trust all of them. But for the most part many web hosts are legit. So, you ask, "Why start my own web hosting companies?"

    The answer is pretty simple. You want to maintain your own services right? You don't want to be badgered by someone other maybe the administrator of the web server you are buying from. That is why your first step is to buy a web server from some company.

Who to buy from?

    The company that I suggest you buy from would be SoftLayer; they have been one of the best companies I have bought from. They provide just enough bandwidth to distribute among clients and just the right amount of space to start out with. So what exactly would be a good set-up to start with?

Intel Pentium 920 - 2.8 GHz

1 GB RAM, 1 250 GB HDD, 100 MBPS (I at the time this article was written have the 1000 MBPS), 2000 GB Bandwidth, Business Continuance License, Host Ping and TCP Service Monitoring, Any Linux OS, MySQL 4.1 for Linux, cPanel/WHM

The initial cost of this server would be $194.00. This is a good starting price for the server that you have just bought. After you have bought it and it has been set-up you are ready for the next step.

The Packages/Plans

    During the first few months you need to either make up your mind that you're going to make what you have just paid for the first month. Or try to extend it out to get clients and slowly and earn back the investment you inserted into this project. So, your plans are simple. Go for low space and low bandwidth at a high cost which will get you less customers. Go for high space and high bandwidth at a high cost this will get you a decent amount of sign-ups. Go for low space high bandwidth at a low cost which will get you a good buying rate. Or do both at a low cost which will most likely guarantee more sells but will probably use up your servers resources.

The Design

    When in the market for a web design you want to go over the top. However, you do not want the page to load too slowly. Quickness is the key. If your website loads too slow the client/customer will feel that your web server does not have the loading speeds that they require. So, you need to either go with just pure XHTML/CSS or find a designer who can make a great design for you. The type of design would need to be a fairly professional looking design. If you are not sure what you want take a look at other web hosting websites or try templatemonsters.com and look at what they have to offer web hosting companies.

>From there you need to integrate a few systems and software for your

web hosting

company to be complete.

Billing Management Software/Ticket Support System

    So, what software should you use in billing and ticket support? For billing you have the choice of ModernBill, ClientExec, WHM Autopilot, and other various billing software's. For support however, the best one that I have used would have to be Kayako the script itself is pretty easy to install and takes no time to set-up at all. You have gotten the software installed and everything is ready to go right? Wrong.

Communication to Customers

    Although having a billing and ticket system is necessary you must also consider that the clients would like to talk to you in the first place. This is where Kayako comes in handy. It has a built in feature that will let you talk LIVE with your customers. This is a great tool to have since it will give the client/customer a much better understanding of what you have to offer.

Content

    Lastly, you will need some sort of content to back up your web hosting company. The basic pages that would be the minimum requirement would be: about us page, contact page, plan/package page, support page, and a legal page. Although you can also have tutorials and other pages such as a forum to get feedback on those are not really necessary but give you a good foundation to start your web hosting company which will give your clients the feeling that you are not just another person that wants their money.

    This concludes the article I hope you got a general idea of the requirements that are needed to start a web hosting company. Now let's calculate the final costs of this whole project. These calculations are made in a 12 month span considering you will be around that long.

Dedicated Server: $2,328

Design: $300-400

Billing Software: $149.95 (WHM Autopilot)

Ticket Support Software: $299.95 (Kayako eSupport Suite)

Grand Total:  $3077.90 - $3177.90

That is a good price for your first year. You will most likely make this back in your first few months of service. Depending on the package/plan approach and also how well your customer service does.