How to Start Your Own Web Hosting Company - Business Perspective

This question has been asked over and over againsince web hosting has become so popular. There are a lot of differentanswers on the Web, but we will try to e objective and, hopefully, youwill be more educated in this matter after finishing this article.First, let's be clear on some things. Web hosting is not an easybusiness and nor will it make you rich overnight. Although popularContent Management Systems (CMS) and Control Panels (CP) make a lot ofpeople think that managing a server is an easy task, know that thesesystems have their limitations. Unfortunately, there are things that nosystem can do for you. So, let's get started! Time involved and financials Thinkof it this way; your customers will need technical and sales support 24hours a day, 7 days a week. So before you start your web hostingcompany, think about how much time you can invest in it. And let's faceit, you will be unable to provide support 24/7! The best thing to do ishire a few other people to manage it. Not many, just two or three. Youshould have all these things sorted out before you start the companybecause if your clients don't get the support they need, you will startseeing negative reviews all over the Internet. You will also need toinvest money in the infrastructure (servers, routers, hubs, bandwidth,etc). Aside infrastructure, you will need to buy licenses to dozens ofsoftware products. Software and knowledge Youwill need to know what are the latest software, their price, and howthey work. Software is not cheap and you will need a lot of it if youwant to satisfy all your clients. You must also know how it works. Forexample, if you are running Windows Server, you will need to haveextensive knowledge of IIS. You can find all about it in Microsoft'sKnowledge base, but it will take a lot of time to learn it all. Youmust definitely know everything about the options available, securityissues, and should be always on the lookout for any new patches. If youplan to use Linux, a good knowledge of Secure Shell Security (SSH) is amust. You can use a control panel, Cpanel, and its Web Host Manager,but without extensive knowledge of Telnet Commands, you will be unableto control it. Actually starting the company Thereare a few easy steps. First, you must register a company name (DBAname). Second, you must purchase or lease the servers. You need to makeroom for the servers and their afferent cables, switches, hubs, and soon. Next, you will have to find bandwidth provider(s). The final stepis to start marketing your services and hope clients will be attractedby your offer. Lisa served as product manager on one of the leading ASP web hosting company , specializing in offering ASP.NET Reseller Hosting support and services.

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