Starting a webhost

[Jonathan Craig]

I had to put this in a seperate thread to the scripts one http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/wink.gif Hope you don't mind.

We're launching a webhost in August (would be sooner, but with the move to the new office and installation of new ATM's, it will take a while) and would greatly appreciate suggestions regarding pricing, options/features, etc.

What we have lined up so far, basically, is..
$2/GB flat, no overages.. Onetime setup fee and no monthly fee (except what you pay for bandwidth).. We already have departments to handle things like 24/7 tech support and NOC monitoring. At launch, we'll have capacity for approx. 100 dedicated server customers and around 1,000 virtual accounts.

Please feel free to spit suggestions my way so I can look good in front of my boss http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Best 2 suggestions get free hosting for a year, 50GB/month limit.

If this sounds spammy, I assure you it isn't heh. Just trying to get a nice layout for the new service and customers opinion is always the best.

Regs,

Jon

[PornoWill]

It IS spamming, please post your other posts like this in the spam board.

[Jonathan Craig]

It's not really spamming since it isnt fully planned nor will it even open for months. It's not like I'm giving out a URL and praising an already existing service.

I lined up what we got and asked for suggestions to improve it. How wrong is that? We're not even running yet.

Geez talk about being critical.

If the mods think of it as spamming, they can delete it. I'll trust their opinion.

[DemonWolfe]

I like the $2 a gig, but I never have paid a setup fee. Sure, most places say they have a setup fee, but I've never paid one.

I figure if the company does a good job hosting, I will stay with them, and I do 1,000+ gigs a month. They make their money. Hell, the host I am with now I have been with a year and a half...

I'm paying $3 a gig, and I've seen many cheaper offers out there, but they are never as reliable or as fast for the long term.

Just my 2 cents... I like pay as you go, but I don't think the business plan is sound. Lets say 50 people open accounts with you, and they each do on average 20 gigs a month. Thats a hell of customer support, billing, invoices, etc. All that work and you charge them the same amount as someone who does more traffic than all them combined. Just doesn't sound right to me.

I'd go with a sliding scale. 1-50 gigs a month, $2,50 a gigs, 50-100 gigs, $2.25 a gig, and 100+ gigs $2.00

Just my thoughts...

PS- I got spamed today from a company offering $1.40 a gig hosting, and down to 99cents a gig if you do over 1,000 gigs a month...

[Jonathan Craig]

Thanks for the input DW!

And customer support, billing, techs, etc already work with other things so extra costs won't be running that high until customer base expands on the hosting side. So that's no worry anyway.

I also think those that offer ridicolous prices like $0.99/GB (even if it's for 1,000+GB) shouldn't be used unless you know for sure they're a large ISP with good setups, 'cause otherwise they'll crash for pretty much the same reasons you mentioned above.

Thanks for your input man!

-Jon

[Due]

Remember to make it secure http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif
So people only have access to their own directories and not all the directories on the server when they are on shared hosting