Hosting Life

Starting a web hosting company?

February 9th, 2007

If you are thinking about running your own web hosting company you probably wonder what exactly you have to do.   I’ll briefly go over a few things which I think are VERY important any new web hosting provider should know. (The advice given is based on a linux dedicatd server and a cPanel control panel.  However, the principals can be applied to Windows web hosting providers as well.)

• You should have your own dedicated server and know how to manage it and fix problems yourself.  You can of course hire a management team/company but you should know the basic linux commands.
• You need to know the ins and outs of cPanel and WHM.  If you haven’t heard of WHM yet it’s time to start reading the docs and looking at the demos.
• You need to know how to setup your own name servers in cpanel and with your registrar.
• You should have some idea of who your target market is.  Thinking anyone online who needs a web hosting provider is your target market is a poor way to start the business.  You need to target a small niche first and then another and another, and this will be in another article
• Your dedicated server provider should be there 24/7/365.   You should be able to reach them by phone as well as online support ticket.
• For web hosting providers I suggest TIER1 bandwidth not COGENT or the like.  (There’s a time and a place for this.)
• Having contacts in the industry is a great thing as they can provide you support and guidence.

Entry Filed under: Daily life