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Cory

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2011
23
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I'm considering of starting my own VPS Service as their seems like a big market for it.

I'm not new the running VPS Nodes as I've managed a lot servers for people and I always wanted to start my own vps node and was wondering what would be your input.

I've been into the Web Hosting industry since 2004 and been online ever since and I don't want to over exceed myself and get my company a bad reputation, because that can happen when offering a new service.

Since I use WHMCS for a "Billing System" I plan on using SolusVM on XEN Kernel, thus would allow me to see Linux and Windows operating systems.

Licensing
-Linux is Free, So won't have a problem install this.

-Windows isn't Free, but Windows offers 180 Day trials on their licenses and that equals to 6 Months of a valid license or if I use a "Dedicated Server" company that offers Windows Licenses, they're usually more than inclined to offer you them at a discounted rate including their control panels;

-cPanel
Clients you want cPanel/WHM - SolusVM offers a BuycPanel add-on where I'll have an API key and instantly activate service via my WHMCS.

-Kloxo
People prefer not paying for a "Control Panel" they want a free alternative.

IP Addresses
-Each VPS would get approx. 2 IPs, but that's the only problem - IPv4 Space has been all allocated to everyone, it's all gone! So going with a host that the IP Space is what you're looking for;

Did you know there is a Class E IP Addresses? but they're for private usage, but there is going to be a conference a lot people will be attending I think in June in regards to open those IPs up and release them and should last us a few more years and by which this would get all software creators in gear to mandatory upgrade their solutions to support IPv6 whereas nothing is really compatible with it.

Only concern is, basically after I fill one server up to approx. 50 VPSes (This will be a decent server to support that) - It would have to pay for itself and hopefully double that to be able to cover cost of another node. (server)

XEN supports Linux and Windows running on a Linux Server; So offering both of these is a plus all by itself and could easily break even, but if it doesn't pan out; then I would have to sell the node to another VPS Service and cut my losses, What would your opinion be on that? As I don't want to be called "Fraud" because I don't succeed, unless I put in some kind of note as a "Trial Based" plan;

Let's do this for to get an idea;

Mock VPS Order (Not Real, no money will be exchanged)

Type your "VPS Package" you would like and how much you would pay for it, include, Diskspace, Bandwidth, Memory, Burstable Memory, IPs (Min. 2), Operating System and Control Panel.

I would offer 24/7 Support via Ticket and Phone (Including, Google Voice so it's free for other people)

Who ever does this would considered a client (Not a real client, just a mock to see who would buy without actually ordering.) Basically, A test trial to see if I want to proceed or not.

I look forward for any of your input before I do anything, I current offer SHARED, Proxy, Reseller and Media Services (Read Signature) and would like try to extend to VPS Services, but need to know if I should proceed or just stay out of the niche.

Regards,
Cory
 
12 comments
you should do it man
we need some more "knowledgeable in servers " people as ur self to open up a good reliable host and u seemed to have it all thought out
maybe u have all in one
shared
vps
semi
and dedi
under one name

go for it :|
 
Type your "VPS Package" you would like and how much you would pay for it, include, Diskspace, Bandwidth, Memory, Burstable Memory, IPs (Min. 2), Operating System and Control Panel.
Click to expand...

Diskspace: 100GB
Bandwidth: 5TB
Memory: 3GB RAM
Burstable: 4GB RAM
IP: 2
OS: Windows Server 2008
Control Panel: None

Hmm I would probably pay $55-70 depending on the port, location etc.
 
Time said:
Diskspace: 100GB
Bandwidth: 5TB
Memory: 3GB RAM
Burstable: 4GB RAM
IP: 2
OS: Windows Server 2008
Control Panel: None

Hmm I would probably pay $55-70 depending on the port, location etc.
Click to expand...

Considering - Chicago, IL USA
1 Gbps Port

Also as note, Windows does have Control Panels, including, Plesk, cPanel(by, BuycPanel) - I'm some majority would consider using this as an 'RDP' service.

Also, What are you views on 'Unlimited' or 'Unmetered'? Don't offer? Most people are respective to 'Unmetered' than 'Unlimited'.
 
Only concern is, basically after I fill one server up to approx. 50 VPSes (This will be a decent server to support that) - It would have to pay for itself and hopefully double that to be able to cover cost of another node. (server)
Click to expand...

Wayy too many vps's on a single node in my opinion.

You should know that the port speed, CPU power etc, would be shared between all the containers. Imagine 10 vps's all downloading @ 10mb/s - your 1gb/s port would be maxing. etc. You should put all these factors into consideration before you operate such a business.

You should consider lowering it to a much lower/reasonable amount.

But as usual, I would say best of luck and I hope you do go ahead and start this ;)

regards,
Ryan
 
Ryan is right 50 is too much, and don't go with Unlimited for space but for Bandwidth that might be good so that customers share Bandwidth.
 
Okay, after reading this, I gotta say something. 50 users. Maybe 32GB RAM would handle them. Maybe a dual quad core processor would handle them. Maybe a 1GBPS connection will be enough for them. But what the hell do you think how the HDD's would work?! RAID10 wouldn't be enough for that!
 
50 VMs = 1 Node ?

I have worked for large companies, I consolidate for a lot of people here around WJunction. Not even the largest Servers should hold more than 15 - 20 vm's max especially with Xen

@ nidzabg

Your saying maybe 32 GB of ram that would handle maybe 20 - 25 VM's, Along with a Duel Qaud it would hold up good with 15 - 20

Point of the matter is if your planning on launching a VPS Company its going to take money up front, Most companies do not make a penny the first year.

And ofc, I know from personal experience not to host more than 10-15 Virtual Machines on a single node.
 
I have on my servers 18 VServers.

Server:
12GB RAM
Intel i7 920 (8x 2,66Ghz)
1Gbit Port

They are all running smoothly with no lags,bugs or other things :))
 
Thanks for all your input and no I never actually managed a full VPS Node, What I have done regards to VPS Management was 'Server Administrator'.

and, I said approx. 50, and I agree with you it does seem kind of high and actually the server was going to very powerful to support it, but after reading I might be cheaper to go to a smaller solution and pay a cheaper price to handle to 15-20 VMs and just when I need to add another 'Node' I'll buy the exact or similar server.

and from what I understand, AMD is better with virtualization than Intel, so I'll be going with some nice Opterons.

That's why I needed everyone's input, If I got a server that couldn't handle 50 VMs - Could you imagen if I tried? Even if I got the server to support it. I probably would only do 40 so I'm not over exceeding myself and it would just come out and everyone would throw everything out of proportion "VPS Node sucks and a SCAM", hence the purpose of this thread.

Lastly, I'll consider everything you mentioned and if I do, I'll be branding it AS a sub-entity of my parent company, so if I were to 'SELL IT' I could just sell that brand.
 
Hello,

50 is an ok number if you host small budget virtual servers on it. Those are usually used only for testing purposes, means those aren't CPU or I/O intensive.

Kloxo is a nice free control panel and a lot of people will be using it. However, there are a lot of bugs(Kloxo doesn't start services automatically after it's installed, RoundCube is broken, XCache support from PHP Settings at Kloxo is broken as well etc). You might want to take some time and fix Kloxo first, it will save you a lot of time later.

I prefer Intel over AMD. I have been using both of them and Intel is a much better solution in my experience(2x AMD Opteron 2218HE vs Intel Xeon x3440, E5620 and E3-1230). You can go for Opterons in the beginning if you want to save some money though.

Drives are most important when it comes to VPS Nodes. It's a shame most of WJ providers run VPS Nodes on a single SATA2 drive. If you are doing it, do it right. I suggest 4 SATA2 7.2k RPM drives in hardware RAID10(with BBU), or at least 2 SATA2 drives in hardware RAID1 - Western Digital drives, no Seagate crap.

If you have any questions let me know.
 
Krun!x said:
Hello,

50 is an ok number if you host small budget virtual servers on it. Those are usually used only for testing purposes, means those aren't CPU or I/O intensive.

Kloxo is a nice free control panel and a lot of people will be using it. However, there are a lot of bugs(Kloxo doesn't start services automatically after it's installed, RoundCube is broken, XCache support from PHP Settings at Kloxo is broken as well etc). You might want to take some time and fix Kloxo first, it will save you a lot of time later.

I prefer Intel over AMD. I have been using both of them and Intel is a much better solution in my experience(2x AMD Opteron 2218HE vs Intel Xeon x3440, E5620 and E3-1230). You can go for Opterons in the beginning if you want to save some money though.

Drives are most important when it comes to VPS Nodes. It's a shame most of WJ providers run VPS Nodes on a single SATA2 drive. If you are doing it, do it right. I suggest 4 SATA2 7.2k RPM drives in hardware RAID10(with BBU), or at least 2 SATA2 drives in hardware RAID1 - Western Digital drives, no Seagate crap.

If you have any questions let me know.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt people will be using it for TESTING purposes and I specifically plan to run Linux and Windows, probably about 10 each after doing some reading, I guess it comes down to your server load you're putting on the server to make a decision if you want to add a few more vpses or simply, just limit yourself, buy another node and continue your services.

Kloxo is an 'OK' Control Panel, I prefer cPanel myself - but thats an paid solution and you're right it has some issues, I'm not going to fix Kloxo per-say, probably create a shell script that fixes all the common issues, so after install it correct any issues that would arise and wouldn't have any problems OR make things simple to create my own OS templates.

Everyone usually prefers Intel over AMD, but it's fact AMD handles Virtualization better, depending what is in stock at the data center, I'll be choosing that, AMD or Intel doesn't really bother me.

Yep, I personally don't care for RAID for home use, but it's a huge requirement in the web hosting industry including VPS Nodes, I knew that.

Can't really determined what drive to use, unless I decide to go co-located, but that has a lot PROs and Cons, easier to rent a dedicated server for a VPS Node.

I've considered of doing this for years - but never actually done, because I've been very cautions because I've worked for at least 2 VPS companies that have failed (Crissic and EarthVPS) and makes me skeptical and hence why I created this thread, because I don't want to FAIL.

Lastly, Would you consider offering a 'Free Trial' for VPSes for like 7 Days or do you think this will cause a heavy ticket overload; Whereas I wouldn't get anything in return until they paid; If they do pay or use and leave - and wouldn't get a bad reputation for 'SCAM' as no money would be exchanged. I doubt I would do this, I mean it would be way to get my name out, but again could dry up real fast, unless I limit to the first 10 users, That could work. I Know I'm rambling.

I apologize.

Regards,
Cory
 
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