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how bad is it to resell dedicated servers?
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how bad is it to resell dedicated servers?

honestly i've never done webhosting services before, but i've got to know a good site that offers really cheap dedicated servers
i'm looking for this for a partial income, not going to be my main job or anything.
So i was wondering how bad it would be if i setted up my site and started to advertise it.

i mean, mostly professional webhosting websites have their own colocated servers in a housing somewhere.
meanwhile i would just resell some other company servers and i would not have full access to it, or if there's a problem
with some of my customers i can't really immediately deal with it without an answer from the company i'm buying to.

now i'm wondering if i really should go ahead with this or not.
Sure it would help me financially but at the same time, i do not want to offer a bad service to my customers.

also other main point would be, people can easily find to which company i am buying my servers to, and most of them
would switch to the main company, why would they pay more, have delays on their support issues when they can buy directly
from them?

these are some points im thinking about before making my move here, would like opinions from people around here if possible

Comments

  • @mohmal1 said: honestly i've never done webhosting services before,

    wrost combination.

  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    The end is nigh.

  • @mohmal1 said: honestly i've never done webhosting services before, but i've got to know a good site that offers really cheap dedicated servers

    Congrats on your first post

  • stefemanstefeman Member
    edited January 2021

    Only resell dedicated servers if you colocate. Don't rent to resell. Just don't..

    If you colocate, you can buy old blades from starting 120€ with decent speccs and blade housing from 300 upwards. You can fit up to 16 blades in some decently cheap blade housing. Then colocate that to some place like Serverius and rent a /24 ipv4 range and you have a bare minium setup to get started and you will also be unique compared to OVH resellers.

    Check this out: https://www.serverschmiede.com/en/server/hp/hp-blade-server/

    You can literally get started with 3.5k € and get full blade housing with 16x Dual E5-2640 blade servers and 10G ports, 1x /24 subnet for a month, a rented 10G switch for the blades, and single 10G uplink for the switch with fair usage policy. (1-2 petabytes of traffic per month without extra fees from Serverius)

    This is the cheapest way to get started and become unique dedi provider. But you will bleed from your anus when you see the first month electricity bill.

  • Ian_Dot_TechIan_Dot_Tech Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2021

    @stefeman said:
    Only resell dedicated servers if you colocate. Don't rent to resell. Just don't..

    If you colocate, you can buy old blades from starting 120€ with decent speccs and blade housing from 300 upwards. You can fit up to 16 blades in some decently cheap blade housing. Then colocate that to some place like Serverius and rent a /24 ipv4 range and you have a bare minium setup to get started and you will also be unique compared to OVH resellers.

    Check this out: https://www.serverschmiede.com/en/server/hp/hp-blade-server/

    I feel as though for someone newly just starting out such as OP, this is not the best first step.

    It is good advice for someone who has more experience in the industry though.

    My advice would be to get 1 server in colocation and rented out, then add another and grow 1 at a time. If you order let's say 16 blades, and no one wants the specs you wasted a lot of money. Learn the market and get adjusted to it before spending a large sum upfront.

    Also it can take time to find the right colo provider which suites your needs. If you were to colocate a blade system and later needed to move freight shipping would add up as well as remote hands.

  • stefemanstefeman Member
    edited January 2021

    @Ian_Dot_Tech said:

    I feel as though for someone newly just starting out such as OP, this is not the best first step.

    It is good advice for someone who has more experience in the industry though.

    My advice would be to get 1 server in colocation and rented out, then add another and grow 1 at a time. If you order let's say 16 blades, and no one wants the specs you wasted a lot of money. Learn the market and get adjusted to it before spending a large sum upfront.

    Also it can take time to find the right colo provider which suites your needs. If you were to colocate a blade system and later needed to move freight shipping would add up as well as remote hands.

    Sure he could buy cheap RISE range OVH servers during discounts like summer, new year, christmas and black friday, and resell them with profit via some WHMCS module and using OVH API, but he wouldnt be unique and only abusers and those banned by OVH would buy from him. I can image the DDoSers would love his service since you can buy OVH dedi for internal attacks without getting your own OVH account banned. Someone just absorbs the consequences for you for 10€ extra fee compared to if you bought from OVH.

    If your gonna resell OVH servers, do not sell dedicated machines. Only VPS. Otherwise you will get abuse.

  • Ian_Dot_TechIan_Dot_Tech Member, Patron Provider

    @stefeman said:

    @Ian_Dot_Tech said:

    I feel as though for someone newly just starting out such as OP, this is not the best first step.

    It is good advice for someone who has more experience in the industry though.

    My advice would be to get 1 server in colocation and rented out, then add another and grow 1 at a time. If you order let's say 16 blades, and no one wants the specs you wasted a lot of money. Learn the market and get adjusted to it before spending a large sum upfront.

    Also it can take time to find the right colo provider which suites your needs. If you were to colocate a blade system and later needed to move freight shipping would add up as well as remote hands.

    Sure he could buy cheap RISE range OVH servers during discounts like summer, new year, christmas and black friday, and resell them with profit via some WHMCS module and using OVH API, but he wouldnt be unique and only abusers and those banned by OVH would buy from him. I can image the DDoSers would love his service since you can buy OVH dedi for internal attacks without getting your own OVH account banned. Someone just absorbs the consequences for you for 10€ extra fee compared to if you bought from OVH.

    If your gonna resell OVH servers, do not sell dedicated machines. Only VPS. Otherwise you will get abuse.

    I agree with you, though I never suggested OVH. I was simply saying he should colocate a single server, rather than a whole blade enclosure for his first few systems to get the feel for the hosting industry since he said he was new to it.

    Thanked by 1stefeman
  • @mohmal1 said:

    with some of my customers i can't really immediately deal with it without an answer from the company i'm buying to.

    This can really be an issue. Your customers can get the worst support time.

  • Well, if it helps. I started out by renting out OVH servers and reselling them as VPS. There are many companies doing this, I think ExtraVM is the best example.

    But indeed like already mentioned above you will get a lot of customers who for some reason don't want to buy directly from OVH. Usually because they run a DDoS for hire service, host child porn or built phishing websites. New providers like you with no experience, eager to make a sell are very easy victims to those practices. Plus, they usually pay with stolen credit cards, so you will be facing chargebacks and the costs that come with that and trust me it's not cheap. You sell a VPS for $3/mo and suddenly you have to pay $15 for a chargeback and lose $18.

    But just from am economic perspective, there is no money to be made. You can't just rent a server open up a website and expect customers to come by and just buy it. It doesn't work like that. Your server will be running idle and nobody will come. In the meantime you will be paying the bills.

    Tell me why I should rent a service from you and not from a trusted brand who has been there for years and has great reviews? There is none.

    If I learned one thing it's that you should do your own thing, don't copy someone else you will just fail. Just do some research first. Find out what people want/need and are willing to pay for. Maybe specialized hosting, rare locations, other things you can come up with.

    If I can make a suggestion, start out with shared hosting, help your friends and family building a website. Then start with other people, relatives, then local businesses etc. and go from there. You will minimize your operating costs, hell you could just buy a cheap resellers package somewhere.

    @Ian_Dot_Tech said:
    I agree with you, though I never suggested OVH. I was simply saying he should colocate a single server, rather than a whole blade enclosure for his first few systems to get the feel for the hosting industry since he said he was new to it.

    A single server, so what about redundancy? What if it goes down do you have spare parts? Do you have time to drive to the DC and replace it, get it back up and running? What about backups? What if it's down for 2-3 days do you think your customers will be ok with that?

  • @mohmal1 said:
    ...
    i'm looking for this for a partial income, not going to be my main job or anything.
    ...

    In my opinion, it is not the best industry to dive in for part time commitments. Running a one man band with no full time commitment means you will not be able to monitor your service adequately. Something can go wrong at any time, and customers would not tolerate if you cannot solve it quickly. It takes time to build reputation which could be destroyed in one night when it goes wrong without you noticing.

    It does not really worth the effort, I believe.

  • If doing part time- make sure you tell clients what your office hours are. If you put 24x7 and are a company of 1, then you are just setting yourself up for a problem and to be mocked endlessly. Although some try to use the excuse of sick, family issues etc over and over, after a while people will realize you aren't 24x7 support and will justifiably mock you.

  • Hello @mohmal1,

    was thinking about something similar, but decided against it because as a lone wolf you can't offer 24x7. But I would love to bring something up in a joint venture. I have at the moment 2 dedicated servers and a bunch of VPS around the world running.
    My main intention is although to switch all to dedicated servers and from there to colocation to have at much control over the machines as possible. How I am an Anarcho-capitalist/Voluntaryist I would prefer to make crypto-only business and company offshore. So if you think it would be an idea let's get in touch and find some more interested people to make it happen - best in different time zones. BTW I'm in EST (-5).

    Also, I could imagine everybody making their own business, but help out each other for 24/7 support.

    Have a great day! :)

  • skorupionskorupion Member, Host Rep

    @process0 said: BTW I'm in EST (-5).

    Also, I could imagine everybody making their own business, but help out each other for 24/7 support.

    Have a great day!

    If imma get paid then im in GMT+1

  • @process0 said: was thinking about something similar, but decided against it because as a lone wolf you can't offer 24x7. But I would love to bring something up in a joint venture.

    Funny how people come out of the woodwork when they sense that someone has money

    Congrats on your first post

    I don't expect the OP to return

  • @skorupion said:

    @process0 said: BTW I'm in EST (-5).

    Also, I could imagine everybody making their own business, but help out each other for 24/7 support.

    Have a great day!

    If imma get paid then im in GMT+1

    Hello @skorupion,
    it was not my idea to look for contractors or employees. It was meant in a way to have a circle to grow together. So thank you for the offer, but this is not what I'm looking for ;)

  • SpecsblueSpecsblue Member
    edited January 2021

    Look deeper into the Server Market and look what issues people have, try to solve their issues by providing something special, or better.

  • @angstrom said:

    @process0 said: was thinking about something similar, but decided against it because as a lone wolf you can't offer 24x7. But I would love to bring something up in a joint venture.

    Funny how people come out of the woodwork when they sense that someone has money

    Hi @angstrom,
    I don't get it, the quote in combination to your response. Did you mean me with that?

    Congrats on your first post

    Thank you, but was not that hard :)

    I don't expect the OP to return

    Why? So many riddles for me to solve.

  • agomezagomez Member, Host Rep

    I think reselling servers "Bare Metal" it is not so bad, and more, if you add extra services, such as administration

  • MivoCloudMivoCloud Member, Host Rep

    Hello,

    Cheap does not always mean quality and fast.
    Our company has many resellers of services both Webhosting and VPS and dedicated servers, plus all our reseller program offer a discount on the services purchased.
    For details, access https://www.mivocloud.com/reseller-vps-program-usa-europe-russia-moldova-romania.

  • @stefeman said: Only resell dedicated servers if you colocate. Don't rent to resell. Just don't..

    Can you tell me how OneProvider reselles/sells all those dedis in somewhat 40 or 50 locations?
    Do they pay for all the gear in advance or its just resell them when a client places an order with them?

  • @JasonM said:

    @stefeman said: Only resell dedicated servers if you colocate. Don't rent to resell. Just don't..

    Can you tell me how OneProvider reselles/sells all those dedis in somewhat 40 or 50 locations?
    Do they pay for all the gear in advance or its just resell them when a client places an order with them?

    They have partnership discounts for being a large customer. Other locations, they ask quote so they can estimate 2-3x price to bill you.

    Thanked by 1JasonM
  • @mohmal1 said:
    honestly i've never done webhosting services before, but i've got to know a good site that offers really cheap dedicated servers
    i'm looking for this for a partial income, not going to be my main job or anything.
    So i was wondering how bad it would be if i setted up my site and started to advertise it.

    i mean, mostly professional webhosting websites have their own colocated servers in a housing somewhere.
    meanwhile i would just resell some other company servers and i would not have full access to it, or if there's a problem
    with some of my customers i can't really immediately deal with it without an answer from the company i'm buying to.

    now i'm wondering if i really should go ahead with this or not.
    Sure it would help me financially but at the same time, i do not want to offer a bad service to my customers.

    also other main point would be, people can easily find to which company i am buying my servers to, and most of them
    would switch to the main company, why would they pay more, have delays on their support issues when they can buy directly
    from them?

    these are some points im thinking about before making my move here, would like opinions from people around here if possible

    You can sign up as a reseller with the company you plan to source the servers from. This way they will always provide you with a commission even if the customer signs up directly on their website. Companies usually notify the reseller immediately when an order comes through one of their downstream so you will be able to monitor the order and ensure satisfaction for the customer.

    Build a good relationship with the company you plan to source from and you will have a much more comfortable time and create a win-win situation for the customer, you and the main company.

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