Reseller Hosting Demystified
Web hosting, such as it is, can be spread out into three major categories.
- Shared or virtual
- Reseller
- Dedicated
The most common of the three is shared, which is when you have an account with a hosting company to which you pay a monthly or yearly fee. Think Godaddy. This nets you a pre-determined amount of space and a “host” of other goodies. Often, each shared hosting account allows you to host one domain at a time, with a single control panel. They are low on frills but as long as demand necessitates them, they will still be around.
When a host if starting out, they often won’t have enough capital to afford their own server, not to mention the time for upkeep and maintenance. There’s also the small manner of, oh, trying to build their business. What can a host do when faced with this kind of a situation. Where are they to turn? This is when reseller-style hosting comes into the picture.
Just what is it?
Reseller hosting is when a Web host buys a bulk plan from the reseller hosting company, and then splits that big plan into smaller pieces for resale to groups or individuals. It works similarly to how anything in sales works.
The reseller host provides a valuable service where, for a fixed cost, substantial packages of space and bandwidth are made available. This is coupled with to ability to host bulk domain names. The customers, individual Web hosts, can then focus on attracting customers instead of the real-world nuts and bolts stuff that tends to drag new businesses down.
Who Operates the Server?
The sever is run by the reselling company. All major issues are also handled by the reselling company. The Web host can claim ownership of the server but this is partially misleading as they rarely have full access to it. They are free to ask for changes, however. For example, if a particular host needs a module installed to help run a script they have, they can request that it be installed. Most resellers are obliged to fulfill these kinds of requests.
So Why not Go Straight to the Reseller Host?
Most Web hosts make due with the amount of bandwidth allotted to them. A reseller-style account involves a large amount of space and bandwidth. This is way too much for a single site to use, unless you are Paypal or something.
Additionally, prices are generally more expensive at the reseller host than at the shared host. Smaller chunks into smaller prices. Single sites cannot afford that kind of initial investment usually.
What is Unbranded Reselling About?
When a reseller host says they offer unbranded reseller plans (sometimes referred to as ‘private label’ plans), it means they provide the hosting services to their customers in a way that appears they do not exist. Rather, the individual customer is given free reign to act as total provider.
How this works is that the reseller host uses an ambiguous domain as the primary name for their servers, purposefully not branding the site with their own name. This gives the impression the on-site company is larger than it actually is. Subterfuge, but useful subterfuge.
Who are reseller hosts most useful for?
Reseller hosts are useful for the following type of people:
“Overselling” — What’s It All About?
Overselling is a fairly common practice among Web hosts. Imagine a Web host might be allotted a set amount of space and bandwidth (for example 1000Mb of space and 10,000Mb of bandwidth), which they divide up to sell to their customers. Now, suppose the Web host offers plans that comprise 200Mb of space, and 2,000Mb of bandwidth. Without overselling, the Web host will be limited to only five of those plans before they’ve used up all the space and bandwidth they’ve purchased from their reseller. How are they expected to maximize profit this way?
Overselling works on the promise that individual customers will not use all of the data and bandwidth they are allotted. Overselling allows the host to, in effect, resell some of the space to other customers. This is a sure way to double your money, just as long as you have a firm grasp of what your customers use.
If this sounds a bit shady to you, don’t worry. Control panel software is available that actively prohibits your host from selling off your unused bandwidth. You never know when you are gonna need it, after all.
I need a Reseller Account! Who do I Pick?
That’s a tough one! Each reseller offers a variety of different packaegs for a variety of different prices. The old adage “you get what you pay for” is true here so be careful not to skimp too hard. Otherwise, the factors cited as most important by a customer of a reseller Web host are:
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