web hosting

Starting Your Own Business Through Reseller Hosting

With the U.S. economy suffering like never before, more consumers are unemployed, thus more people are looking for ways to generate money online.  Fortunately, the internet offers endless opportunities for those looking to bring in a few extra books.  Many have been successful with affiliate marketing while several more have learned to master advertising programs like Google AdSense. One of the easiest and most affordable ways to start an online business is a unique type of hosting known as reseller hosting.

Reseller Hosting Defined

Reseller web hosting is a type of web hosting that allows you to purchase server space, bandwidth and other features from a legitimate hosting provider, and then sell hosting packages to customers of your own.  As a reseller, you get special software for creating hosting plans while your customers get a control panel application to manage their own hosting environment.  Though more expensive than traditional shared hosting, the resources and services you get in return usually result in excellent value for your money.

Benefits of Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting offers a number of benefits to the ambitious entrepreneur.  The greatest benefit is perhaps cost efficiency that allows you to purchase bandwidth and disk storage in small allotments.  This way, you are not wasting precious resources and most importantly, money.  With such a minimal investment requirement, you can eventually work your way up to a dedicated server or at least yield small profits instead of incurring substantial losses every month.  This factor alone makes reseller hosting a great business to get into.

Another benefit of reseller hosting is having the full support of a professional web host.  As we all know, things do happen and most of it will relate to technical jargon you won’t have a clue about.  The hard drive on a server may fail, an OS kernel might get corrupted, there could be an outage in the data center – anything could happen.   The good news for you is that the web hosting provider is responsible for such issues.  When signing on for a reliable service, you can focus on selling more packages and appeasing your customers instead of worrying about the technical aspects.

Finding a Reliable Partner

A reseller account should be treated like a real business and therefore, you need to be very selective when it comes to choosing a service.   Most providers will only allow you to host a certain amount of domains and may also limit features such as email accounts, databases, scripting languages, or other important services.   Additionally, not every host can be depended on.  Your best bet would be to take advantage of the available resources and learn more about what’s out there.  This simply means asking friends or using your favorite search engine to find a reliable service.

Reseller Expectations

Many have made a successful venture out of reseller hosting but be warned, it will take dedication and hard work on your part.  There are no guarantees so you have to be committed to bringing in customers and providing a level of service that keeps them around.  This is all made easier when choosing the right reseller hosting solution.

Novella Reveals Plans for New IT Solutions

Last week, IT solutions provider Novell, unveiled a marketing strategy for what it is calling a “Service-Driven Data Center”.  The plan includes a line of integrated products the company says is custom designed to help clients enhance their agility while reducing complexity, risks and costs.  This concept is Novell’s latest move towards delivering more service-driven and business-centric IT solutions.

According to Novell, the new solutions will provide services designed to create, manage and effectively measure an advanced data center that enables IT executives to deliver flexible, cost efficient business services to their customers.  The plan is said to couple the SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Server platform with the recently acquired ManagedObjects and PlatSpin in the company’s portfolio of integrated products.

The Service Driven Data Center has been set to function in a heterogeneous environment.  It utilizes management and automation tools to measure the performance of complete IT services against their business objectives.  Novell’s concept is based on the following core values:

Build

Build is the company’s dedication to creating a flexible, highly efficient data center using SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 as its platform.

Manage

The manage characteristic relates to a holistic approach to virtualization and workload management.  This is made possible by using PlateSpin Workload Management solutions to leverage the company’s assets.

Measure

Lastly, the Measure aspect refers to the utilization of ManagedObjects, which provides business service management across multiple platforms and hardware types.

Released in March, 2009, Novell’s SUSE platform offers open-source benefits of the Linux environment along with enterprise features such as support for Xen virtual machines and Microsoft Management Tools.  It also offers a level of scalability that allows customers to run an unlimited amount of virtual machines.  This past February, SoftLayer Technologies made a similar move by adding SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to its line of server operating systems.

Reps at Novell say the solutions allow customers to maximize the utilization of their IT assets within a compliant and secure framework, enabling those who have plans of running a server farm, building an internal cloud or leveraging an external cloud.   Jeff Jaffe, Novell chief technology office and executive VP of business units, says that the company has received helpful feedback from a number of customers and partners.  The one thing they heard the most is that IT exists to deliver services to meet business demands.  Jaffe says Novella is confident that the new solutions are what IT teams need to meet those demands.

The news of Novell’s vision for its data center comes at a time when several of the industry’s key players are making announcement to gain a competitive edge in the very lucrative data center market.  Just last month, Cisco revealed Unified Computing System, a new data center strategy that unifies server, network, storage and virtualization resources into one energy efficient system.  Ironically, Sun Microsystems recently turned down a $7 billion acquisition offer from computer giant IBM.  It is reported that the move would have improved Sun’s infrastructure to compete with market rivals like Hewlett Packard.

Peak 10 Makes Enhancements to Raleigh Data Center

Peak 10, a managed hosting service provider and independent data center operator, has enhanced its national image with advanced solutions through a recent partnership with PowerSecure and Process Energy.  This partnership has resulted in a custom power generation and protection solution that will allow Peak 10’s data facilities to continue the essential support customers need in today’s business economy.  Due to its continuous success in the Triad and Triangle regions, the provider is adding to its raised floor space in the Raleigh facility to compensate for the expansion.   The new power solution is designed to provide scalability on both the utility and generator levels, virtually eliminating power constraints in the future that could result from load growth.

Sidney Hinton, PowerSecure Chief Executive Officer, commends Peak 10’s Raleigh, North Carolina team for its proficiency and enthusiasm in regard to the expansion.  Hinton says that as a valued partner, Peak 10 has demonstrated unwavering devotion to delivering efficient solutions within a progressive data facility.  Greg Rollet, Peak 10 regional vice president of market operations, added that the collaboration with PowerSecure and Process Energy shows the providers dedication to its customers.  Rollet believes that the recent enhancements will enable the Raleigh facility to remain the most progressive and technically advanced data center in the Triangle region.

Company Info

Peak 10 currently owns and operates facilities in nine major markets including Atlanta, Georgia, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Ohio, Jacksonville and Tampa, Florida, Louisville, Kentucky, Nashville, Tennessee and Richmond, Virginia.  The provider’s managed hosting and data center services increase revenue, lower expenses and maximize internal resources for its customers all while keeping their most valuable assets close to the business.  Peak 10 combines its state of the art data centers, secure network and impressive portfolio of managed services, localized support and engineering to serve industry-leading organizations throughout the country.   Some of these companies include Churchill Downs, Global Knowledge, LendingTree, Pergo, Rivals.com and The Fresh market.   SAS 70 Type II compliant, Peak 10 helps these organizations meet requirements of various regulated compliance acts such as HIPAA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, PCI and Sarbanes-Oxley.

Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Process Energy is a Fortune 250 energy company with over a 20,000 megawatt generation capacity and $9 billion in yearly revenue.  Approaching its 100^th birthday later this year, the company includes two major utilities that provide service to an estimated 3.1 customers in both the Triad and Triangle markets as well as Florida.  Progress Energy is the first utility company to receive the J.D Power and Associate Founder’s Award for its quality customer service.

Power Secure International is a leading energy management and conservation systems provider, delivering solutions to its utilities, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.  The company also provides solutions with regulatory and legal consulting, energy-efficient engineering and construction and energy conversation services.  PowerSecure forms relationships with trusted partners to develop and install Interactive Distributed Generation systems and other services that monitor load and peak demand conditions, enhancing system reliability while providing its customers with emergency power in the event of outages.

The Gator Goes Green

Green hosting is becoming common these days as more companies have taken the initiative to power their data centers in cleaner ways.  Webmasters now have the choice of playing a role in conservation or continuing to contribute to the problem.  Perform a Google search on the term and the results will be overwhelmed with providers advertising promising technologies such as “sustainable websites”, “solar powered web servers” and “wind powered hosting”.  Some of these companies have been environmentally conscious from the very beginning while others have realized their negative impact on the planet and decided to make the switch.

Green is Good

Good Avocado, Think Host, Host Papa  – these are just a few of the well known companies in the web hosting industry that operate on renewable energy sources.  It seems like we can add Host Gator’s name to the list as well.  This past September, a user of the service suggested that Host Gator create icons clients could embed on their sites specifying a “green” status.   Apparently the people at Host Gator liked the idea, going out and posting slogans letting the public know they were undergoing an environmental make-over.  Quotes like “Powered by Texas Wind”, stirred the pot with reseller clients who then requested specific,  non-branded green labeling for their accounts.  It is reported that Host Gator is currently working on such developments to meet these demands.

Host Gator is Seeing Green

The initial suggestions came shortly after an August announcement when Host Gator’s plan to offset its carbon emissions were revealed by Matthew Collins, President and CEO of Integrated Ecosystem Market Services.  Based in Chicago, the carbon consulting firm worked closely with Host Gator to develop an REC (renewable energy credit) program and set the change in motion.

In a recent blog posts, Collins spoke on the huge impact the IT sector has on our climate, touching on the fact that 3% to %4 of the electricity and its associated carbon emissions in the world are attributed to running data centers.  To play their role in making a difference, Host Gator has purchased RECs to compensate for 130% of the company’s electricity used to power and cool an abundance of servers for shared and reseller clients.  Additionally, all of Host Gator’s Houston-based RECs employ wind power that was generated in the state of Texas.  Collins added how most web hosts that purchase RECs typically get them from the least expensive location.

While it’s definitely a huge step in a positive direction, the investment of RECs isn’t Host Gator’s only effort at conservation.  The company recently cut back on its environmental impact in the office by reducing paper use and recycling.  Host Gator also made the move to more efficient servers not too long ago.

A user responded to the original post in late September, commending Host Gator for making the change and working with socially responsible non-profit organizations.  It is good to see a company that purchases renewal energy credits and actually does something to make a difference by changing it’s practices.  Already known as one of the most reliable names in the business, it looks like the Gator has another worthy notch in its belt.