Starting a WebDesign buisiness. Advice needed.

[enplusone]

So here's the story.

 

Me and my best friend have started it up, almost a year ago, and we now have 2 OsCommerce sites under our belt, a little forum and a simple web site. Things are progressing slowly as we have a ton of stuff to learn and we are not physically in the same space. Now for the problems.

 

Hosting:

 

Until now a friend of ours hosted for us with no charge, but as he is not a full time hoster he can't support us in almost any way. (All of our pages/email accounts are down for more than a week and he is nowhere to be found,just an example).

So now I'm in search of a dedicated server.

 

Problems are:

 

a. Can't spend more than 50 Euro a month for the service

b. My non Microsoft knowledge is non existent.

c. Don't know what hardware/OS/Cpanel/... setup is the one we must choose for our particular needs

 

We are located in Greece (Southeast Europe) and 99% of our traffic is local (for the time being I would like to believe) .

 

So what would you do?

 

 

I don't mind diving into Linux, but is this really called for? From what little research I've done so far, seems that people go for Linux, for stability-safety reasons. Should I choose Linux too?

 

 

 

Future Steps:

 

 

After the server problem is fixed we need to plan for the next steps. There are some paths to take here. Seeking local jobs, making directory-type, web sites, making forums and profiting from ads, other stuff. What would you suggest. Is it better to concentrate to just one way to make a profit, or is it better to give a try to anything you can get your hands on?

 

 

Sorry for the naive questions and the bad English, but we are in a very tight spot here and sometimes I feel like giving up. Hope you can help out.

[ABCommerce!]

I would get a Reseller Account or a VPS instead of a dedicated server. They have almost the same features but cost a lot less. If you can find one that allows you to have your own nameservers it will save you some trouble epanding later to a full dedicated server.

[enplusone]

What will I be giving up with the VPS? Surely there has to be something on the downside. I don't really know what a Reseller account is but I will look into it. Thanks for the reply.

[kerm1t]

The performance on a VPS or shared server tends to suck, compared to a dedicated server. Personally I'd think clients would appreciate a fast site - that might be part of the reason they'd host with you instead of one of the bigger hosting companies. On the other hand, if your business is starting out, shared/VPS might be fine - a dedicated server is going to need more looking after, and probably some occasional professional (no offense) maintenance

[GemRock]

there is no such thing as a 'dedicated server' for 99% of online business unless yours is really big that you hire a server to host your own shop and your own shop only. in other words, 99% of online shops are hosted on shared servers, which is why they are their.

 

on another note, there are only two kinds of servers: one is top quality servers the other is dodgy servers. a dodgy server, be it dedicated or not, remains a dodgy server. a top quality server, on the other hand, be it shared or not, remains a top quality server. so, a reseller account on a top quality server can still provide top preformance.

 

definotion: top quality server means state of the art hard/software, fast network, not over-loaded and load balanced.

 

Ken

[♥FWR Media]

The performance on a VPS or shared server tends to suck.

 

I have several VPS and the reason is the exact opposite of what you are stating here (although it has to be a good VPS provider).

 

On every single test I have performed my VPS has trounced a dedicated server (pound for pound) .. so .. I'll be staying with multiple VPS :)

[enplusone]

So what would you do if you were in my shoes?

[♥FWR Media]

So what would you do if you were in my shoes?

 

I would go along to a popular web hosting forum .. read up on responses for the best VPS suppliers and go get one.

 

Just bear in mind you'll need to gen up a bit on server basics, but a good supplier will handhold you through getting it up and running.

[jaybee1960]

So here's the story.

 

Me and my best friend have started it up, almost a year ago, and we now have 2 OsCommerce sites under our belt, a little forum and a simple web site. Things are progressing slowly as we have a ton of stuff to learn and we are not physically in the same space. Now for the problems.

 

Hosting:

 

Until now a friend of ours hosted for us with no charge, but as he is not a full time hoster he can't support us in almost any way. (All of our pages/email accounts are down for more than a week and he is nowhere to be found,just an example).

So now I'm in search of a dedicated server.

 

Problems are:

 

a. Can't spend more than 50 Euro a month for the service

b. My non Microsoft knowledge is non existent.

c. Don't know what hardware/OS/Cpanel/... setup is the one we must choose for our particular needs

 

We are located in Greece (Southeast Europe) and 99% of our traffic is local (for the time being I would like to believe) .

 

So what would you do?

 

 

I don't mind diving into Linux, but is this really called for? From what little research I've done so far, seems that people go for Linux, for stability-safety reasons. Should I choose Linux too?

 

 

 

Future Steps:

 

 

After the server problem is fixed we need to plan for the next steps. There are some paths to take here. Seeking local jobs, making directory-type, web sites, making forums and profiting from ads, other stuff. What would you suggest. Is it better to concentrate to just one way to make a profit, or is it better to give a try to anything you can get your hands on?

 

 

Sorry for the naive questions and the bad English, but we are in a very tight spot here and sometimes I feel like giving up. Hope you can help out.

 

 

You have TWO osc sites and a website yet your talking about about dedicated server - My advice is forget it !

I have 138 websites and enquired about a server, I was advised not to waste my money just yet, and that is exatly what you would be doing

There are some great ( and some not so great ) hosting companies out there, I have tried six of them, and the first five where utter rubbish, lots of down time and email problems, so i do know what you mean

 

I have spent the past two years with a company called Hostgator who are based in Texas USA - I am not allowed to publish the url in here, but if you do an internet search for Hostgator, Im sure you will be impressed

You can even talk to the support guys who will advise you on what you need and not sell you something that you do not need or is over budget

 

If your willing to pay $50 a month you should get a really good deal

It has cpanel and thousands of other features, including ruby on rails

 

I wish you the best of luck with your new venture

[♥FWR Media]

You have TWO osc sites and a website yet your talking about about dedicated server - My advice is forget it !

I have 138 websites and enquired about a server, I was advised not to waste my money just yet, and that is exatly what you would be doing

There are some great ( and some not so great ) hosting companies out there, I have tried six of them, and the first five where utter rubbish, lots of down time and email problems, so i do know what you mean

 

I have spent the past two years with a company called Hostgator who are based in Texas USA - I am not allowed to publish the url in here, but if you do an internet search for Hostgator, Im sure you will be impressed

You can even talk to the support guys who will advise you on what you need and not sell you something that you do not need or is over budget

 

If your willing to pay $50 a month you should get a really good deal

It has cpanel and thousands of other features, including ruby on rails

 

I wish you the best of luck with your new venture

 

And I'll chip in that for $49 per month you could have effectively your own mini server with virtually anything on it you want.

 

Fully Managed

 

$0 Setup

1 GB Burst RAM

384 MB Guaranteed RAM

15 GB Storage

500 GB Monthly Transfer

4 IP Addresses

Unlimited Domains

Unlimited User Accounts

CentOS 5 Operating System

 

Each to their own .. up to you now but you have the info.

[ABCommerce!]

I would find a host that is good and also close to you as all other things equal the one closer to you will be faster. Also search for "web host, coupon", most have coupons online and you can get 10-20% off just by looking first.

[Jan Zonjee]

Before more members get the urge to spam this thread I better close it.