Selling web domains ...

[dbeezzz]

I'm thinking about offering my users an option to purchase a web domain as a tie-in to the product I want to sell on my site.

Is it difficult to set up a 'search for domain name' function that's tied into verisign's database ? I want my users to be able to see if their chosen name is already taken, and then purchase it if it's free.

I'd also probably want to host it from my server at home. On a vDSL static ip.

 

[BabyJeffy]

You can certainly do all that you want... find a company selling domains that you can be an affiliate to.... easy... they'll probably offer some code to stick on your page that lets people search for a domain.

I suggest you find something else of interest and focus on that instead. What you propose is a farce... hosting client domains from your home DSL on a static IP. I bet your (paying?) clients will really appreciate the 99.99% uptime and reliable bandwidth you offer them.

Leave hosting to the (many) companies that have proper infrastructure and a business model to go with it.

Cheers,
Jeff

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[dbeezzz]

Fair enough, I was thinking more along the lines of putting the server up at home to monitor it till it expended it's bandwidth limitations and then just packing the whole thing to a farm somewhere.

I'm in Korea at the moment and I can get 4MB upload BW on a fairly reliable basis. It would also give me peace of mind to have the thing running locally. But I guess I could ssh it.

Thanks for the advice anyway though ...

 

[ChrisHirst]

it's that "fairly reliable basis" bit that is the killer. To run a small web server does not need a lot of bandwidth, but it does need reliable bandwidth. DSL does not offer this because of the contention ratio (50:1 is normal for personal connection)

Chris.

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So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[coachdan]

Chris,

Does this problem hold true with cable connections? I would love to host from my home and have a cable hi-speed connection.

coachdan32

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[ChrisHirst]

It may do, check with your provider for the contention ratio.

If you can be sure of maintaining 64k you could run a small number of low to moderately busy sites, a general rule of thumb would be to allow 5 to 7 Kb per concurrent user on cable.
The way DSL works makes it less suitable than most cable connections for running servers on.


Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Woo Hoo! the cobblers kids get new shoes.
People Counting Systems

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[trollacious]

If I remember correctly, there's a clause many residential DSL contracts have that prohibits setting up a web server and hosting sites. You should check that out before proceeding, or you could possibly lose your connection (and customers) unexpectedly.

Lee

 

[Foamcow]

Also, bear in mind the level of responsibility that comes with providing hosting services.

You will be responsible for regular backups, security, outages etc.

In most cases it's just not worth bothering with when you consider you can buy a hosting reseller package in a properly secured datacentre with redundant connections, regulated power etc. for a few dollars/pounds a month.

Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web design and ranting
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[Wullie]

Fair enough, I was thinking more along the lines of putting the server up at home to monitor it till it expended it's bandwidth limitations and then just packing the whole thing to a farm somewhere.

I'm in Korea at the moment and I can get 4MB upload BW on a fairly reliable basis. It would also give me peace of mind to have the thing running locally. But I guess I could ssh it.

If you want to run a local server, do it with your own sites, don't try and sell the hosting because you will end up in trouble.

Before you consider selling hosting, do you have all of the following?

1) Someone who will be there 24/7 to monitor the servers.

2) Someone who knows what they are doing and can fix the problems promptly.

3) Battery backup

4) Generator backup

5) Multiple redundant connections to the Internet.

6) A decent amount of available bandwidth

7) Hardware that is not being used to surf the Internet.

8) Spare hardware ready to deploy in the event of hardware failure.

9) Multiple IP addresses. (Not always necessary)

There are also other things you need to consider, but the above are a very minimum.

Hosting from home is a great way to learn what you are doing, but it is not a way to bring in money. It will costs you a lot more to host your servers from home if you are charging clients, it doesn't cost less as a lot of people think it does. If it is your own sites then you don't need to worry if the server goes offline for 24 hours, but if you have even 1 paying client then you need to be available 24/7 to correct any issues that will arise and that time costs money.

Hosting is not a method to get rich and you will cause yourself so much grief if you try it using a home connection while selling it to customers. Your best option is as mentioned, get a reseller account with someone who has already got everything in place and then you don't need to worry about monitoring the sites and someone else is there for you to fall back on with any questions your customers may have.

Hope this helps

Wullie

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