webrampage

A while back I wrote a checklist on shared hosting. People found it very helpful. But, a few people complained that I was not right about the resellers. Some also said that they were using a reseller and was happy with the service. So, today I’ll take the time to tell you folks a few things about resellers.

What is a “reseller”?

There are 2 types of resellers. I’ll list them below.

1. Reseller plan: You can buy reseller accounts from other hosts for about $10/month (cheapest deal on average) and make your own hosting company. I call them phony hosts and you wanna avoid these guys.
2. Dedicated servers: Now this one’s a better choice. These guys have rented a dedicated server and is actually serious about their business.

Who can become a reseller?

Anyone! Yeah anyone can get his or her hands on a cheap reseller plan. But, dedicated servers would be pretty expensive. So, most of the resellers are using those shitty ass reselling plan which are hosted on an oversold piece of shit server. And what if the reseller oversells? Crap! That would be overselling on an already oversold server. Oh you’re screwed!

You know what’s shocking? People are fucking giving away reseller accounts for free. Just polluting the web (a bit more). You can go on forums like FreeWebspace.net and Digital Point, and you’ll see these free plans. They usually get you to post on their forums to keep the reseller account running (post2host!).

That means kids can start their own hosting site (and a lot of them are). Plus these plans are meant to attract teens (and young adults). No technical knowledge necessary!

I know this 15 year-old guy. He’s the dumbest guy of all time. He couldn’t even install WordPress. I am not even joking. WordPress is idiot-proof! And he couldn’t install that. WTF? Why am I telling this? Well because he bought a reseller account and started his own hosting site. I’m not sure what I should say. Just think! Do you think he can provide you with technical support? Hell no! What are the chances of him closing down his hosting site within a few weeks? A lot!

Should you use a reseller?

Try to avoid them. But, if you really had to choose a reselling company then choose the one with their own dedicated server rather than a cheap reselling plan. These guys are actually serious about the business. They probably hired a few technical support reps. A lot better choice, huh?

HostGator is a reseller. They rented their servers from The Planet. So, you see there are few “big fish” resellers. But, most reselling hosts are run by people with no knowledge on servers, programming, web dev, etc and they don’t plan to stay in the business for too long (fly-by-night hosts!).

I’m hoping this article gave you guys a better view of the reselling hosts. I’ll be writing an article on how to tell if your host is a reseller or not, this week. So, stick around and don’t forget to subscribe!

I was looking for a decent webhost and I forgot a few things that I was supposed to check for. So I thought why not make a list of things that we should all look into before choosing a webhost. Lets call it the ultimate shared hosting checklist.

Well we all know the basics. See how much space and monthly bandwidth you will get. Don’t forget email accounts and databases. You know the usual stuff. So lets move on to the more important ones.

Are they overselling?

Oh please don’t go with a overselling webhost. Chances are you’ll be hosted on a oversold piece of shit if you go with them. So how to tell if they’re overselling or not? Well is it too good too be true? Are they giving you 500GB or 1500GB of space and 100TB bandwidth for just $5? That’s overselling my friend.

And you won’t even need more than 2-10 gigs of space. Trust me. And for bandwidth I would go with like 50-200 gigs (just so it can handle traffic spikes).

Are they a reseller?

Most resellers are fly-by-night hosts. They take your money and they go poof! Say goodbye to your money and files. You don’t want that to happen. And even if they are a reseller check how long they have been in business.

The database size limit

This is very important if you plan to host a forum or a database-based site. I’ve looked around and most big webhosts have about 100MB limit in a shared environment. 100MB should be good enough for a while. Like if your site grows you’ll probably move to a VPS or a dedicated server.

Number of concurrent users on a database

Oh yeah this is 100% geeky thing. Its the number of database connections being made at the same time. This is really, really important if you have a forum (especially if its running on vBulletin). Now the limit ranges from 10-250 depending on the webhost.

Just call the support people and ask them about it. Most hosts don’t have info on it on their site. You might also wanna check their AUP (acceptable usage policy).

Reviews! Good or bad?

I would do a quick Google search and check for some reviews. Now don’t fully make your decision based on the reviews. Some might be fake (like written by a competitor). More important is word of mouth.

Type of support available

Most hosts do have a support number on their site and offer 24/7 email and/or live chat support. But how long do you have to wait till you get help? Here’s the mini checklist for support.

1. Call support and see how long you have to wait till you talk with someone. You might get a host that puts you on the line until you hang up or just take messages.
2. Email support with a few questions. Like concurrent users, database limits, etc. See when you get replied.
3. Yep you got it! Use the handy live chat. See how long do you have to wait till a rep. gets on the chat and see how professional they are (like the replies and stuff).

Big fish or small fish??

I don’t care if some new host is giving an awesome deal, I would always go with a big host with a good reputation. Wondering why? Well you’ll be hosting your files and databases there. How do you know if they follow the privacy policy? How can you be sure that they won’t download your files and databases and make a clone or sell it somewhere? The list can go on and on. But you get my point, right?

Using a big host always makes me feel safe. I’m not saying that something like this is never going to happen on hosts like GoDaddy, MediaTemple, DreamHost, etc. But if it happens then you can at least sue their ass. They won’t just go poof unlike the small fishes.

UPDATE (July 25, 08): I listed down “5 Great Shared Hosting Plans“. Check that out.

I think that’s it. If I’m missing anything then please let me know. Thanks for reading guys! And don’t forget to subscribe to my feeds or via email for more like this.

Hey folks. I’m sure a lot of you saw “unlimited” space and bandwidth on paid hosting plans. Today I’ll tell you something about it. Hopefully that will save your money.

Okay there is nothing called unlimited space and bandwidth. It is fake! Like the servers can only hold a certain amount of files. Its just to make it look like you’re getting an awesome deal. Okay do you really think that they will buy another server if one of their servers gets filled up with your files? You’re paying like $5-20 per month. A server costs more than that man.

Now this is the surprising part. I can bet that if you use up about 5 gigs of space, they will suspend your account and give you some weird ass reason. Refund? Forget it. In your dreams pal. Those are greedy bastards.

And because of this crazy overselling their servers are going to be super slow. So just be careful next time. Don’t fall for it. Go with hosts that are giving you a reasonable amount of space and bandwidth (ex: 10gb).