What does it come with?

[Jaiem]

When someone buys a dedicated server intending to divide it into accounts for selling hosting, what software/services normally come with a dedicated server?

OS?
Admin control panel? (for setting up accounts and email)
Customer control panel?
Shopping cart?
SSL/Secure server?
Customer Webstats?
Perl?
PHP?
MySQL?
Java support?

IOW, what should one expect to come with the server and what do you as the company usually have to purchase and provide on your own?

[Martie]

I think the key word here is buy....not lease?
On our servers from alabanza...they are already preloaded, and configured...you probbaly knew that though. We did purchase our Thawte cert.
I would think if you bought..and then co-lo somewhere, you would probably be responsible for all the software. Ive seen offers though that go either way. Preloaded/configured, etc.

[Jaiem]

Good points about "buy". Clearly if you buy a box you have to set it up yourself.


But I was actually thinking "lease". What does a leased machine normally come with?

[Mr Chunder]

Are you "leasing" under a reseller deal or is it a straightforward dedicated server ?

If you are getting a straightforward dedicated server like I do, you'll get none of these except for the OS :D

[Jaiem]

Are you saying that some hosts lease dedicated servers pre-loading with all the software and controls needed for reselling virtial accounts?! Can you give an example of such a host that does this type of leasing (leasing the server, not the reselling)?

Thanks.

[JTY]

Any of the providers that offer CPanel, will be able to do everything.

http://www.site5.com/
http://www.burst.net/
http://www.venturesonline.com/
http://www.liquidweb.com/
http://www.webauthorities.com/

And, there are many others......

[Jaiem]

Thanks.

Now what about things like POP3 email and secure server for your customers?

I presume a leased server doesn't come with these.

[Martie]

Jaiem,
Alabanza pre-loads everything for you.
You also get the DSM (domain system manager) for handling, setting up, reviewing your accounts.

[Jaiem]

What about customer email and secure server?

[GregS]

On Alabanza, the POP3 and SMTP servers are automatically set up for each account with the rest of their account.

For secure server, you need to buy it from Thawte, Verisign or Equifax.....then they install it for you.

[JTY]

CPanel will allow the customer to control e-mail.....

As Greg said you'll need to get a ssl certificate....

[Jaiem]

Ok, so I get a SSL cert. Does it run on the same server or do I need another server?

[JTY]

It'll run on the same sever......

[Jaiem]

So, to sum it up, you're saying that when you lease a server you get the server with all software needed to setup and manage accounts, POP3 email and just install your own SSL cert to get secure server - correct?

[JTY]

Well, that's the case if you go with any host that offers CPanel/WHM.... which there are a number of....

[Jaiem]

I don't suppose there's any sort of online FAQ or tutorials about all this?

[Martie]

Well with Alabanza you are ready to go.
They provide you with a KB (knowledge base) when you get your server. Has many q&a, and how to info in it.

Since they have changed their server prices, etc. from when I got mine...you can drop my mgnr. an email
Tell him Martie, from Hostcaters sent ya :D
tcirner@alabanza.com

Let me know!

[akashik]

Jaiem,

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Of course you can get a server without all the pre-installed stuff, but these days you often won't save a whole lot by doing so. C-Panel, Chilli-ASP and others cost to lease themselves so the monthly outlay goes up again. Alabanza's probably still the best, followed by C-Panel, but the costs of the former is steep. C-Panel/WHM is good, though I've got a few issues with it regarding a couple of things. People conplain of it being slapped together from bits and pieces and to be honest, using it from the admin end it does give that impression at times with odd little error messages popping up that seem to have no real effect on anything *shrug*

At the risk of sounding like a fortune teller I think the next 6 months will bring a few new players to the fore in regards to control panel systems. Until they're tested under real world conditions though I'd be wary of anything all that new. :)

Greg Moore

[James]

Originally posted by Jaiem
I don't suppose there's any sort of online FAQ or tutorials about all this?

I believe that Tommy has an article scheduled in for October, coving the topic of control pannels.

Drop him a PM is youd like a certain angle to be catered for, it shouldnt be too late for amendments.

[akashik]

Originally posted by James Cross

Drop him a PM is youd like a certain angle to be catered for, it shouldnt be too late for amendments.

If he could find the industry a fully functioning quality control panel that doesn't mortgage the house, that would make it a best seller in no time :D After using Alabanza's panel, I'm starting to look at WHM and C-Panel. So far the best way to describe that thing is an accident is slow motion everytime I use it. I mean.. it works, and has some great functionality, but driving it always makes me feel like I'm going down the mountain, and I've suddenly remembered I have no brake fluid...

If Tommy hasn't seem it yet he might look at freeVSD I haven't used it but it looks pretty promising - albeit a different account model than most people are used to.... It's pushing the 'virtual server' angle more. From screen shots I've seen it looks pretty tight.

Greg Moore

[Martie]

must be my problem BUT Ive just seen way too many problems with most of the others.
I honestly dont know if its the cpanel/WHM itself or where the actual problem lies?
Ive been with Alabanza a long time now and overall I prefer their control panel.
Over a year ago... I had a few clients that tried cpanel....and they rejoined us at HostCaters. :D
They had plenty of horror stories!
I believe Ive heard plesk is a pretty reliable panel.

[akashik]

Plesk and Ensim are supposed to be very well built little critters. They're also suppose to lack a lot of functionality (at least compared to DMS and C-Panel/WHM). There doesn't seem to be a nice middle ground yet...

It's either CIHost or Communitech (I forget which)... I had a look at their panel a while back and it looks amazing. From someone we picked up leaving them it's a great panel for the end user to use as well... shame about the rest of their service huh? *lol* Fantastic control panel and yet they still have people leaving in droves...

Greg Moore

[JTY]

I looked at Ensim, which does allow for you to add features and scripts to it.

[Tommy]

Sphera's (http://www.sphera.com/) HostingDirector is also worth a look. There are some really good features.

[poorapagal]

well i just purchased ensim and gonna let you all know if it's upto it. That is if you haven't used it yet ofcourse....

looks mighty cool though