Web Host - Real Host V/s Reseller Host
A Web Hosting Article Contributed by Raj Rao
Types of Web Host
Web Hosting is a competitive business. There is a surplus of bandwidth and service providers in the market. This is mainly due to major expansion of bandwidth by the Telecommunication companies in the last few years. Besides, many international companies have started offering bandwidth and services to the US.
Due to the increased supply, the marketing efforts of Web Hosts have increased substantially. One of the ways to market their services is through resellers or agents. Reselling of Web Hosting is a lucrative business for a reseller because there is no investment required.
A Real Web Host is a company that has its owned or leased Internet Bandwidth and has a farm of Web Servers to provide Web Hosting Services. Most of the Internet Service Providers double-up as Web Hosting service providers because they already have the basic infrastructure.
On the other hand, a reseller is an individual or a small business that uses the bandwidth and web servers provided by the Real Hosts and resell the same to their customers by offering value added services like Web Designing, Domain Registration or Web Programming.
Know Your Web Host - Reseller or Real Host
In most cases, web hosting with a Real Host does not differ in anyway to to the Reseller Hosting, because the reseller can offer all the services that a Real Host can offer. On the other hand, a Real Host may not have the capability to offer web design and programming services to each customer due to its focus on bulk business from resellers and large corporate clients.
However, if your requirement for Web Hosting is large enough due to very large number of visitors or due to large number of websites to be hosted, or due to a very large number of e-mail accounts required or due to extremely sensitive nature of your content, it is recommended that you seek a Real Host for web hosting rather than a reseller.
If you intend to start reselling web hosting services, it is necessary for you to seek a Real Host because the reseller margins may not be sufficient for two level of resellers, especially when it is very easy to obtain a reseller account from a real host.
Tips for Selecting a Web Host - Reseller or Real Host
If your requirement is very small and you also expect personal attention from the web host for your design and programming requirements, it is recommended that you go with a reseller, because they are better equipped to offer personal attention to your design and programming requirements.
On the other hand, if you have a high traffic website with a complex e-commerce offering, then it is recommended that you find a Real Host or even your ISP for your web hosting.
In both the cases, it is advisable to find the right web host that meets yours design and programming requirements. The first decision is to ensure that your web host offers the operating system of choice for your web programmer.
