Free Hosting Reseller

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Posted by krilas, 01-18-2009, 12:38 AM
Ok so basically I want to set up a free hosting service. I've checked at a few hosts and almost narrowed down my choices to ThePrimeHost and SurpassHosting. However when I emailed ThePrimeHost to check about this and a few other things, I was told that free hosting wasn't allowed on their servers (I was quite impressed with the response time of 12 minutes though). I have yet to check with SurpassHosting, but I just want to ask around first to get more options first so that I can compare between them: if anyone know of a good reseller host that allows you to do free hosting? Thanks in advance.
Posted by RockstarComm, 01-18-2009, 01:03 AM
I don't see why any web hosting provider would have a problem with you providing free hosting solutions, given that you plan to monitor the content of the websites that you host. The biggest concern is that most free web hosting providers receive quite a few SPAM & Fraud sign ups that normal web hosting providers boot off or deny service to, after all, it's free and easy to obtain. If you have the means to monitor and take quick action against those that cause trouble before the real trouble begins, I really don't see any issue. Things do happen, they happen in a pay-for-hosting environment, it's just easier for people to get away with it when they don't have to pay for anything to begin with.
Posted by krilas, 01-18-2009, 01:06 AM
I don't see why any web hosting provider would have a problem with you providing free hosting solutions, given that you plan to monitor the content of the websites that you host. The biggest concern is that most free web hosting providers receive quite a few SPAM & Fraud sign ups that normal web hosting providers boot off or deny service to, after all, it's free and easy to obtain. If you have the means to monitor and take quick action against those that cause trouble before the real trouble begins, I really don't see any issue. Things do happen, they happen in a pay-for-hosting environment, it's just easier for people to get away with it when they don't have to pay for anything to begin with. Which is why I was quited surprised when I saw their response to my enquiries. It wasn't even stated in their ToS that you weren't allowed to do free hosting service, unless it was written elsewhere and I missed it. I had thought of a proper system to set up so there would be less risk of violation of their ToS too.
Posted by RockstarComm, 01-18-2009, 01:14 AM
Personally, I don't see an issue with it. Any competent host should be able to work with their customers and in the event an issue arises, work to resolve it. While I could certainly understand "budget" providers not wanting free hosting services ran on their servers, true hosting providers not offering unlimited this and that should be able to cope with such and provide an even playing field and present a path for future upgrades. You really only have 3 options: Reseller, VPS or Dedicated. Since you're looking for reseller hosting, look for a provider that doesn't provide unlimited anything when it comes to disk space and bandwidth and give them a shout. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a PM or IM. All my contact details are in my profile. I'll be glad to look over your base setup and see if I can find something for you. We don't personally offer shared hosting, so we wouldn't gain anything from it, but if it helps you and puts you in the right direction then I'll all for helping .
Posted by foobic, 01-18-2009, 02:18 AM
I think you'll have difficulty finding any reputable reseller host who'll allow you to offer free hosting. The free hosting services are a magnet for spammers and scammers of all kinds. No matter how well you think you'll control them, it's a serious risk for your host and all their other clients who would be sharing the server with you. Keep looking by all means but I suspect you'll need to go VPS for this.
Posted by plantohost, 01-18-2009, 02:29 AM
Yes, for the above reasons most hosts will keep themselves away from free hosting providers. The best option for this might be to have a dedicated machine.
Posted by krilas, 01-18-2009, 02:52 AM
Yes I have considered getting a VPS or a dedicated server, however the problem remains that since it is going to be a new hosting company there wouldn't be much income for the first few months while garnering clients/customers, therefore it would be a deficit towards my capital. I have ever worked at a free hosting company in the past (which also offered paid hosting), and it seemed that they too started out with a reseller package before expanding to 2 dedicated servers (one for paid, one for free) and I plan to do something similar. Like what was mentioned above about the risk still being there even for paid hosting, however it's just lesser because having to pay would deter abusers. So I am hoping perhaps someone who knows of a reseller that allows free hosting would recommend it here? Thanks.
Posted by MikeDVB, 01-18-2009, 04:08 AM
Yes I have considered getting a VPS or a dedicated server, however the problem remains that since it is going to be a new hosting company there wouldn't be much income for the first few months while garnering clients/customers, therefore it would be a deficit towards my capital. I have ever worked at a free hosting company in the past (which also offered paid hosting), and it seemed that they too started out with a reseller package before expanding to 2 dedicated servers (one for paid, one for free) and I plan to do something similar. Like what was mentioned above about the risk still being there even for paid hosting, however it's just lesser because having to pay would deter abusers. So I am hoping perhaps someone who knows of a reseller that allows free hosting would recommend it here? Thanks. Write a solid business plan and stick to it, invest what you need to get the business going and keep it running while you wait for it to turn a profit - it's like this with just about any business you start although web hosting has a relatively low funding requirement for entry into the market. Best of luck.
Posted by krilas, 01-18-2009, 09:46 AM
Ok it seems that SurpassHosting and HostGator accepts free hosting which puzzles me even more about why ThePrimeHost does not, but never mind about that. I was wondering about both choices, basically I need some opinions. A friend of mine has been using SurpassHosting for the past few years and when I asked him about how the service was, he recommended it to me saying that their support was very good, and I have no doubt about it as the staff had been very helpful with answering my queries earlier. HostGator offers much less for the same price, and when I emailed them earlier, they said that should my users violate their ToS they would suspend the entire reseller account (not just the account affected) which is something that doesn't attract me, whereas SurpassHosting said that they would "evaluate the situation and in most cases disable that account or even just that file. Only on rare occasions of resource abuse over the entire reseller plan would the entire plan be suspended." which is something that quite attracts me. I am now looking for opinions between the two. Basically I am quite particular that my system would filter out most spammers as their accounts will be moderated/reviewed before allowing to create a hosting account. I have read many good reviews about HostGator but SurpassHosting doesn't seem to be that popular around here, can anyone shed some light on this issue?
Posted by MikeDVB, 01-18-2009, 03:33 PM
It doesn't make much sense to suspend the entire reseller account unless you are obviously (as a reseller) allowing ToS violations. For example - if every one of your accounts is violating the ToS.
Posted by AquariusStorage, 01-18-2009, 03:57 PM
I agree, a free hosting account is like a haven for spammers & scammers. Although not part of their TOS, I can understand their concerns. Your best way around this is with a dedicated server or VPS which is much more private. I can see how a host would at least be concerned with a reseller offering free services to everyones on a shared server.
Posted by ric, 01-19-2009, 11:17 PM
Ok it seems that SurpassHosting and HostGator accepts free hosting which puzzles me even more about why ThePrimeHost does not, .... interesting,SurpassHosting and HostGator accepts free hosting service on their (share) server.. honestly,u have considered getting VPS or dedi..
Posted by SiberForum, 01-20-2009, 06:29 AM
I agree. On dedicated server you can do whatever you want. But be sure that you will need to control everything. Because your mother web hosting company will accept all abuses.
Posted by surpass, 01-20-2009, 02:10 PM
Hi krilas, We do allow free hosting services on our shared accounts but ask that you be responsible and monitor your accounts very closely. All free services are susceptible to abuse. It's not a question of if - it's a question of when. Normally if there is a slip up, we give a warning, solid advice and a second chance. After the second chance though, especially if the abuse was detrimental to the stability of the server, we have to ask that the service be shut down. We cannot allow one account after another to cause issues on the server, especially if a reseller is not cooperative with finding solutions. But you sound very ready to do this. Many of our clients successfully host free services and manage them well. We welcome you to try our hosting and will help you find the best way to prevent any abuse that comes your way.
Posted by krilas, 01-20-2009, 02:17 PM
Hi krilas, We do allow free hosting services on our shared accounts but ask that you be responsible and monitor your accounts very closely. All free services are susceptible to abuse. It's not a question of if - it's a question of when. Normally if there is a slip up, we give a warning, solid advice and a second chance. After the second chance though, especially if the abuse was detrimental to the stability of the server, we have to ask that the service be shut down. We cannot allow one account after another to cause issues on the server, especially if a reseller is not cooperative with finding solutions. But you sound very ready to do this. Many of our clients successfully host free services and manage them well. We welcome you to try our hosting and will help you find the best way to prevent any abuse that comes your way. Yup I have contacted the staffs about this and the responses have been very helpful. I will just spend the next 1-2 weeks putting the system in place and coming up with a layout before ordering the hosting from you guys.
Posted by Richard-Buzz, 01-21-2009, 10:10 AM
I too have been looking for reseller hosting to support a free host. And I have to admit - Its quite hard. I shortlisted 5 companies, 3 of which do not allow free hosts on their servers, the other 2, I am still looking into (To be honest, they don't have the best reputation) Go back 3-4 years, it was easy. There were many reliable hosts that offered reseller hosting for free hosts, but now days, even the higher priced reseller accounts don't allow it. This is the problem with Free Hosts these days - They are even less reliable due to the fact that they cannot get reliable reseller accounts, and the ones that get VPS's and Dedicated servers can't afford them for as long as needed to break even. What we need is for a reliable company to start supporting Free Hosts â A correctly run free host does not generate a lot of abuse on the server. The only solution in this thread is Surpass Hosting, but they are not an option for me, I'm stuck in my ways, and I am determined never to support a company that oversells as much as they do. Does anyone else have any input on resellers for free hosts? I'm currently looking into ServerRhino, they do say they put limits on accounts, but their support staff are taking a long time to reply with further details.
Posted by ThePrimeHost, 01-21-2009, 12:59 PM
I think you'll have difficulty finding any reputable reseller host who'll allow you to offer free hosting. The free hosting services are a magnet for spammers and scammers of all kinds. All free services are susceptible to abuse. It's not a question of if - it's a question of when. This is exactly why we do not allow free hosting on our reseller accounts. They tend to attract the "wrong elements" which is unfair to our other paying customers.
Posted by krilas, 01-21-2009, 01:17 PM
This is exactly why we do not allow free hosting on our reseller accounts. They tend to attract the "wrong elements" which is unfair to our other paying customers. I believe there might be two types of free hosting services in this case. One would be those that are like freewebs.com where users do not need to achieve any requirements to register for hosting, whereas another type would require some prerequisites. Like someone has mentioned earlier, all types of hosting are fundamentally open to abuse except that paid hosting would serve as a way to deter the problem, however when you think about it, if the users had to achive some prerequisites like in the case of a Post2Host system then fundamentally that can serve as a deterant too. I am not really interested in debating over this but basically if anyone really wanted to abuse a webhost it is possible, I just don't see why some rich guy can't come along and pay for hosting and then abuse the system resources too, compared to another guy who had to satisfy the requirements and then await account activation, the later would obviously take more time and efforts, then in that case wouldn't the later serve as a better deterant as compared to the first? Anyone can just set up some hosting packages (for resale) at 1cents per month and isn't that still considered "paid" hosting? Obviously the guidelines in this case is too ambiguous. All in all it depends on the flexibility of the host I guess, while it may be good to maintain a strict regulation on no "free-hosting" it still would be good to at least include that in the ToS cause it is very misleading when nothing is mentioned about it there, just imagine some guy registers for a reseller account and then gets suspended cause of something he doesn't even know existed of; apologies first if I miss reading anything like that on the website about barring free-hosting services. Anyway it is users preference. Basically it would be great to be flexible and offer both. SurpassHosting has been really great in responding to my queries I must say that, was abit disappointed with ThePrimeHost's response time after they found out that I wanted to do free-hosting cause the next email increased from 12minutes to 23hours when I asked about any other viable solutions like a dedicated server or VPS and all I get was "While a VPS would work for you, we presently do not offer them (check back as we may in the future)." without even answering the part about the dedicated server. Not deliberately blackmarking anyone here, but seriously it did tick me off greatly when I read that cause it gives me the impression that the staff didn't care a hoot just because my potential as a client was lost from the moment I told them I wanted to set up a free hosting service.
Posted by ThePrimeHost, 01-21-2009, 01:45 PM
I must say that, was abit disappointed with ThePrimeHost's response time after they found out that I wanted to do free-hosting cause the next email increased from 12minutes to 23hours. Hello, You're giving the incorrect impression. The second response was 12 hours. You replied to our Sales Department enquiring about the VPS at 10:01 PM CST. We responded the next day at 10:26 AM per our mail logs. Please note that our sales department is not staffed 24/7 like our support staff, where our average response time is under 30 minutes. In any event I'm glad you found a host suitable to your needs.
Posted by krilas, 01-21-2009, 08:28 PM
Hello, You're giving the incorrect impression. The second response was 12 hours. You replied to our Sales Department enquiring about the VPS at 10:01 PM CST. We responded the next day at 10:26 AM per our mail logs. Please note that our sales department is not staffed 24/7 like our support staff, where our average response time is under 30 minutes. In any event I'm glad you found a host suitable to your needs. Yes maybe that was a mistake on my part since I couldn't actually see the time on Gmail other than the two mails being differentiated from 4 days and 3 days apart. However that still doesn't cross out the fact that my question about the dedicated server was unanswered: Hi there, Thanks for the quick response, I am quite impressed. In my case with regards to the free hosting issue, is there any solution that you would recommend for me (perhaps separate arrangements for an extra fee or is there any VPS/dedicated server that I can look into)? Thanks when on the website it says to contact you all for information about that. I wouldn't have mind as much if they at least replied my email properly. I don't think SurpassHosting replies as fast according to the reviews, so far their sales enquiries had been dependant on time-zone basically but at least they do take the effort to answer every single of my questions thoroughly. Anyway no hard feelings, you guys just lost a customer that's all.
Posted by ThePrimeHost, 01-21-2009, 08:41 PM
However that still doesn't cross out the fact that my question about the dedicated server was unanswered: Hello, Your question was as follows: "Hi there, Thanks for the quick response, I am quite impressed. In my case with regards to the free hosting issue, is there any solution that you would recommend for me (perhaps separate arrangements for an extra fee or is there any VPS/dedicated server that I can look into)? Thanks" Our response was: "Jansen, While a VPS would work for you, we presently do not offer them (check back as we may in the future)." The "VPS/dedicated" question was paired together and answered along the lines of VPS only. This was done because I got the impression that you were looking for something along the lines of the cost of a "reseller account". Your post in this forum is specifically for a "Free Hosting Reseller". Dedicated seemed like an over-kill of what you were looking for. Again this was just my impression. Anyway no hard feelings Same here. Again, best of luck to you.
Posted by gallerysites, 01-22-2009, 09:13 AM
Yes, free hosting will attract way too many "problem" clients and may not be worth it. But since it's free, you get what you pay for!
Posted by StartYourServer, 01-22-2009, 08:22 PM
I don't see why any web hosting provider would have a problem with you providing free hosting solutions, given that you plan to monitor the content of the websites that you host. The biggest concern is that most free web hosting providers receive quite a few SPAM & Fraud sign ups that normal web hosting providers boot off or deny service to, after all, it's free and easy to obtain. If you have the means to monitor and take quick action against those that cause trouble before the real trouble begins, I really don't see any issue. Things do happen, they happen in a pay-for-hosting environment, it's just easier for people to get away with it when they don't have to pay for anything to begin with. I actually don't think that either of those companies allow free hosting on their servers...
Posted by aaroncunn, 01-23-2009, 05:38 PM
How are you funding this?
Posted by HostDime, 01-23-2009, 06:33 PM
I think most of these fundings are from personal money as they are smaller personalized free host companies.

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