hey kirrrrrupians!
I thought I would share some thoughts on the idea of client hosting, and hopefully spark some discussion. Also, some questions on web hosting (Dreamhost, MediaTemple) later on…
Hosting for clients could generate some legitimate passive income over time but may also incur some drawbacks. Namely, [SIZE=1]1) [/SIZE]billing and* [SIZE=1]2)[/SIZE]*support are put into your hands, which could potentially be a headache if you are out of town when their site goes down, or you would just like to enjoy your weekend 
. Also, if *[SIZE=1]3)[/SIZE]*bandwidth gets out of control, that host bill is in YOUR name.
My thoughts against these likely problems:
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**Billing: Set up a monthly billing plan through Paypal. **
I haven’t seen this feature personally, but from what I’ve heard Paypal can automatically bill their card to your account. No paperwork, no problem. Sure, Paypal probably skims a little off the top, but for the trouble it would save me, I’m in. One could just monitor if you are actually getting your payments, and if not, just pull the plug on their site. -
**Support: Support is in your hands + set up a CMS
**If you developed/designed work for your client, you are the support anyways! I can’t see my clients calling their hosting company when something goes funky. Freelancers develop a relationship with their clients over the course of the project and I only see it fitting that the client would contact their ‘man’ to have it fixed. If you’ve got all your nuts and bolts together on the site, all you need to worry about is downtime, which you can warn your client about before hand. Setting up a CMS (Content Management System) would be the best way to make sure your clients don’t break things. All in all, downtime is your only enemy, and that is mostly out of your control anyways.
3)** Excess Bandwidth Problem: Put a clause in your contract
**The best way to avoid paying unexpected bandwidth costs would be to tell your clients that they will have to pay for it if it happens in writing. (You freelancers DO have contracts right?;)) Simply put a clause in that legal guardian of yours with the excess per GB quote that your hosting company has provided you.
These are my thoughts before I decide to jump into doing it. Is there anything I’m missing?
And keep in mind that most of this is directed towards smaller client projects! Working with the big guys you might definitely consider other options.
Hosting-
I’ve been researching hosting for a few days now, namely ones that will allow for client hosting (or reseller hosting?) From what I understand, the two top dogs are Dreamhost and MediaTemple. Dreamhost stats are awesome…pretty much don’t have to worry about resources. MediaTemple has smaller caps, but seems very reliable with their Grid System and their dedicated virtual server seems to be aimed at client hosting scenarios.
What’s frustrating is that I keep reading stories about people switching from Dreamhost to MediaTemple and *vice versa. *I guess everyone has different experiences, but can we come to a consensus? Which one might work better for a client hosting setup that would have the least problems and keep everyone happy? :crazy:
keep it real deal.
function4
