what is the best combination of hosting management software to use if setting up a webhosting business?

Question

Considering dell rackmountable 1U hardware, running RedHat Linux, Apache and possibly Websphere ... need a reliable combination that is easy to maintain and preferrable has automated billing functionality. Need real world advice preferrably from a systems engineer in the trade. Thanks in advance.

Starting a small webhosting business in Dublin Ireland. Would be interested in a partnership with a systems architect/engineering professional working in the industry. (Not necessary to be located in Ireland). Support consultancy also availabe to any candidate willing to invest expertise and knodledge in the build of the system.

Answer 1

There are several really good "Hosting Packages" for you.
Zervex has one that does a nice job called DSM
http://zevex.com I have used it and it is easy for customers to understand and use which I find important. You can add a billing system it is not built in but there are some that work with it.

CPanel is widely used and many really like it but I had so many issues I stop using them -- that was a couple of years back so maybe they have corrected some things but I still see users with issues.
http://cpanel.com

Hsphere has some really nice modules and is very scalable even Load Balances for web and mail includes billing system and is multi platform which makes it really nice well worth a look. Even has a site studio you can add into the mix. But you can add site studio into most other packages as well!
http://www.psoft.net/

If you want a full open source one ISPConfig is not a bad package. We loaded it and it does do well, I don't think there is any billing system for it although there are some that I am sure would work.
http://www.ispconfig.org/index.htm

Plesk and Ensim are also OK but I personally don't like them just due to structure and overhead issues that we experienced with them both and with the constant costs for upgrades etc. (Ensim worse than Plesk at that point!)

The answer to your question is really what you like and what you are willing to pay for the system. You can get FREE versions of DSM and trial versions of most of the others. I do like the things HSphere does and has some nice features that I haven't seen on others. The pricing is not too bad but I would prefer per server costs.

I just found Websphere was just a too little IBMish for me and too stuck on J technology which is ok but not as mainstream as some others.

Hope that helps. Feel free to contact me if you need more details.

Answer 2

You can work as reseller of other companies, else may be you can contact a web designer to set the whole things up for you. Check websites like http://getafreelnacer.com/