Ok. So I want to start a website that shows methods on how to make money online as a business venture. This site will be a product for Clickbank.com and I need to know what will be the best for me in terms of web hosting. I was extremely motivated a few months back and bought a complete, small server setup (around $2500), meaning I built a computer with Ubuntu installed. Is it worth it to learn PHP, MySQL, and configuring all the other settings for a server or should I just get a hosting company for my website. I plan on having around 20-30 videos on my website as informative content for people who will purchase my product and one or two videos on the main advert page and one of them will automatically play every time somebody accesses my website. All this web hosting is extremely new to me and I need some help. Thanks a lot.
If I want to put the website on my own server in the near future though, do I have to learn all the PHP, MySQL, and Apache to manage it or can I get someone to set it up and leave it like that.
There are fully managed dedicated servers out there, and they would do almost anything you request them to (not software/website development though). I don’t know what you would do with your current server though.
There are also server management services, in case you want to get the server from a company that doesn’t offer fully managed ones. platinumservermanagement.com is one service that comes to mind.
perhaps colo your machine to a real d/c first, and then learn what you have to learn, or even just get a webhosting account for like $10 a month, and then go from there?
If I want to put the website on my own server
Do you want to host that on your computer? If yes - make sure your ISP do not mind you doing so.
No. That is what your web hosting provider will take care of. As was suggested above starting new project - start with shared host and u8p-grade as soon as you really need to.
But if I were you I would get managed low end VPS.
I am going to be using Clickbank to process payments and uBuntu as the operating system. I would have update uBuntu, PHP, MySQL, and Apache all the time right?
mad,
More importantly, you MUST update your server with EVERY patch that comes out ASAP to hold back the tide of hackers - who delight in taking sites down just for fun.
Regards,
DK
Thanks a lot. I think I will keep the site on a server through a web hosting service for now. If I want to put the website on my own server in the near future though, do I have to learn all the PHP, MySQL, and Apache to manage it or can I get someone to set it up and leave it like that. I know the very simple stuff like HTML, CSS, and Javascript so I can manage content.
Yes. Spend time on building the business rather than on technology. If you are sure you don’t want to use other videosites, consider flv based progressive download - not the expensive streaming.
Yes. Mediatemple’s is decent enough. I use them.
Can you monitor your server 24/7/365 and keep it up to date with all the latest patches? For a one man band, that’s IMPOSSIBLE. Therefore, go with a host who CAN and DOES provide those services.
Regards,
DK
I made the videos through Camtasia Studio and it would not look professional if I had the videos uploaded on youtube. Do you think I should first test out everything on a hosting site such as mediatemple or others?
Don’t overspend like that (did you say you already spent $2500?). If you are starting up, better would be taking a shared hosting and see how your business goes.
For videos, can you upload it to YouTube and just use the video in your site?