How to Build a Web\Email\FTP Host

[smittybg]

ok , here is my problem.

I work for a small PC repair Shop.
My boss(who knows nothing about computers) wants to start a web hosting company.

I dont know much about this.

I built a server with windows server 2003 web editon bought a domain and i am currently hosting our web site on this server.
BTW i have a static T1 Line

Well i know how to host the site now but how do i serve email addresses to this domain and how would i serve my customers with email addresses.

I know there is no easy answer i just want someone to point me in the right direction.

thanks in advance

 

[edmicman]

I'll throw in my two cents, so here goes. With Windows Server you've got your basic web hosting and FTP hosting right there with IIS. For email hosting, you're going to need an email server....I'm not really that sure but I don't think Windows Server comes with an email hosting package....for that, at least on the Microsoft solution, you'll need to install Exchange Server on the box. There are probably alternative email programs out there too that run on Windows but I'm not sure what they might be. With Exchange you can then create as many email addresses as you want, customized as much as you want.

But frankly, it sounds like he's in WAY over his head. There are just so many issues involved with hosting your own website, let alone hosting others that having a single machine running server 2003 and basically starting from scratch sounds like its going to be a nightmare. Do you guys have security issues hashed out? A good hardware firewall? Redundancy in case the server goes down? RAID? Most hosting companies I'm familiar with go with a linux apache/php/mysql solution. We host our own business website on windows 2000, but run a linux server for our email, and I would be scared to death to try and start a web hosting company - having to offer support for clients 24/7, making sure everything is up and going as close to 24/7 as possible, even though systems things come up, etc. Anyway....good luck!

 

[Argo]

Check out MailEnable. It's a free and fairly decent e-mail server (POP and SMTP). For ftp/http you can use IIS, although I'd suggest against it. Apache would be easier for a small host like yours. For ftp I'd recommend WS_FTP.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Web hosting is a brutal market with low profit potential. People now whine about paying even $10 a month for hosting.

Also, most hosting is done with linux or BSD since server2003 is harder to keep safe. Unless you spend a lot of time protecting it, expect your server to get hacked, and taken over to spam out phishing scams and v1g4ra ads. Then your server IPs will be blacklisted and company mail you send out will be rejected by spam filters.

www.WebHostingTalk.com forums might be helpful but my best advice is "run away! run away!"

 

[n0cmonkey]

Get out while you still can, or resell. There is no profit in hosting a couple of sites on your own dime...

You need boxes and software. You need someone on call 24/7 (preferably local) to fix the servers. You need redundant power sources, plus UPS, plus generator. You need monitoring software. You need the admin power to keep it all running and up to date.

After all this, you might be able to look for customers.

 

[Zugzwang152]

ouch, the only time windows is needed is when you need to host ASP .NET pages (I don't think they run on other OS's).

For FTP, I'd recommend FileZilla Server, and for http definitely Apache.

 

[Zugzwang152]

by the way if you want a web hosting company, just rent space with another host and resell it. if you have enough funds you may even want to consider a couple of dedicated servers.

 

[bNeta86]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
by the way if you want a web hosting company, just rent space with another host and resell it. if you have enough funds you may even want to consider a couple of dedicated servers.

I second this notion...way easier - and MUCH cheaper - spend like $300 a year and you can get plenty for a smallish business and their customers.

 

[necine]

Resell....