So, you’re eager to start offering reseller hosting services to your clients, but you’re caught in a dilemma. On the one hand, you want to minimize your expenses, but on the other hand, you really don’t want to compromise on quality. 

The good news is that high-quality, affordable reseller web hosting is well within your reach. In this guide, we’ll show you how to spot the signs of the best reseller hosting options so you can make an informed decision that aligns with your clients’ needs and your financial goals. 

Plus, we’ll highlight some of the key benefits of A2’s reseller hosting packages to help you manage and run your hosting company hassle-free. Let’s dive in! 

Exploring the Benefits of Affordable Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting is more than just a great tool for diversifying your income – it can also serve as a profitable business model for freelancers and web design agencies. 

If you’re a web designer or developer who doesn’t offer reseller hosting, you might encounter a situation where a client has paid for hosting but needs you to build the site from scratch. Alternatively, you might recommend a host to a client but have no involvement in its operations, leaving the client to manage any technical issues with the hosting provider. 

However, by offering hosting alongside your web development and design services, you provide several benefits. Clients won’t need to search for a hosting provider, saving them time and hassle. You can also ensure a high-quality infrastructure for their website, and you’ll be the go-to person for both design and hosting queries. 

If you’re planning to start your own hosting company, reseller hosting can be a cost-effective entry point to entrepreneurship. While you will be the point of contact between the client and hosting provider if technical issues arise, the hosting provider can take care of technical aspects, such as server maintenance and cloud configurations, for you. 

With a white-label hosting service like A2, you gain access to a robust infrastructure, complete with an intuitive user interface, email services powered by Titan, pre-installed WordPress for quick deployments, and 24/7 in-house technical support. All of these features are ideal for building a hosting solution that’s perfectly tailored to your clients’ needs. 

A2 Hosting homepage

Does High-Quality, Affordable Reseller Web Hosting Exist?

It’s a common misconception that if reseller hosting is cheap, it must be subpar or low-quality. In reality, high-quality reseller web hosting that is affordable exists. You need to stick to high-quality hosting for your clients because if you build a website for them and they have a poor hosting experience, they’ll leave. 

With reseller hosting, your goal is to find the sweet spot where profit meets performance. This balance is crucial because you can offer your clients a valuable service that ensures their website is fast and secure and maintains high uptime. 

In most cases, you can deliver a high-quality hosting experience unless your clients have very specific needs. Take, for example, an online store that’s gearing up for Black Friday. It’ll likely experience a spike in traffic and may require higher-tier hosting. However, while some clients might need the high-end specs of a premium hosting solution, most will be satisfied with affordable hosting plans that are well-equipped with essential features. 

Now, let’s talk about how reseller web hosting providers manage to offer high-quality hosting packages at affordable prices. 

Understanding what you’re paying for is key. Typically, reseller packages operate on shared hosting plans, where your clients share servers and resources with other users. But this doesn’t mean the hosting is low-quality; it’s just a smart way for companies to reduce costs since resources are shared. 

If you opt for VPS reseller hosting, which comes with dedicated resources, you can expect to pay premium prices because it’s well-suited for sites that receive high traffic volumes. 

As Aaron Campbell, Director of Product at A2 Hosting says, “When considering the choice between VPS reseller packages and shared hosting, resellers should primarily evaluate their clients’ needs for scalability, control, and resource allocation. VPS reseller hosting is particularly advantageous for those who anticipate a need for increased resource control, enhanced security, and scalability to accommodate growing traffic or more demanding applications. This option allows resellers to provide a more tailored and robust hosting environment, which is crucial for clients with specific performance and security requirements. On the other hand, shared hosting is more suitable for resellers whose clients have smaller, less resource-intensive websites and are looking for a cost-effective solution. Ultimately, the decision should align with the business goals, technical requirements, and budget constraints of the reseller’s client base.”

What to Look for in Solid but Affordable Reseller Hosting

Finding the right balance between cost and quality is undoubtedly key, but here are some must-have features you’ll want to look for in a reseller hosting package:  

WHM and cPanel

The WebHost Manager (WHM) is essential for efficiently managing multiple cPanel accounts. With WHM, resellers can create, modify, and administer individual hosting accounts, ensuring optimal resource allocation and robust security measures. 

Meanwhile, cPanel provides an intuitive interface for end-users, simplifying tasks such as setting up email accounts, managing domains, and installing essential applications like WordPress. For resellers, this means fewer support calls and more time focusing on business growth.

WHMCS and Blesta

Billing and support automation tools like Web Host Manager Complete Solution (WHMCS) and Blesta play a crucial role in helping you manage your reseller hosting business efficiently. 

These platforms automate billing processes, from invoicing to payment tracking, allowing you to manage subscriptions without any hassles. They also offer robust support systems and automate ticketing and customer communication to improve client assistance. 

eNom Domain Reseller Account

Want to offer domains alongside your hosting services? An eNom Domain Reseller Account is your best bet. It lets you buy domain names at discounted rates and sell them to your clients, which can be a great way to boost revenue. 

Ample Client Accounts

A robust reseller package should ideally offer ample client accounts. This will allow you to cater to different markets and offer customized hosting solutions to your clients. With enough client accounts, you’ll have the flexibility to seize growth opportunities and stand out in a competitive market. 

A2 Hosting’s Affordable Reseller Hosting Plans

A2 Hosting reseller hosting page 

As hosting experts, we get how important it is to find the best reseller hosting provider. If you’ve ever held yourself back from starting your own hosting business due to high costs, lack of scalability, low uptime guarantees, or unsatisfactory customer support, you can trust us when we say that we’ve got you covered on all counts.

Let’s dive right into the standout features of our plans so you can see for yourself.

Kickstart Vs. Launch Vs. Grow Vs. Scale

At A2, we offer four reseller hosting plans: Kickstart, Launch, Grow, and Scale. Each plan comes with its own set of perks, including free Blesta or WHMCS, free SSL certificates, cPanel/WHM access, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and 24/7/365 in-house Guru Crew support. Here’s how they stack up: 

Choosing the Right Reseller Hosting Plan

The plan you choose can make or break your reseller hosting experience. You have to find one that suits your budget, aligns with your business goals, meets your clients’ needs, and sets you up for long-term success. Let’s break it down to make your decision easier.

If you’re a smaller agency or startup, sticking to your budget might be your biggest concern. In this case, our Kickstart plan could be the perfect fit, as it offers a balanced combination of storage and transfer limits at an affordable price. 

On the other hand, if you’re a growing agency or have a larger client base, you might find that our advanced plans, like Launch, Grow, or Scale, are better for your needs. These plans come with additional storage, high transfer limits, and value-added features like a free WHMCS license. 

A2’s Reseller Turbo Plans: Unparalleled Performance at a Reasonable Cost

A2 Hosting Turbo web hosting page

If speed and superior performance are your top priorities, you’ll love our Turbo Reseller Hosting plans. These plans offer the same reseller hosting options but with a turbocharged boost, thanks to our LiteSpeed web server, which provides lightning-fast page load performance. 

Significantly better website speed means better SEO rankings, lower bounce rates, and higher conversion rates. Despite its advanced features and benefits, our Turbo plans remain cost-effective, so you can get exceptional performance without breaking the bank. 

When to Opt for Turbo Reseller Hosting

Turbo is the way to go if your clients have intense performance requirements. For example, high-traffic websites can benefit immensely from Turbo’s speed enhancements. Additionally, clients who want to improve their SEO rankings and user interaction metrics may also find our Turbo Reseller Hosting plans highly valuable. 

Before making the switch, consider your current or prospective client base to see if they would significantly benefit from Turbo plans’ enriched performance. Look for signs such as high traffic volumes, slow website loading times, or SEO performance gaps. 

 A2’s VPS Reseller Hosting: When Your Clients Need More Resources

When your clients’ needs extend beyond shared resources, it’s time to consider A2 Hosting’s VPS Reseller Hosting. Unlike traditional reseller hosting, where resources are shared among many users, VPS Reseller Hosting gives each client dedicated resources, including CPU, RAM, and storage. This ensures consistent performance and avoids any downtime that could be caused by resource sharing. 

Although VPS Hosting costs more than shared hosting, the higher price tag can be worth it for clients with websites that require enhanced performance, reliability, and guaranteed uptimes. The extra cost is a reflection of the improved infrastructure and resources each client gets, giving them a stronger hosting solution.

Plus, A2’s VPS plans include Turbo features, making websites even faster. With Turbo-enabled VPS hosting, clients get speedier websites, which means happier visitors and better search engine rankings.

 Why A2’s Reseller Hosting Offers the Most Value

We’re serious about offering blazing-fast speed, affordability, ironclad security, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, 24/7/365 in-house technical support, and a comprehensive suite of additional features. Just take a look at how we compare against other reseller hosting providers: 

Start Your Reseller Journey With A2 Hosting Today

Providing high-quality reseller hosting services to your clients doesn’t require a hefty investment. Affordable reseller web hosting is not only possible but it’s also packed with all the essential qualities and features your clients deserve. 

A common misconception is that lower prices mean compromising on quality. But our plans are proof that you can blend competitive pricing with premium features and exceptional performance. 

With A2 Hosting, you can access a wide range of hosting plans tailored to various needs. This includes shared and VPS options, both of which are enhanced with Turbo capabilities to deliver super-fast site speeds. Get started with A2’s reseller hosting now to start making money as a reseller!  

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The concept of reselling has become increasingly popular due to the convenience it offers to companies, and the high number of sales generated through the partnership. However, some people may be hesitant to participate in reselling due to a lack of knowledge in the field. If you are an aspiring web hosting reseller looking to invest time in a new business opportunity, then read on to learn more!

Frequently Asked Questions About Being a Reseller

1. What is Reseller Hosting?

Running a web hosting company involves many things — acquiring and maintaining IT infrastructure, billing and managing customers, and much more. Needless to say, all of this also requires a lot of capital.

But with reseller hosting, you can provide web hosting services to your customers without all of the overhead and headaches of setting up and running an entire IT company. The “parent” company provides the digital infrastructure, freeing you (the reseller) to focus on creating, maintaining, and expanding your customer base. Even better, with white-label reseller hosting plans, you can brand everything under your own business name and logo.

2.   How Do I Become a Reseller?

To become a web hosting reseller, find a company that you are interested in partnering with. Make sure you find a reliable and trusted company, like A2 Hosting. Feel free to contact us — we are happy to help and answer your questions!

3.   Who Can Become a Reseller?

Anyone can become a reseller. If you are a driven and motivated individual, then you are the perfect candidate. As long as you are willing to learn and determined to succeed, then we are happy to welcome you as a reseller.

4.   Why Should I Become a Reseller?

Reselling is a great way to gain business experience, such as.

• How to sell a product.
• How to advertise your services.
• How to run a business.
• … and much more!

If you are looking to start your own business, or want to build your reputation and expertise to explore other business opportunities, then reseller hosting may be a good fit for you. You are able to gain necessary experience while generating your own revenue.

5.   How Much Capital do I Need?

This typically depends on the company you are collaborating with. Many companies offer flexible packages that allow a reseller to pick and choose from their list of options depending on their budget. There are companies that also permit resellers to build their own packages in terms of variety and quantity to personalize their experience.

At A2 Hosting, we have a variety of reseller plans to help you launch your web hosting business.

6.   How Much is the Profit?

The profit depends solely on how well you do. You set your own profit margins and quotas. Work within your limits and try your best to surpass them if you can.

7.   Do I Need My Own Domain Name?

As a web hosting reseller, you should have your own domain name. The domain name is an important part of your company’s identity.

If you do not have a domain name yet, make sure you read our tips for choosing an effective domain name.

8.   How Do I Create my Own Packages and Prices?

Many resellers use WebHost Manager (WHM) to create and manage account packages. For the billing and customer account management side of your business, WHMCS and Blesta are popular choices.

9.   How Can I Succeed as a Reseller?

As with most things, it all comes down to how hard you work. If you are new to reselling, it can all seem a bit overwhelming at first. Like any business, reseller hosting requires hard work and perseverance. But it can also be very rewarding, and profitable at the same time.

10. Where Do I Start?

Start by contacting us today! We are always ready to welcome new resellers. We can help you get your web hosting business off the ground and guide you through the initial setup process.

Take the next step into unlocking your potential by working with us!

The post What is Reseller Hosting? – Top 10 FAQs appeared first on The A2 Posting.

What is Magento?

First, let’s discuss what Magento is and why it may be a helpful platform for you. Magento is one of the top e-commerce platforms today. It is made with open-source software so users are able to control their online store’s look, functionality, and content without compromising the shopping experience. Also, Magento provides its users with a number of useful tools and features including marketing, SEO, and catalog-management tools. With Magento, users have access to a wide variety of plugins and themes to customize whatever they want. Such customizations can also improve customer experience.

In general, the platform is scalable to any store size and will adapt to your business, whether you are catering to a few customers or a million. This means that as your business grows you won’t be forced to change platforms.

What is Managed VPS Hosting?

Managed VPS Hosting is a managed service where you don’t need to worry about managing your server. With Managed VPS Hosting, your hosting provider will take care of server maintenance such as core updates, software installation, backup, security, and more.

Benefits of Magento as an eCommerce Platform

Magento offers numerous advantages to e-commerce businesses. As an e-commerce platform, it provides:

• Increased performance and scalability
• Improved ability to persuade customers
• A powerful platform that can support thousands of products
• A responsive and mobile-friendly experience
• Advanced search engine optimization features
• A helpful community with developer support

Benefits of Managed VPS Hosting with A2 Hosting

• Enjoy Full Root Access: With full root access you can tailor your managed server to meet your specific needs as you’re not sharing it with other entities.
• Cost Savings: With managed virtual hosting, you can eliminate expenses incurred on hiring dedicated staff to take care of the technical administration and management tasks.
• Scalability: Managed VPS Hosting services also take care of scalability, which is an important requirement for growing businesses. With rising traffic, your server resources can be easily ramped up to meet the increasing demands.
• Security: With Managed VPS Hosting, you get an IP address that is unique to your server, which offers increased website security.

Conclusion:

At A2 Hosting, our goal is to offer fast, responsive, and reliable hosting solutions to meet your unique needs. This recent integration with Magento is one way for us to show our support to all of our customers.

If you’re a growing enterprise, increasing business demands can place undue strain on your website and online operations if they’re not designed to handle high traffic and other challenges. In addition, the demands of an expanding business can divert attention from more valuable business activities. This is where A2 Hosting can come to your rescue. By opting for our Managed Magento VPS Hosting, you can focus your time and attention on operations such as marketing, promotions, sales, and customer service that directly contribute to the growth of your business.

Leave the hosting challenges to us while you attend to your customers. Benefit from our hassle-free and seamless hosting plans!

Click here to check out our Managed VPS Hosting plans. If you have any further questions, contact our sales team today!

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What is a VPS Reseller Hosting Package?

A VPS Reseller server is a virtualized server that a user can split into several hosting packages. Here’s how it works:

1. You purchase a VPS package from us with as many cPanel licenses as you need.
2. Then, you can resell the cPanel accounts to individuals.
3. Then, using the WHM system, you can create additional client accounts and give each individual their own cPanel. 
4. That’s it! 

Who Would Want a VPS Reseller Plan?

VPS Reseller plans are for clients with multiple sites that need individual cPanel accounts for each site. It’s also for clients who are reselling to clients requiring the power, resources, and scalability of a VPS. Regular shared reseller plans are more limited in resources than their VPS counterparts. 

So, is VPS Reseller Hosting Actually Worth It? 

Privacy and Configuration 

VPS Reseller packages offer more privacy and greater server admin control. With a VPS server, you can have root-level access to configure the server to your liking. 

Not only that, but VPS packages are in their own virtually-allocated server environment so your clients have greater privacy. Your resources are also your own. In a shared Reseller package, you’re still sharing a server with many other individuals. With a VPS Reseller package, you’re sharing the same physical server, but not sharing the same virtual server. Your server is your own. 

Resources 

VPS servers have more resources than their Reseller counterparts. For example, our entry-level shared Reseller package Kickstart only offers 60GB of disk space whereas our entry-level VPS plan offers 150GB of disk space. 

Speed

Because you’re not sharing the server with many others, you’ll experience faster loading speeds on a VPS server. 

Why Should I Become a Reseller?

Low Bar to Entry

If you aren’t used to web hosting, there’s a learning curve at first. But if you’re familiar with web hosting or have your own website, it’s not much harder to become a reseller. Pricing for VPS Reselling packages is reasonable, starting at $54.99/monthly for a Lift 8 plan with 150GB of disk space and 8GB of RAM. 

Scalable

It’s easy to upgrade to a higher-tiered VPS at any time. Our reseller hosting accounts are scalable so you can start small and expand as your client list grows as scaling up doesn’t cost anything. 

Easy to Manage

When you sign up for a VPS Reseller hosting account, you’ll need to manually create users in WHM. Once you create the accounts, you can give each client their own cPanel account and manage them accordingly. Within each cPanel is a client’s allocated disk space and bandwidth. Their cPanel also contains the necessary tools to manage their website, set up email addresses, and add databases. 

If you have your own shared hosting package or have used web hosting before, setting up a reseller account is similar. Instead of setting up your own domain, you set up the framework for your clients to manage their own websites.

Your clients can manage their own accounts which saves you the hassle of administrating their websites yourself making this an easy way to make passive income. 

In conclusion, VPS Reseller hosting has a myriad of benefits ranging from server privacy, easy configuration to scalability and speed. With the right setup, you can start reselling today!  

Related Articles: 

• Reseller Quick Start Guide
• How to Make Your Reseller Hosting Business a Success
• How to Start a Hosting Business and Join the Remote Working Revolution
• What Reseller Hosting Is (And How You Can Take Advantage of It)

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Why Do Hosting Costs Matter?

Hosting costs occur over the lifetime of your website. If you have a website, there’s no getting around the price tag associated with hosting it unless you own and run your own server (if you do–great!). Chances are you don’t run your own server so cost is important. 

At initial sign-up, most hosting companies offset the costs of starting a new website by offering promotional discounts for your first billing cycle. After this billing cycle is over, your hosting package goes up to the original price which is considerably more expensive. This is a common complaint we receive. But why does the price go up? 

Beyond the dollar figure, quality and performance impact your website first and foremost. Money is important, of course, but if your site is slow, you’ll lose customers and as a consequence, lose money. In this sense, cheaper isn’t always better. 

Paying for subpar hosting can mean slow loading times, leading to more bounces and fewer conversions–an estimated 7% drop. 

If you’re trying to save money, save it in other places. Skimping on your hosting is the last place to start because you don’t want a poorly performing website. 

The trick is to keep costs low but find the perfect ratio of quality to affordability. This is what we offer at A2 Hosting. 

So, what are you paying for? 

With the cost of managed web hosting, you’re paying for:

• Security and security patch updates
• Turbo-fast speeds
• High-quality 24/7/365 support on tickets, phones, and LiveChat
• 99.9% uptime 
• Scalability 
• Backups 
• Free email
• Free SSL certificate 
• And more, depending on the plan

Basically, you’re paying for the additional services required to keep your website secure and up-to-date. 

Notice we said managed web hosting above. Managed web hosting includes these additional services that unmanaged servers don’t. 

That’s why our Managed and Unmanaged Dedicated server plans have vastly different prices. 

As you can see, our unmanaged Dedicated hosting plans are less expensive than their managed counterparts. That’s because unmanaged plans don’t offer the support, security, and updates that managed plans do. 

Unmanaged plans are priced cheaper because they don’t offer:

• 24/7/365 support
• Server configuration
• Security
• Regular server-side updates

With an unmanaged server, you get what you pay for. They’re great for experienced developers who know how to handle the complications of maintaining a server, but for everyone else, stick with its managed counterpart. 

How can I lower the cost of my web hosting?

1. Choose a hosting provider you can trust. 

At A2 Hosting, our introductory Shared Hosting Startup plan starts at $2.99/monthly. Even though it’s a low-cost server, it still includes stellar performance. 

We have servers around the globe so you can choose the location to best meet your needs for latency and reliability. 

2. Choose a longer contract.

The longer contract you choose, the less expensive your web hosting package is. 

Once your first contract expires, your plan often renews at a higher rate. To offset the higher cost down the line, lock in that discounted rate for as long as possible. 

For example, our Turbo Boost is on sale for $83.88 for three years or $6.99/monthly. Then, after three years it renews at $755.64 yearly. If you choose only a monthly billing cycle, the first month is $15.99, but every consecutive month is $20.99. Choosing a longer billing cycle saves you money long-term if you’re willing to make the short-term investment. 

3. When in doubt, start with a Shared plan.

The majority of new websites are better off starting with a shared web hosting package. It’s an entry-level hosting package allowing costs to stay low in the beginning. Unless you’re expecting a large volume of traffic at your website’s launch, shared hosting is enough for your needs. 

You can always upgrade at any time. As our sales team always says, it’s easier to upgrade than to downgrade. Upgrades are free, but downgrades cost $25 to migrate so it’s best to start small and scale-up. 

At A2 Hosting, we couple affordability with speedy plans. We offer generous discounts to get your business going and if you’re an existing customer, our sales team will work with you to come up with a more affordable solution. 

Related articles:

• How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Plan for Your Needs
• Web Hosting Resources: What You Need to Know to Choose the Right Plan
• How Much Should You Expect to Pay for Web Hosting?
• Why Web Hosting Matters for Your Business (4 Key Reasons)

The post Is Dedicated Web Server Hosting More Expensive? The Full Guide to Web Hosting Pricing appeared first on The A2 Posting.

WordPress (WP) Toolkit is a WordPress management solution. It has an easy-to-use interface that allows users to install, configure, secure, update, and manage all of their WordPress sites. A2 Hosting will be offering WP Toolkit Deluxe on all Turbo Managed Plans, and WP Toolkit Standard will be included on all other Managed plans, including our new Managed WordPress Plans! Watch our video below for an introduction on how to use the WordPress Toolkit Deluxe for Site Management or read the step-by-step guide beneath it.

So installing your site, is as easy as clicking the yellow highlighted button below and then filling out the following form that populates from this.

General

Once you click to install, this page will pop up. In the general section, there are a few things to make sure you fill out.

Installation Path: Your current live site will automatically show up on the installation path. Here you need to select another site or create a staging site (website.staging.com)

Website Title: Now we’ll go ahead and give your website a name. This can always be changed later within WordPress.

Plugin/Theme Set: Here you can choose a plugin theme or set. These are usually just pre-configured packs for you to get started.

WordPress Administrator: Here an overall username and password are required to access the WordPress portion of your site. One of the features of the WordPress Toolkit is to generate these automatically for you and then save them within cPanel so that all you have to do is click a button and you don’t have to remember these at all moving through the database.

Database

Most users may not have to interact with the Database section. This is automatically generated information kind of like the WordPress Administrator section above. You also don’t need to really remember this unless you’re integration level work in your actual databases, but for the most part, these can be left ignored.

Automatic Updates

This is an important consideration for making sure that your site stays available and online and stays secure as updates become available for vulnerabilities. So the default is yes, all minor and major updates. You can also if you choose, select plugins and themes to automatically be updated as well. After deciding this go ahead and click install to start the site installation process.

Just like that your new site is created! Once your installation is complete the window pictured below will pop up. It’s going to provide you with an opportunity to install some plugins. These plugins come directly from wordpress.org. This is the same set of plugins in the community that are managed and downloaded.

If you can click on the install plugins button it will take you to the screen pictured below. There you can look and see all the plugins and themes available. You will be able to see ratings, how many people have already downloaded it, and who the publisher is. It’s going to provide you with the information that you need to be able to decide if it’s the right plugin for you.

Finding Your Plugins and Themes

Let’s say you finish downloading all the ones you want and click off and then realize that you may have missed an important plugin. If you ever need to come back to make a change on your plugins and themes, you can find those in these tabs here on the main dashboard. So we can see that Akisment Anti-Spam 4.1.12 is installed and not currently online until we want to turn it on.

Finding and Installing Your Existing WordPress Sites

Let’s say that you have an existing WordPress site and you’d like to bring it into the WordPress Toolkit so that you can use all these features on your existing WordPress site. As long as it’s under your account, you can use the scan button here and it’s going to search your account’s directories and find your word, your previous WordPress sites that are out there.

Implementing WordPress Toolkit for Your Site

Using the WordPress Toolkit Deluxe to manage your WordPress sites can save you time and stress in the long run. That’s why A2 Hosting is offering the WordPress Toolkit Deluxe version for free on all Managed Turbo plans and the WordPress Toolkit Standard on all other Managed plans. We feel free to look into our new Managed WordPress plans we just refreshed. If you have any other questions, contact our sales and support teams and they will be happy to help you!

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Before we can decide when it’s time for you to upgrade, let’s first define these services.

What is a VPS?

A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a server where resources are all allocated virtually. You share physical resources with other users on the server, but unlike shared hosting, your site gets dedicated resources in its virtual allocation.

For example, if the server has 16GB of RAM, your VPS might get 2GB of the 16GB of RAM. That 2GB is yours and no one else’s.

Resources are divided using a hypervisor to create virtual machines for each user on the server. This might sound confusing, but it’s most important to know that each account on the VPS is completely cut off from other accounts.

A VPS is like owning an apartment in a fourplex. You own your part of the building, but the other three apartments are owned by others. All of the resources in your apartment are yours, but you share the same building. 

What is a Bare Metal Dedicated Server?

A bare metal dedicated server is a server where you have the entire physical server dedicated to your website. In a VPS, you only get part of a server, but with a dedicated server, you get the whole thing! 

Using the housing analogy, a dedicated server is like owning your own house. No one else owns parts of it. It’s solely yours to do with as you please.

Now, Bare Metal Dedicated servers differ from traditional dedicated servers in a few ways. First, provisioning occurs within minutes of ordering. Gone are the days of waiting 24 hours for your dedicated server to get up and running. Also, higher-quality servers are used with top-of-the-line components.

Now that we know the basics of our VPS and Bare Metal Dedicated servers, we can discuss the main question of the article.

When Is It Time to Upgrade from a Virtual Private Server to Bare Metal Dedicated Hosting?

This is a frequently asked question and one that deserves answering. Typically, you want to upgrade from a VPS to a dedicated server when you’ve reached 70% of your total resource usage for RAM, disk space, CPU, and bandwidth combined. Why 70%? Because it’s better to be early than to be late. If you wait until your resources hit 100% total usage, you risk your server crashing or getting temporarily suspended until you upgrade. NOTE: We email you several notices warning you of resource uses once you get past 50% usage. We won’t suspend your account without warning and suggesting an upgrade.

There are, of course, other reasons you may want to upgrade to a bare metal dedicated server such as:

• Wanting to use an application or operating system that won’t support virtualization. 
• Expecting a surge in traffic during a certain time of the year. For example, some businesses need the extra power of a Bare Metal Dedicated Server during Black Friday.
• Not wanting to share a server with anyone else.

Suffice it to say, if you notice you’re not getting the same performance and you’re starting to see 70% resource usage on your account, it’s time to get an upgrade. Contact our sales team today if you’re not sure if you need to upgrade or not.

Related Resources:

• What Is a Bare Metal Dedicated Server? (And When Is It Right for You?)
• Bare Metal Dedicated Specs and Why They’re Important
• 13 Questions to Consider When Choosing a Bare Metal Dedicated Server
• A Guide to A2 Bare Metal Dedicated Hosting

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What is Bare Metal Dedicated Hosting?

You might be asking yourself… What is the difference between Dedicated Hosting and Bare Metal Dedicated Hosting? The answer is virtualization. Oftentimes servers use software to segment sections of their server for people to use. While these virtual layers have dedicated resources allotted to them, they are still fundamentally sharing the overall resources of the server. With Bare Metal Dedicated the entire server is yours, including all of its resources.

Bare Metal Dedicated servers give you full and complete control over your environment. They let you decide what software you want to run, including which operating system and version you would like to use, as well as provide you with the ability to set security parameters the way you want them. This type of control is key for the peak optimization of applications which may require very specific configurations to run correctly and efficiently.

The downside of running a Bare Metal Dedicated Server is that it often requires a higher level of technical know-how and is normally not considered an option for the average website running on one of the more popular CMS systems like WordPress or Drupal. This is where a Managed Plan comes into play. With Managed Bare Metal Dedicated a lot of the setup and maintenance is taken care of. Things like operating system installation, control panel installation, security setup, updates and patches, kernel updates, site migrations, and more are performed by the hosting provider.

While the cost of Managed Hosting Plans is higher than their equivalent Unmanaged Plans, when you factor in the costs of bringing on outside help for the setup and management of the server, it can often be a real value.

In this guide we will take a look at what to look for when buying a dedicated server, look at the new Bare Metal Dedicated offerings from A2 Hosting, and see how they stack up against the competition when it comes to performance and speed.

What To Look For When Buying a Dedicated Server

Not all dedicated servers are alike. While it is easy to see the differences in hardware specs between plans there are also some questions you should ask before making the final decision. This is especially true if your server contains a mission-critical application that, if an outage occurred, would cause significant damage to your business reputation or revenue stream. Some things to consider are…

Is it Truly Dedicated?

Some Dedicated offerings utilize Virtualization or Hypervisors to segment a server into individual “dedicated” sections. While you still often have the same levels of dedicated resources, access, and control as you would over a fully dedicated environment, you are still occasionally at the mercy of your neighbors. For example, if a neighboring server required a “hard reboot” or accidentally caused a hardware failure, everyone on that server would share in the pain. This is one of the primary benefits of having a Bare Metal Dedicated server because it’s all about you… and only you.

Speed and Performance

There are many factors that drive performance and speed in a dedicated server. For CPUs you should look for multi- core options with a high gigahertz. For RAM you need to make sure it’s one of the latest generations with enough GBs available to handle your anticipated traffic and number of transactions. For storage, make sure that the server is using SSD drives at a minimum with even faster NVMe drives if you’re performing a lot of database calls.

Uptime Guarantees

While some may claim otherwise, there really is no such thing as 100% uptime… it’s just not a concept that exists in the real world. There will almost certainly be a situation where a server requires maintenance or a weather event causes an outage. It is, however, important to pay close attention to the terms of your agreement with your hosting provider and make certain that your business case aligns with the guarantees of the provider. A2 Hosting has an 99.9% uptime commitment.

Backups & Single Points of Failure

No matter what the uptime guarantee of your hosting provider, if you are “keeping your eggs in one basket” by storing all data and routing all operations through a single server, you have a single point of failure. While this is a topic which can fill books, the basics are that at a minimum you should be taking regular and frequent backups of your files and database and storing them on an offsite server or a server operating in another region. If your budget allows, you can also have a hot or cold standby of your server operating in another data center that you can switch to in the event of a major outage.

Support Response Times & SLAs

The most common things that bring websites down are small issues that people don’t always foresee. Expiring SSL Certificates or an update that causes something not to work anymore are just a couple of the simple things that can cause major problems for your business. When choosing a BMD plan, you should also look at what the response times are for your plan level. It is important that your provider offer technical support 24 hours a day, and that they can respond to a high priority support request in a timely manner that aligns with your business needs.

A Hoster With an Advanced Infrastructure

Not all data centers are alike. One thing to look for is that your hosting provider operates multiple data centers which allow you to better scale your infrastructure across multiple regions. You should look for a host that offers redundancy with their power and network. A2, for example, has redundant power at each server (with UPS & diesel generator backups) and a redundant network above the host level.

An Overview of Our New Offerings

Now that you know what to look for in a Bare Metal Dedicated solution, let’s take a closer look at the new line of BMD products that we have recently rolled out.

Your Choice of CPUs

No matter what camp you are in, we have a processor choice for you. Our new BMD plans feature a variety of Intel and AMD processor options for you to choose from. The plans come with Intel Xeon, Intel Xeon Silver, or AMD Rome 2nd Gen EPYC CPUs.

Choose Your Operating System

With an Unmanaged plan you can choose between CentOS 7 & 8, Ubuntu 18 & 20, and Debian 9 & 10. For Managed plans we offer the choice between CentOS 7 & 8 and CloudLinux 7 & 8.

Advanced NVMe Storage Options

Every BMD server comes with advanced RAID-1 (mirroring) SSD Storage with the opportunity to upgrade to NVMe drives with the Turbo plan options. NVMe drives are three times faster than SSD.

Additional & Backup Drive Options

You can add additional SSD drives and extra local backup drives to your setup in the configuration of your server. We also offer the A2 CDP Backups tool which offers continuous data protection across the A2 network. It will automatically back up your files and databases, offering a full array of restore and recovery options.

Root Level Access

Root Level Access allows your administrators to install, edit, and configure all of the files on your server and it is available on most Managed and all Unmanaged plans.

New Managed Options with Extra Speed & Performance

While the new Unmanaged plans give you an open playground to install and configure things just the way you want them, Managed plans come with a ton of additional options to help you get more speed, performance, and security out of your server.

• Free Automatic Upgrades, Patches & Maintenance
• Free cPanel License with automatic upgrades & maintenance
• Improved performance with high-speed SwiftServer features including advanced caching and LiteSpeed caching available on Managed Turbo plans
• Advanced security options including Perpetual Security, malware & virus scanning, two factor authentication (2FA), kernel updates, reinforced DDoS protection, dual firewalls, and defense against brute force attacks.
• Full HostGuard Management to help with maintenance and notifications
• Email included

Competitive Benchmarking

When we look at how our new Bare Metal Dedicated plans stack up against the competition we chose the plans on our side which are best aligned from a stats and costs perspective.

The Benchmarking Results

As mentioned above these tests look at several different metrics and in this guide we will focus on transactions or results per second as it is a clear measurement of server performance. The average results take those numbers from the four vendors we ran benchmarking comparisons against and then averages their results.

• Our lowest level Bare Metal Dedicated Server plan (Warp 1) scored, on average, 108% better than comparable competition plans using Apache Benchmark.
• Our lowest level Bare Metal Dedicated Server plan (Warp 1) scored, on average, 242% better than comparable competition plans using Apache Siege Benchmark using 250 concurrent users.
• Our lowest level Bare Metal Dedicated Server plan (Warp 1) scored, on average, 195% better than comparable competition plans using NGINX Benchmark.

By Competitor

InMotion

When we compared our Warp 1 Bare Metal Dedicated server to the InMotion Advanced Dedicated Server plan we outperformed them by 28% using the Apache Benchmark test, by 54% using NGINX benchmark, and by 670% using the Apache Siege Benchmark.

Liquid Web

When we compared our Warp 1 Bare Metal Dedicated server to Liquid Web’s Intel Xeon 1230v6 plan we outperformed them by by 137% using the Apache Benchmark test, by 99% using NGINX benchmark, and by 22% using the Apache Siege Benchmark.

HostGator

When we compared our Warp 1 Bare Metal Dedicated server to HostGator Enterprise Server we outperformed them by 178% using the Apache Benchmark test, by 309% using NGINX benchmark, and by 168% using the Apache Siege Benchmark.

GoDaddy

When we compared our Warp 1 Bare Metal Dedicated server to GoDaddy’s Bare Metal Dedicated DS-32 plan we outperformed them by 107% using the Apache Benchmark test, by 142% using NGINX benchmark, and by 1,185% using the Apache Siege Benchmark.

What is Benchmarking?

While there are many different tools that perform testing across many different areas, fundamentally it is just taking a server and applying simulated conditions to see how it will respond. Each has its own unique scoring system to let you run the same test on several different servers and compare the results.

When we launched our new Bare Metal Dedicated plans we did more than 165 independent tests to assess the performance of our new plans. We also ran several of those same tests on a selection of our competitors by signing up as a customer of theirs and then running those tests on their server infrastructure. For the purposes of reducing complexity we shared the results of three top industry benchmarking tests. Each of these tests use a different methodology for scoring.

Apache Benchmark

The Apache HTTP Server Benchmarking Tool (also called Apache Bench or ab) is a tool from the Apache organization for benchmarking a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) web server. With this tool, you can quickly know how many requests per second your web server is capable of serving. Some of the items that this tool tests as part of its overall score are…

• Load
• Memory Utilization
• CPU Utilization
• Thread Count
• Network Bandwidth
• Disk Usage
• Open File Descriptors
• Error Rates
• Availability

Apache Siege Benchmark (Using 250 Concurrent Users)

The Apache Siege Benchmark is an open source benchmarking tool that allows you
to set a number of concurrent users (for this test we set the value at 250) and simulate activity of those 250 users to see how the server handles the load. Fundamentally it lets you test your server and systems under extreme conditions. These types of situations often happen during spikes or peak periods of activity. Some of the items that this tool tests as part of its overall score are…

• Elapsed Time
• Response Time (in Seconds)
• Transaction Rate (Transactions Per Second)
• Throughput (Bytes Per Second)
• Concurrency
• Transaction Success

NGINX Benchmark

The NGINX Benchmark is a test that uses the previously mentioned Apache Benchmark and runs that test against nginx. The results give you an understanding of your system’s number of requests per second and assess the overall sustainability of carrying out two million requests simultaneously with 500 bad requests. In short this test throws a large amount of traffic, both good and bad, at the server to see how it handles the requests, thus measuring the speed it took to handle them. Some of the items that this tool tests as part of its overall score are…

• Requests per Second
• Connections per Second
• Throughput

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Offering reseller hosting to your clients is an excellent way to generate a secondary source of income. Of course, you’ll need a number of key resources in order to make your reseller business a success – including a credible host and strong customer service skills.

In this post, we’ll explain what reseller hosting is. We’ll then highlight some of the things you’ll need to implement it effectively. Let’s get started!

What Reseller Hosting Is (And Why It Can Be Valuable)

When you’re working as a web developer or designer, your outgoing costs can soon start to add up. There are plugins to buy, programs to install, and new technologies to learn. As a result, it often becomes essential to find a way to generate a secondary stream of income.

You have several available options, but reseller hosting can be especially profitable. Put simply, reseller hosting is when you ‘rent’ server space from a hosting provider, and then sell it to your own customers. You pay a fixed monthly fee for the space, and can in turn charge your clients whatever you like.

As a result, this revenue stream can be easily slotted into an existing business. That makes it an ideal solution for anyone with a strong client base, particularly if you create or work on those clients’ websites. You can offer hosting as a separate add-on, or make it a part of your development, design, or maintenance package.

This will make your clients’ lives a little easier, and enables you to offer them more value with little additional effort required. Plus, it lets you establish a source of recurring income. The extra money in your pocket each month can then be put towards improving other areas of your business.

3 Things You’ll Need to Make Your Reseller Hosting Business a Success

There’s no doubt that reseller hosting is an attractive option. However, you’ll need to put a few things in order before you can get started. Let’s look at the three most vital components in any successful reseller hosting business.

1. A Reliable Hosting Provider

As a developer or designer, you’re probably already aware of just how important your chosen hosting provider is. It will directly impact the way you operate, and help to determine the tools you can use. The same applies when you’re starting up a reseller hosting business.

As we’ve already discussed, you’ll need to start by purchasing a reseller hosting plan. This should include all of the features required to make your business a success. For example, here at A2 Hosting, we throw in a WHM control panel, one-click installs, billing solutions, and other key features. This means you have everything you’ll need to get started.

Your chosen provider will also need to offer bundled plans. These are hosting plans that can be used for a lot of different sites, so you can serve as many clients as possible:

Finally, your provider will need to be highly reliable, or your reseller hosting is likely to reflect poorly on your larger business. Carrying out extensive research into your options at this stage (and making an investment in a quality host), can save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

2. The Ability to Provide Strong Customer Service

When people have issues with a service, their first port of call will usually be the person or company that provides the service. If you decide to start a reseller hosting business, you’ll need to make sure you can keep up with customer queries.

If you keep the advice above in mind, and opt for a quality web host, you may find that access to 24/7/365 support is included in your base plan. This will greatly reduce the level of strain on you, as you can point your clients towards dedicated support channels to get help.

Still, you’ll want to make sure you have a solid strategy in place for handling queries as they arise. Remember that responsiveness is key – try not to leave people waiting on your reply. You could also set up a dedicated social media channel for support requests, or implement an email management tool.

3. A Solid Marketing Strategy to Promote Your Business

As with any business, if you don’t tell people about it, they can’t engage with it. With that in mind, it’s vital to establish a strong marketing strategy that will get your reseller hosting business out there.

Of course, the most direct way of doing this is through your existing website. After all, it’s likely that you have a well-established audience made up of previous and current clients. Simply make it clear on your site that you now offer web hosting in addition to your existing services.

You can also try using well-placed graphics and eye-catching calls to action where possible, and updating older content to include information about your new service. This way, anyone who visits your site will be made aware of your venture into reseller hosting.

In addition, it’s a smart idea to send out marketing emails to your client contact list. These emails should contain all the essential details about your new service, and make it clear why your approach is ahead of the competition. Then, you can point clients in the right direction to sign up.

Conclusion

If you run a web design or development business, or offer website maintenance packages, reseller hosting could be the perfect addition to your business. It enables you to provide a more varied service to your clients, and can even help supplement your existing income.

In this post, we identified the three things you’ll need if you want to make your reseller hosting business a success. Let’s recap them now:

1. A reliable host, and a reseller plan packed with features.
2. The ability to provide high-quality customer service.
3. A strong marketing strategy to promote your new business.

Image credit: Pixabay.

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Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to easily improve your campaigns. In fact, having the right strategy in place can make your email list an important part of customer outreach and brand building.

In this article, we’ll touch on why email campaigns matter. Then we’ll look at four ways you can transform your email marketing for the better. Let’s get started!

Why an Email Marketing Campaign Can Be Beneficial

If you’re seeking to increase profits and take advantage of one of the most popular forms of promotion, it’s time to look into email marketing. In the past, we’ve written in-depth about what email marketing campaigns are and how they work. However, to summarize, it’s a type of marketing campaign conducted by sending periodic email messages to a list of subscribers.

Some of the benefits of having an email marketing campaign include:

• It’s a form of direct marketing with a high return on investment.
• The content is very shareable, so your email list can grow organically.
• You can personalize your messages and engage your subscribers without spending huge amounts of money.

As you can see, it can be well worth your time to invest in an email marketing campaign. Now, let’s dive in and take a look at what you can do to ensure that your strategy is a success.

4 Tips to Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns

There’s no one template that works for every email campaign. However, there are several steps you can take to make your content as effective as possible, and promote conversions. Here are four of the best techniques you can try.

1. Optimize Your Email Titles and Lengths

The first thing a subscriber sees when they receive one of your emails is the title, also known as the subject line. If you don’t use this to hook them right away, the odds of them opening your email can be slim. So it’s important to craft an engaging title for each message:

This is where email subject line optimization comes into play. You’ll want to analyze how your subject lines are received, then create new and better titles based on your findings. This is an ongoing process, as your audience will likely change over time.

A quality subject line is concise, personalized, and delivers a single strong Call to Action (CTA). An un-optimized title might look like this:

• “Don’t miss out on these excellent sales! Click here now to take a look at our offers!”
• “Learn more about how you can get your hands on a personalized workshop with our sponsors!”

These headlines are wordy, lack personalization, or have multiple CTAs. Instead, try to keep titles to about five words to increase your open rates, and suggest a single action for readers to take. This might look like:

• “Take advantage of 70% off!”
• “Enjoy a custom workshop today!”

Of course, a strong subject line is just the beginning. Once readers have opened the email, it’s important to keep them engaged if you want to encourage a successful campaign.

2. Add Media to Your Emails

It can seem difficult to stand out when it comes to email marketing. After all, by 2022, it’s predicted that 333 billion marketing emails will be sent out daily. Using plenty of media is one way to give yourself a leg up on the competition:

After all, a picture really is worth a thousand words. When you embed high-resolution images in your emails, you’re more likely to grab readers’ attention, which can positively impact your Click-Through Rate (CTR) and conversions.

Embedding the media is especially important, since using attachments increases the risk that your emails will be classed as spam. You should also consider each image’s size. Although a larger image can appear more professional, it can also impact the User Experience (UX) and increase loading times.

There are plenty of options for adding images to your emails. You can link to them directly from an external server, or you can encode them into your emails’ HTML. However, we’d recommend linking directly if possible, as this keeps loading times fast and enables you to update images even after they’ve been sent.

3. Personalize Your Email Marketing

We touched on personalization earlier, but let’s look at this tactic in more detail. The importance of personalizing your content cannot be understated when it comes to maintaining a loyal subscriber base. Even using a person’s name can instill a stronger connection between your company and your subscribers.

Of course, using each subscriber’s name is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to offering unique content. To start, you could look at why each subscriber chose to receive your content. If you know what part of the buyer’s journey they’re in and what actions they’ve previously taken, you can tailor your emails to their needs. Many email marketing platforms will enable you to do this easily.

It’s also a good idea to consider time zones and individualized timing. After all, an email sent at midnight may get lost when compared to one sent at a more optimal time. Equally, some may be more responsive to emails sent at 6pm, while others may check their inboxes at noon. It can be smart to experiment with multiple sending times, and see what works best for your list.

4. Scrub Your Email List Regularly

Finally, let’s talk about scrubbing your email list. This involves removing non-active members. On average, around 22 to 33% of your email list will stop engaging after a year, or will have never once clicked on a CTA.

By ignoring these members, you run the risk of being reported as spam or wasting your time on uninterested subscribers. On the other hand, cleaning out your list enables you to focus solely on those you know will be an asset to your business.

To see if you need to carry out a scrub, look at your email marketing statistics. You may have to clean your list if there are reduced open and click-through rates, spam complaints, or an uptick in unsubscribes.

However, before you simply wipe out inactive users, you can try to reach out to them one more time. If you can determine why they failed to engage, you may be able to get them interested again. They might want more personalized content, or their interests may have shifted.

Once you have determined whether or not you can save the subscribers, you can purge inactive users from the list. This way, if you pay for an email marketing service, you aren’t wasting money on emails that go nowhere.

Conclusion

Improving an email marketing campaign may take effort, but the rewards are clear. With the right set of strategies, you can revitalize how you engage with customers and promote more engagement and conversions.

Let’s take one more look at the steps you can follow to improve your email marketing campaigns:

1. Optimize your email titles.
2. Add media to your campaign.
3. Personalize your emails.
4. Regularly scrub your email list.

Image credit: Pixabay.

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