How to Start a Business Offering Your Own Web Server

Research various Web hosting providers that offer reseller accounts for dedicated or virtual private server hosting. Thousands of Web server providers exist on the Web; however, few actually maintain their own servers or data centers. For information on Web server hosting providers, visit websites like WebHostingTalk or ResellerPremium. These types of sites offer insight into server companies and the plans they offer. When researching dedicated or virtual private server hosting companies, review comments made by other resellers regarding reliability, pricing plans and support for partners or resellers.
Subscribe to and purchase a server reseller-hosting plan. When subscribing to a plan, consider paying for a full year of reseller hosting in advance, as you will probably receive a discount on the wholesale rate plan.
Learn the management interface that the server provider uses with its system. The management interface is a crucial component of your Web server business and is where you assign, configure and maintain customer server accounts. Create a few sample accounts and configure two or three test servers to learn how to perform the tasks quickly and efficiently. Once customers begin ordering hosting services from your company, they will expect quick configuration and use of their servers.
Publish a domain name that identifies your company as a web server provider. Create a professional website for the business or hire a Web designer to do the work for you. When creating the website, list detailed information on the types and configurations of the Web servers you offer, hosting plan information and pricing information. Provide information on the types of operating systems available, bandwidth usage policies and acceptable uses for the Web servers. To avoid potential legal issues, do not allow website owners to use the servers to display pornography, facilitate transfers of copyrighted material or violate and laws.
Develop a payment processing system for the website. Create an online form for users to submit billing and payment information. Alternatively, have them submit contact information and then call them for needed payment details.
Advertise your Web server company on as many high-volume websites as possible. Alternatively, purchase ads or advertising credits from major traffic-producing sites like Google, LinkShare or DoubleClick. Keep in mind that to drive customers to your site, you must create as much exposure for your new Web business as possible.
Receive orders for Web server hosting accounts and process the payments. Assist the customer in setting up the dedicated or virtual private server as needed.
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How to Set Up a Wiki Site

Set up an account with a wiki-compatible Web host. Not all site hosting accounts are capable of running wiki technology. The server must support Apache, PHP 5+ and MySQL 4+ in order to set up a wiki site. While such hosts are typically pricier than standard hosting, budget hosts such as Fat Cow and Blue Host (see Resources) offer discount hosting that meets the technical requirements of most wiki software.
Download free or paid wiki software. While various companies offer wiki software for personal and public use, WikiMedia's free software (see Resources) is one of the most widely used and has the most comprehensive features because it was originally developed to operate sites such as Wikipedia.
Double-click the file you downloaded in Step 2 to decompress the installation package. A new folder will appear containing all of the wiki software's installation files.
Launch your FTP software and connect to your personal server. Your login information is typically your domain name and the password you chose when registering a hosting account. If you can't remember your login details, refer to the registration documents provided to you when you set up your account with a Web host.
Upload the decompressed installation folder from Step 3 to your hosting server by dragging the folder to your FTP software window. Wait for the FTP program to complete the transfer. Depending on your Internet connection, this may take several minutes.
Open your Web browser. Navigate to the following address: http://yourdomain.com/mediawiki/config/index.php. Replace 'yourdomain.com' with the domain name you registered in Step 1. WikiMedia's installation page will appear.
Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the wiki site setup. You will need to provide specific configuration options, such as the name you wish to use for your wiki and the name of your MySQL database (provided by your Web host).
Click the 'Install MediaWiki' button at the bottom of the page. Your wiki site is now set up and you may begin editing or creating pages from within the wiki interface.
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