Reseller Plan to Dedicated Server

Resellers often are left asking themselves the question…Should I switch from a Reseller hosting plan to a Dedicated Server? This is a hard question to answer and there is no one right answer for everyone. We will look at all of the factors involved and try to give some advice when analyzing each of them.


When we talk to Reseller hosting companies about switching to a dedicated server some of the elements they tend to look at are… the number of hosting accounts, criticality of uptime, more direct control, special requirements, costs, performance, and flexibility.


All of these are factors in the decision but none usually answer the question by themselves. In many ways the answer, dedicated server or reseller plan, is a matter of personal preference and comfort. It also depends on the rest of your web hosting business and how it is built.


The first way to address this question is the most obvious…Why am I considering going to a dedicated server? If there isn’t a problem with your Reseller hosting plan then maybe you shouldn’t fix it. There should be a reason that is leading you down this discussion. If you are only considering a server because you “think” it is a step you need to take at some point then I would proceed with caution.


On the other hand, is your reseller hosting plan having issues? The performance is slow. The websites go down often because of high load caused by other reseller plans. I have a need that my reseller hosting plan cannot accomplish. These and many more are valid issues that should have you considering a move to a dedicated server.


But in the end, it all comes down to value proposition. Is the cost/performance/uptime/flexibility/control/etc. of a reseller plan better then a dedicated server. Only you can evaluate this value proposition because it is unique to your web hosting company.


These are all just factors that need to be considered. A Reseller plan is handy because it offers a low costs approach with a lot of issues handled for you. They also have limits that you need to decide if you can live with. But unless you have a clear issue that can be handled with your reseller hosting plan then I would stay with your plan. A dedicated server adds overhead and costs. So, there has to be a payback for these extra costs, or the value proposition is not worth it.


But there are reasons that tip the value proposition toward a dedicated server. Some examples are. I want to have direct control over the whole box so I do not take downtime or performance hits due to competitor’s reseller hosting plans. Or I have a special requirement such as emailing a newsletter to thousands of customers. There are some requirements that reseller plans just cannot handle because they would comprise other customers. Remember, with a reseller plan you are on a shared server and your parent hosting company has to do what is in the best interest of everyone on the server.