Buy servers or build your own?

PenguinManiac · Aug 6, 2017

Building your own web hosting business can be a demanding task, especially if you won't settle for reseller accounts.
The hardest part (and the most expensive one at that) is probably getting started, namely getting servers in the first place.

In terms of both price and efficiency, is it better to buy servers or to build them yourself and keep them at hand?

StartVM · Aug 9, 2017

I think it depends on the person's knowledge in buildings servers (mind you they should be fairly competent considering how disastrous an improper build on a server could be for a new provider) as well as the amount of money they are willing to spend. Assuming skill and money isn't an issue I would say building may be the best route, because you are eliminating a middle-man and thus excess fees for a pre-built system. However, if money is a big consideration, the maybe looking for a owned and/or refurbished server may be a better idea. Leasing is also an option, and one most people choose these days unless they have significant funding.

RDO Servers · Aug 11, 2017

When starting out, stick to a reseller account or leasing dedicated servers.

Owning your own hardware can be quite a large investment, and added headaches.

Network gear (switch/firewall)
PDU's
Spare parts
The need for on-site tech, or paying the data center
Etc
Etc
Etc

It is just not cost effective, and worth the extra work until you are at the point of needing at least a half rack.

PenguinManiac · Aug 11, 2017

StartVM said:
I was talking about leasing in the virtual sense of renting a dedicated server. Assuming you rent from a reputable company, this is often better and easier than managing a physical server in a datacenter where you also have to rent space from.

...Well, that was dumb of me, haha. That seems like a much more feasible option. It's true there's a third party between your server and your customers, but they would be handling most of the busywork, anyway. Thanks for the clarification!

RDO Servers said:
When starting out, stick to a reseller account or leasing dedicated servers.

Owning your own hardware can be quite a large investment, and added headaches.

Network gear (switch/firewall)
PDU's
Spare parts
The need for on-site tech, or paying the data center
Etc
Etc
Etc

It is just not cost effective, and worth the extra work until you are at the point of needing at least a half rack.

QED. A reseller account is basically a leased dedicated server minus the required knowledge to set it up (with no monetary investment required, yeah, buth with a lower net gain, I guess).

madRoosterTony · Aug 15, 2017

You can lease servers from companies like Dell, HP, etc.

We found its better to build our own hardware 100% from scratch. We get more "server" for the money. We use Supermicro chassis and motherboards, but do not buy any of their pre-assembled systems. We did a ton of research, tracked down the chassis we liked, the motherboards we liked, then added the rest of favorite hardware to the system from different vendors.

Typically is Kingston Ram, WD Traditional Drives, Samsung SSD, Adpatec RAID cards,

Janine2199 · Apr 23, 2018

It is better to buy servers than to build ourselves. Aside from having a hard time, it will cost number of days and make the problem getting worst. But it depends on the person's experience in making servers, like people who doesn't know about it, it's better to buy server than to do it theirself.

J53772 · Apr 24, 2018

It's better to buy than build. Not only is it time-consuming but also greatly relies on the builder themselves. If you have a sufficient amount of experience, then that's well and good. Personally, it isn't worth the sweat for me. Sure you can save a couple of bucks since most servers are really pricey but there are always new ones out there (check out ebay) that are sold for a very reasonable price.

Buy servers or build your own?

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