-1

Recently I began work on an eBook about the hosting industry and there is a key issue which I often encounter with many of my clients.

I wanted to ask what are the best methods for a person to check and ensure the hosting company they are doing business with actually owns the hardware and is not simply acting as a middle man.

To date I've simply checked the nameservers however recently I've seen many reseller packages toting customized nameservers to hide the identities, hence my question.

Thank you very much in advance for any assistance.

UPDATE: To clarify my definition of "reseller"

By reseller I'm referring to people who purchase resources in bulk from companies like DreamHost, Hostgator, or another provider and offering services from there. Regarding the datacenter - CoLo is what I consider acceptable.

My server admin actually has a cage from Softlayer and he built his company off his lease there (along with a few other centers across the US and in the UK). I'm concerned about "resellers" who a re simply selling re-brandedshared plans because it's easier for them to go under without regard to their clients.

theonlylos
  • 121

1 Answers1

2

The line here is extremely blurry: What constitutes a reseller? For example, I rent a private rack in a local datacenter. The equipment is 100% owned and managed by my company, including our firewall and switches. I also have my own /26 (~64 IP addresses). Let's do a bit of research:

[jjbegin@bane ~]$ host rightbrainnetworks.com
rightbrainnetworks.com has address 64.9.208.136
[jjbegin@bane ~]$ whois 64.9.208.136
[Querying whois.arin.net]
[whois.arin.net]
#
# Query terms are ambiguous.  The query is assumed to be:
#     "n 64.9.208.136"
#
# Use "?" to get help.
#

#
# The following results may also be obtained via:
# http://whois.arin.net/rest/nets;q=64.9.208.136?showDetails=true&showARIN=false&ext=netref2
#

NetRange:       64.9.192.0 - 64.9.223.255
CIDR:           64.9.192.0/19
OriginAS:       AS32477, AS11115
NetName:        ONLINE-TECH-INC
NetHandle:      NET-64-9-192-0-1
Parent:         NET-64-0-0-0-0
NetType:        Direct Allocation
Comment:        ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE
RegDate:        2001-02-14
Updated:        2012-03-02
Ref:            http://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-64-9-192-0-1

OrgName:        Online Tech Inc.
OrgId:          ONLT
Address:        305 E. Eisenhower
Address:        Suite 300
City:           Ann Arbor
StateProv:      MI
PostalCode:     48108
Country:        US
RegDate:        1998-04-14
Updated:        2012-01-12
Ref:            http://whois.arin.net/rest/org/ONLT

OrgNOCHandle: ZO25-ARIN
OrgNOCName:   Network Operations Center
OrgNOCPhone:  +1-734-213-2020 
OrgNOCEmail:  noc@onlinetech.net
OrgNOCRef:    http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/ZO25-ARIN

OrgAbuseHandle: ZO25-ARIN
OrgAbuseName:   Network Operations Center
OrgAbusePhone:  +1-734-213-2020 
OrgAbuseEmail:  noc@onlinetech.net
OrgAbuseRef:    http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/ZO25-ARIN

OrgTechHandle: ZO25-ARIN
OrgTechName:   Network Operations Center
OrgTechPhone:  +1-734-213-2020 
OrgTechEmail:  noc@onlinetech.net
OrgTechRef:    http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/ZO25-ARIN

RTechHandle: ZO25-ARIN
RTechName:   Network Operations Center
RTechPhone:  +1-734-213-2020 
RTechEmail:  noc@onlinetech.net
RTechRef:    http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/ZO25-ARIN

#
# ARIN WHOIS data and services are subject to the Terms of Use
# available at: https://www.arin.net/whois_tou.html
#

This tells you who ARIN assigned my netblock to, which is Online Technologies, my datacenter provider. But there's no mention of me or my company. It's because I don't have my own assignment from ARIN, so I'm subletting address space. But all the equipment is owned an managed by me. Does this mean I'm a reseller of the datacenter?

As part of our hosting, we also provide CPanel accounts. A feature of WHM/CPanel is the ability to create sub-accounts. I have one business partner who resells accounts that he sets up and provides first-level support. But I've available for second-level support, which I provide on a routine basis. Is he considered a reseller?

I'm a bit confused on how you can be writing a book on the web hosting business without understanding how nebulous your question is?

jamieb
  • 3,467