Normally dedicated server providers just provide a network connection to your system and maybe remote reboot, but if you want to upgrade your kernel, or do other things that affect the bootup process, you really need serial console access. We want to do some research and ask how many customers really need console access, and would it be a factor in them choosing a host?

Another feature that we've been developing is the ability to install any OS on demand. It really cuts down time from a provisioning standpoint but we want to ask really how many customer appreciate the ability to install a new OS at any time? Do customer really need this ability?

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Customers like to be given many options. Giving them the option to install any OS on demand will definetly draw a few customers to your systems. Your problem is that customers may abuse this ability simply because they do not know what they truly want if you give them such an option. Like I said before, customers love options and they would much rather go towards a provider that gives it to them rather than sites that do not.

Thanks for the feedback. The OS installation is automatic, and puts zero load on support staff. There is load on the server but it is negligible.

What we really want to know is if this is something that customers wants. If we're going to make a lot of ads for promoting this option, we want the customers to be at least interested in it.

I'm sure you'd bring in a couple clients off the bat who might be looking for such a feature - generally speaking, unless they are hard into development and want several OS's to test a product or their own OS patches etc..., people will stick to one OS.

Serial console access. The ability to reboot on demand and monitor what's going on would be a big plus for any developer. I'd be a big fan of it. You would most likely be talking to the techy crowd. The novice server administrator wouldn't know what to do with it. I'd aim your advertisements at those in online software development, open source projects, and maybe application hosting.

The only issue would be giving these people so much power - power corrupts and that's no exception in this case. You'll have to be careful in what support you offer these clients - people who create their own boot routines, and mess around with the kernel could be a real burden on support if you're not careful.

It would definately be a unique feature, and something i would buy (if I no longer hosted my own) simply for the convenience and piece of mind that I have nearly full control over my server.