Overselling?

[HostingKing]

Whether you are a hosting provider or a hosting customer, do you believe that overselling is OK, or do you try to avoid it?

Overselling is essentially when more accounts are sold on a server than could theoretically be accounted for if all of the resources allotted to each account were provided. So, if you offer accounts of 10GB space and 100GB bandwidth, but only have an 80GB HD, overselling is if you offered any more than 8 accounts. It is common practice to offer more than this, so that accounts could not all use all of their allotted resources.

I think that moderated overselling is OK, and even a good idea to increase margins. But if done too much, then the server will be slow, and even unstable. Yet if overselling is not done at all, then prices may be prohibitively high. It is a balance.

 

[webhostingcs]

Actually you don't oversell, with so many competitors in the market with just a single search in google, you can find different prices offered.

So instead of overpricing, try to leverage in putting up a great customer support or service.

Provide something better or special to your clients so they will stay for good as your customers.

 

[VMhosts-Gordon]

Overselling can lead to problems later down the line. The customer is paying for a particular resource, be that memory or hard disk space etc. They should expect to be able to use all the resource they are paying for.
As a customer would you rather go with a provider that oversells in order to maximize profits, or one who offers dedicated and guaranteed resource?

 

[hybridservers]

Overselling is a bad idea.. because you may not actually be able to use what you pay for. It can affect your website (it might get down and etc).
A hosting company may offer unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth.. however if you have a deal that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That's why a dedicated server or smth else is a preferred option.

 

[Santrex.net]

It's really bad to oversell as it may cause a lot of problems.

 

[Collabora]

Whether you are a hosting provider or a hosting customer, do you believe that overselling is OK, or do you try to avoid it?

Overselling is essentially when more accounts are sold on a server than could theoretically be accounted for if all of the resources allotted to each account were provided. So, if you offer accounts of 10GB space and 100GB bandwidth, but only have an 80GB HD, overselling is if you offered any more than 8 accounts. It is common practice to offer more than this, so that accounts could not all use all of their allotted resources.

Overselling is the only way to provide "affordable" hosting and make a living at the same time. That is because not to oversell will lead to resources not being allocated. These unused resources have to be paid by someone, either host in lost profits, or customer in higher prices. Its simple economics.

.... But if done too much, then the server will be slow, and even unstable. Yet if overselling is not done at all, then prices may be prohibitively high. It is a balance.

This is the myth of overselling. A server will perform the same with X number of sites no matter how those sites got there -- by overselling or no overselling. Its the hosting plan that determines overselling, not the server. You can oversell one day and stop the next day just by changing a disk space bullet point in hosting plan. Server performance will not change between those two days. What you are referring to is overloading -- too many sites on a server.

 

[HostColor]

Overselling is the only way to provide "affordable" hosting and make a living at the same time. That is because not to oversell will lead to resources not being allocated. These unused resources have to be paid by someone, either host in lost profits, or customer in higher prices. Its simple economics.

This is a good start for "Overselling Manifesto", isn't it? Unfortunately it has anything to do with the economics. It has more to do with corrupting the hosting market in certain niches.

Any claim to offer "unlimited" resources is unjustifiable. If a web host has unused resourced, it still can go and offer virtual accounts or instances. It has nothing to do with the word "unlimited":smash:

 

[easyhostmedia]

I would rather keep my servers at no more than 70% of resources actually allocated, this then gives a 30% approx. availability if a client goes over their allocation at any one time.

 

[Collabora]

This is a good start for "Overselling Manifesto", isn't it? Unfortunately it has anything to do with the economics. It has more to do with corrupting the hosting market in certain niches.

Well at least I backed up my statements with examples and logic. Yours is merely an empty declaration that does nothing to falsify mine.

Any claim to offer "unlimited" resources is unjustifiable.

If a web host has unused resourced, it still can go and offer virtual accounts or instances. It has nothing to do with the word "unlimited":smash:

Its perfectly justifiable but has nothing to do with this topic nor has it been mentioned. "Unlimited" and "overselling" are unrelated. Yours is another statement made from thin air to argue against something that was never postulated for the purposes of making your post appear true


Overselling is a hosting plan model, its not a server attribute. A host that oversells does so even before the first site is added to a server. That is, you can oversell and have an empty server. An empty server performs the same whether you are overselling or not. A server with 10 sites performs the same whether you are overselling or not. A server with 100 sites performs the same whether you are overselling or not, ad nauseum. Its amazing how many hosts do not understand the concept

 

[Collabora]

I would rather keep my servers at no more than 70% of resources actually allocated, this then gives a 30% approx. availability if a client goes over their allocation at any one time.

That's fine. You can still oversell in this scenario (technically speaking)

 

[Acalita]

Avoid the hassle of a possible major meltdown by overselling and just do it right (and sensible) the first time. It is kind of like skimming on something simple (doing your taxes) rather than getting pinched in the end. I would rather not risk it.

 

[JodoHost1]

Overselling is not good idea...it will create hassle down the line.

 

[GelHost-Basil]

Overselling... Well personally i'm firm believer in that, but sometimes you are forced into that situation by your business structure. I dont even know if there is any host out there that don't oversell. It not something anyone will be willing to admit to, but i think if its done on a decent level(Dont mean killing your server) it would alright for both clients and hosts.

 

[webmarshals]

Not going to be an issue. If the space or bandwith seems to be reaching a critical stage, it means you got enough clients and cash. Then you can add more space and bandwidth to your account to keep things going without any issue.

 

[Collabora]

It is kind of like skimming on something simple (doing your taxes) rather than getting pinched in the end. I would rather not risk it.

Nonsense. It appears you don't know what overselling is

 

[1paket.com]

Overselling can be a big trouble.
I think it's not good at all.

 

[Collabora]

So far no one that says overselling is bad can technically explain why. That's because they do not know why, and that's because they don't know what overselling is.

To claim that a server's performance is dictated by a few words on a hosting plan page instead of the actual sites on that server is ludicrous and ignorant.

 

[easyhostmedia]

If overselling is bad then why do Airlines do this on every flight?

If you manage servers correctly then overselling is not a bad thing

 

[SonWebHost]

Hey do not over sell that server upgrade your servers at 70% of resources usage I have one which is at 59% as soon as it goes 70% I will upgrade to the next better plan at my provider......

 

[Collabora]

Hey do not over sell that server upgrade your servers at 70% of resources usage.

%Usage is irrelevant. As I constantly have to point out overselling is a business plan not a server configuration. You can be overselling at 0% usage. You are probably confusing overselling with overloading