Host Discussion Blog - Web Hosting Community and Review Forum - View Single Post - Is it a good or bad idea to oversell your hosting services?

virdave · 10-09-2007, 12:15 PM

The VPS market has definitely grown in the past few years, going from maybe a dozen or two to well over 100 providers with english supported sites. Overselling alone doesn't make or break profit, though. It has to be combined with a correct business plan and pricing structure. If a host decides not to oversell, they simply have to sell their resources for a higher price. Some customers actually seek such providers out (mostly resorting in finding a Xen host, imho) - because they want to know what is physically available to them at all times. Most VPS hosts do oversell though, as long as their virtualization platform can support it. There really isn't a reason not to in my opinion, unless you're targeting a niche group of "Anti-Overselling" clients.
The fact is, the vast majority who are purchasing a VPS don't really care what's going on in the background if their service doesn't suffer. Much like the Shared Hosting industry, the majority of people don't care that they're sharing Ram/CPU, etc as long as their site loads to their expectations.


10-09-2007, 12:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
virdave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	The VPS market has definitely grown in the past few years, going from maybe a dozen or two to well over 100 providers with english supported sites. Overselling alone doesn't make or break profit, though. It has to be combined with a correct business plan and pricing structure. If a host decides not to oversell, they simply have to sell their resources for a higher price. Some customers actually seek such providers out (mostly resorting in finding a Xen host, imho) - because they want to know what is physically available to them at all times. Most VPS hosts do oversell though, as long as their virtualization platform can support it. There really isn't a reason not to in my opinion, unless you're targeting a niche group of "Anti-Overselling" clients. The fact is, the vast majority who are purchasing a VPS don't really care what's going on in the background if their service doesn't suffer. Much like the Shared Hosting industry, the majority of people don't care that they're sharing Ram/CPU, etc as long as their site loads to their expectations. __________________ virdir.com - The most comprehensive VPS directory The easiest way to find your next VPS. Last edited by virdave; 10-12-2007 at 11:55 AM..