Starting A File Hosting Business

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aasimenator

aasimenator

MCITP 2008
Reseller
Innovator
I am researching on how to start a file hosting business... like Filesonic / rapidshare and i was wondering if any one here have any idea / are currently providing such services, who can guide me.

I am aware that i'll need RAM, HDD & Bandwidth more than CPU Performance... I am thinking of starting with a lower configuration and then increasing it as the business does.

My Budget for Server Hardware is about $500, For Software & Licensing is about $500 & Marketing i haven't thought of / have a budget for.

plus i'd like to know if there is any point in starting an Indian based file server? I was mostly thinking that the servers would be in US...

I can get the front end setup, it will be on a different server from the dedicated server so as to when the server is fully using its bandwidth for uploads & downloads it doesn't slow down the website.

Also i am not sure if i need backup / Raid arrays for this or just regular 2TB SATA Drives would do as they cost about $40 / month.

Any Inputs?
 
My opinion:

If the servers are in the US, then with the new SOPA/PROTECT IP acts which are being planned to come up, you could be in hot water if they find any infringing content. You will also need to provide a take down tool.

Best is to keep it outside the US for now.

If you plan to offer this to the Indian corporates, having the server here is a plus i think.

RAID will be needed, but you can do it with the regular SATA drives.
 
well if US is going to come up with SOPA/Protect IP Acts then Europe will soon follow anyways.
 
Is this for the masses or only corporate stuff. If this is for masses what are the features you are thinking of?? .the same old captcha and wait 20 seconds??
 
Right now everything is rough, but yes captcha code & 10 second wait, but download will limited to 5gb a day.

For premium users off course it will be unlimited.

I am thinking of corporate plans as welll but i am unsure if that part of business will pick up. for corporate i am thinking $2 / 10gb Uploads unlimited but Downloads will be limited to 4000GB a month.
 
I would suggest that you skip the masses. Go directly for paid customers only for now. Anyone who wants a demo, give them one.
 
vivek.krishnan said:
I would suggest that you skip the masses. Go directly for paid customers only for now. Anyone who wants a demo, give them one.
Click to expand...

I dont think so . Its only through them any one can get publicity. Then paid customers will show interest depending upon your service. unless you have a definite set of customers whom you know and are willing to pay as soon as you start the business.
 
I have an update...

I have recently purchased a cloud storage which offers me unlimited storage for very very low price.. If i want to use them with the service that i want to provide, how do i mask their name? so that users cannot find out what i use.
 
Ideally these things are handled by your application. I assume there will be a application (even small) that will be sitting somewhere, like your application's home page, authentication etc. This application can take care of fetching the file from your server, wherever that might be. The end user doesn't get to know the details, all he sees is the file name.
 
URL routing like .co.nr it shows the same thing for every link or you can go for a framework which masks the links . framework may require some work but is more efficient and you can do whatever tweaking on the links.
 
the service i am using to host my servers isn't stable... i've found it going offline for ateast 10 -20 mins a day... So i am rethink... but i have tested it & uploading to the server from India I seems to get good speeds 800 Kbps average.... I don't think i'll be launching the service any time soon, especially with the current situation.
 
whats your target audience ??

i mean are you gonna host all the files the users want to upload

including the illegal ones ?? until dmca notices..??
 
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