How to start a server for online games and make money from it. How to open your own hosting

The rapid development of computers, tablets, smartphones and other electronic devices has changed all areas of life. Business management is no exception. Many software options have been created to automate business management and accounting. Today it is considered the most progressive and optimal software business automation from the 1C company - with its help you can solve all emerging problems in any sector of activity.

A manager of any rank needs timely, correct and comprehensive data on the state of affairs in the company. Any interruptions in the information flow can cause considerable harm, affecting the speed and accuracy of decisions made.

Often, interruptions in the flow of information from bottom to top and in the opposite direction lead to situations that are irreparable in the financial aspect. There is a need to create a complex system that ensures the stable operation of a company or enterprise. Such systems are subject to many risks that must be taken into account when constructing them.

Risks and ways to protect against them:

Human factor, representing an accidental or intentional change in the 1C database of any data. The surest way to protect against such actions is backup. There are two options for this: the first and simplest is to create a backup copy of the entire database, the second and more reliable is to use two database servers, one of them will be the main one, and the second one will be a backup - all changes that occur with the main one will be automatically copied to it database.

Physical damage. Any hardware, even the most branded, can break at the most inopportune moment. So, for example, when using hard drives with a capacity of more than 1 GB and RAID 5, the likelihood that when re-building the array the second hard drive will fall out increases exponentially. Therefore, the concept of redundancy should be perceived not only as backup copies, but also as a hardware component. The best option would be to have a second remote server - a mirror copy of the main one, on which backup procedures will be performed.

Software failure. Any software product may contain various errors, in addition, each of them is constantly being improved and updated. All it takes is an unaccounted variable or the slightest mismatch between file versions, and the system begins to function either very unstable or stops working altogether. It is quite possible to avoid this; it is enough to first conduct testing on a test bench with a copy of the “live data”.

It is also worth considering one of the existing, but rather rare risks - illegal seizure and raider attacks . Unfortunately, these problems cannot be resolved within the office. Some move the server room to neighboring offices, others place all the equipment on the car and if a similar problem arises, the car simply drives away. Here, of course, one can object: “What about encryption of partitions and data? Cryptography tools? But in reality, it is very unlikely that uninvited guests will turn out to be gentlemen and will not use moral pressure and physical force.

All these are partial solutions to local problems and there is a way to avoid them all, thanks to one solution - renting a 1C cloud server. This solution represents the transfer of the entire enterprise accounting and control system to a server in the cloud (see Figure 1). The term “cloud” or “cloud system” refers to a complex data storage infrastructure with the ability to access it via the Internet and carry out transactions at any time.

Picture 1 - General scheme organizing cloud server rental services from EFSOL

The parameters of such systems strictly comply with the requirements of SLA - service level agreement. All you have to do is rent the necessary service, for example “Server in Israel”, and all the above problems will be solved by themselves. Only employees of your company can use information in such a system. Penetration of unauthorized persons into the database or removal of information without your permission is excluded.

To accommodate the equipment of such a complex system, special premises and trained personnel are required. The optimal solution is to create data centers in places with limited access. This simultaneously eliminates possible problems with Internet access, electricity supply, and cooling of working elements. Terminal servers and virtual 1C servers are hosted on hardware servers located in Tier 3 class data centers. This class allows you to maintain the required level of the N+1 fault tolerance principle (N is the required working quantity equipment).

Comparative calculations

To decide on the advisability of using a remote 1C server, it is important to familiarize yourself with some economic calculations, which do not claim to be a complete economic justification, but can give you an idea of ​​the basic figures.

For the calculation, we will take a typical configuration for the main and backup servers(see table 1):

• Chassis Supermicro 2*Intel Xeon E5-2643v4 3.4GHz - 3.7GHz,
• 32 GB DDR4,
• LSI 9240-4i - 2*1 TB SATA Seagate Enterprise Capacity (in RAID1 array),
• 2*200 GB Intel SSD DC S3710 Series (in RAID1 array)

Also, don’t forget about software licenses. We need 2 server licenses and 30 client licenses to work with the server over the network, 30 client licenses to connect to the server through the terminal service. For 30 1C users, a free DBMS like Microsoft SQL Express is usually not enough and you need to use a full-fledged one. We are also installing an uninterruptible power supply and a telecommunications cabinet to isolate the servers from external environment. We do not take into account the costs of Internet, electricity and other current costs.

Table 1 - Calculation of the cost of purchasing your own server and software

Let's consider the costs of implementing a 1C system, for example, “Trade Management” in a client-server version with 30 users connected (see Table 2).

Table 2 - Calculation of the cost of 1C with the connection of 30 users in the client-server version.

As a result, 1,830,900 rubles are spent on the purchase of hardware and software and 212,500 rubles for 1C application software, to organize reliable work for 30 users in the company’s office. average salary system administrator to maintain this system in working order - 15 thousand rubles per month, meaning an incoming administrator, not a full-time employee, wage which is naturally much higher.

Also, do not forget about the cost of electricity to power the servers, cool them and rent space (approximately 3 m2) to accommodate the equipment, which will amount to approximately 2,000 rubles per month. It is worth noting that the obsolescence period of servers and software is 4-5 years.

For using the cloud server rental service on 30 users monthly payment is 25 thousand rubles, and this price includes 30 MSOffice Standard licenses. Let's carry out simple calculations to estimate the payback. For clarity, let’s enter all the numerical indicators in Table 3:

Table 3 - Economic calculation of the profitability of server rental.

3000 rub./month. 931.7 months (77.6 years).

You can consider another option, when 1C licenses will already be purchased independently, and MS Office will be replaced by free Open Office or will not be in demand at all. What happens then, see Table 4:

Table 4 - Economic calculation excluding 1C and MS Office.

The difference in monthly payments is 3,000 rub./month., therefore, the payback period is 637.6 months (53.13 years).

Considering Moore's law and growing needs production capacity, during this time our system will become obsolete and will not be able to provide adequate performance.

For objectivity, you can consider another option, when there will be only one server - without redundancy. We do not include the backup and uninterruptible power supply system in the calculation (see Table 5).

Table 5 - Economic calculation taking into account one server without taking into account 1C and MS Office.

The difference in monthly payments is 3,000 rub./month., therefore, the payback period is 457 months (38 years).

The above information and figures show the feasibility and economic efficiency renting an IT structure instead of purchasing and maintaining your own equipment. Create your own information system not only more expensive, but also subject to a greater number of risks and external influences, which naturally makes your business more vulnerable and less competitive.

We have created a set of cloud services that will not only help you use modern business solutions, but are also the most appropriate in optimizing costs.

If your business revolves around web development, providing hosting for clients would be a logical additional service. With this we kill two birds with one stone - a small additional income and fewer problems with crookedly configured client hosting. We will always configure our server so that our programs run on it without problems.

So, what do you need to know and be able to do to open your own web hosting business?

1.Server

To get started, one dedicated server is enough. Unix or Windows - it's up to you. We needed support for both ASP and PHP, so we had to use it for Windows.

When the number of clients on the server reaches a certain critical value (100-250 clients, depending on many parameters), take another server, etc.

If you have several providers in mind, sign up for their mailing list. They have some interesting sales. For example, we took a server with prepayment and a small monthly payment, which has already paid off.

2. Control panel

The beauty of web hosting lies in a control panel such as Plesk, Helm or DirectAdmin. The panel makes life easier for the administrator by hiding most unnecessary details from him. In addition, it provides an interface for end users where they can configure FTP, email, password protect directories, etc.

We chose Plesk and were pleased. Everything is quite simple and intuitive.

3. Billing

To collect money from clients on a regular basis, you need a billing system. We first installed ModernBill, but it turned out to be unbearably buggy. Neither we nor the specialists from their technical support were able to launch it. We lost two months on this and switched to WHMCS. It has fewer features, but everything works and is much easier to configure. Moreover, for just a few pennies, their technical support installed and configured everything on our server. I highly recommend it.

Just as in the case of choosing a hoster, it makes sense to read the section on WebHostingTalk dedicated to choosing a billing system.

4. Backups and redundancy

You can't afford to lose customer data. There are several strategies, the best results are achieved by combining them.

Using a RAID controller you can protect yourself from hard drive failure. It is unlikely that both disks will fail at the same time. Automatic backups will save you from physical destruction of data, say, in the event of a fire or as a result of a virus. For backup software, I recommend looking at Acronis True Image. Plesk has support for it.

5. Website

Everything is simple here. A suitable template is found on OSWD and modified with a file.

Here's the original template. This is what came out.

6.Accepting payments

If this is not your first day of doing business online, this is not a question for you. Accept payments in all ways available to your customers and you will be happy. Don't forget to make sure your billing system supports all of these payment methods.

As an experiment, I opened a full-fledged merchant account for this business and made some big shots. The main points are:

you need to be prepared to provide a bunch of documents and financial statements of the company.
if you have several websites or areas of activity, each of them may require its own merchant account. I recommend that you indicate your main website and type of activity when opening
Merchant account companies may have their own rules that may not meet the needs of your business. For example, my provider requires that all services and goods be provided within 90 days. This makes it impossible for me to sell services such as one year technical support through them.

7. User support

We only provide hosting to those who have already purchased one of our programs. Thus, we have few hosting clients and they are loyal. Questions about hosting are sent to the main technical support queue and answered along with other questions.

If you are planning web hosting as an independent business, you need to approach the issue of technical support more seriously. Most web hosting clients expect a response and solution to their problem within a few minutes or hours, 24x7.

8. Promotion

It is difficult to promote a general hosting company; the competition is great. Since we promote hosting only among existing clients, the following methods are used:

mention in newsletter
signature “Ask me about our web hosting special” in answers to user questions
We offer service to clients who have problems with existing hosting
a button in the program that allows you to upload the generated application to the server in one click. This works, of course, only for clients of our hosting, since in addition to the actual downloading, some actions are barely performed on the server
A little later we will add a hosting offer at a reduced price to the checkout process.
Actually that's all. The initial costs for purchasing software and renting a server were approximately $2,500. Now there are several dozen clients who are quite satisfied with the service. When we finish the run-in, we will promote the service more aggressively.

Go for it, and you will be lucky too!

Sergey Kornilov

Source: Notes on the Software Business

*The article is over 8 years old. May contain outdated data

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Each of us in our lives faces the problem of counting our Money. And if in private life these operations can be handled even with a pencil and a piece of paper, then in any business process, no matter how big it is, strict accounting and full reporting are required to understand what is happening. For this purpose, from time immemorial, various systems have been developed to control the flow of funds and materials.

With the advent of computers and other gadgets such as Cell phones, smartphones and tablets, and if we take into account the trend of removing the border between these devices - the most popular solution for business automation and accounting for housekeeping in this moment is software from 1C company. It has solutions for any sector and allows you to solve any tasks.

We come to the conclusion that any director, manager, manager or operational employee on site wants to receive up-to-date data on the state of business processes. And any force majeure circumstances that affect this can cause considerable harm. For example, CEO did not receive a profit report on time, was unable to convince partners of the profitability of the business and did not receive additional investments.

Based on the above, we need to ensure the continuous operation of the entire company, and in particular its IT infrastructure. To build a system that can provide the necessary level of stability, it is necessary to understand what risks we will protect ourselves from and what we want to avoid.

The most common cause of data loss or becoming inconsistent is human error. Further, we can consider physical failure of equipment or software failure and a phenomenon that exists only in Russian Federation, – raider seizures and illegal seizure by special services. Factors that may cause temporary unavailability of remote access to the 1C system include the following: problems with the Internet provider, power outages, and other force majeure circumstances.

Let's take a closer look at each of the risks and ways to protect against them:

• Human factor is a deliberate or accidental change of data in the 1C database. The only way to protect against such actions is to back up your data. To do this, you can use two database servers, one of which will be used as the main one, and logs of changes to the main database will be sent to the second. A simpler option is to create a backup copy of the current copy of the database.

• As popular wisdom says, “administrators are divided into those who make backups and those who make them on other hardware.” This means that even the most branded hardware can break at the most inopportune moment. For example, when using RAID 5 and large hard drives (more than 1 TB), the probability of the second hard drive falling out during re-build of the array increases exponentially. Yes, I agree with the reader that it is possible to use a service subscription to repair and replace equipment within 24/8/4 hours. But the fact of downtime - and this is a direct loss to the company - is obvious. Thus, we come to the concept of redundancy of both data (backups) and hardware components. Ideally, we need a second server, which will be a mirror copy of the main one, to perform backup procedures.

• Every software product contains some errors, and every product develops and is updated. And here, of course, a failure can also occur. An unaccounted variable or a file version mismatch - and the entire system either works extremely unstable or does not work at all. You can protect yourself from this by first testing on a test bench with a copy of the “live” data. But at the same time, the test bench and the backup server should not be one whole. Otherwise, Murphy's Law will be on your side.

• Now let's look at one of the rare, but still existing risks in this country - raider seizures and illegal inspections and seizures of equipment. Unfortunately, there is no correct solution to these problems within the office. Some move the server room to neighboring offices, which de jure do not belong to this company; others place all the equipment on a car and, if the car has problems, simply drive away. It is possible, of course, to object: what about the means of cryptography? Data/partition encryption? But if we consider the reality of such a situation, then we should not believe that the guests will turn out to be gentlemen and refuse to use physical force or moral influence.

Having considered global risks and methods of protecting against them within the office, we can move on to short-term risks, even more force majeure:

• What will happen in the office if web pages stop opening and will not be sent? Email, the phones won’t ring, the accounting department won’t be able to send payments? The whole company will just stop. And the reason for this tragedy may simply be the lack of Internet. There are many reasons - from banal builders and evil competitors to global problems with one provider at traffic exchange points. In this case, another Internet provider is clearly needed, and ideally it should have a different physical transmission medium. For example, optical fiber as the main communication channel and Wi-Max/LTE as a backup. As a last resort, it is possible to use DSL providers, provided that the providers are different and the exits to the traffic exchange points are different.

• Continuing the theme of builders, it may happen that the cable supplying servers with 1C databases, terminal servers, etc. will be cut. Also, in the event of any natural disasters, the energy supply may be interrupted. For short-term server maintenance, a UPS may be sufficient. But if it is necessary to ensure a given level of availability, then you cannot do without a diesel generator. This topic can be continued further, combining under one denominator both fires, flooding of the office with rain, and overheating of equipment in the heat of the summer. All this is united by the requirements for the room and building where the equipment will be located (international standard TIA-569, GOST R 53315-2009, SN 512-78).

Now, knowing everything that can happen to the equipment in your office, it is reasonable to ask the question: “Is it possible to protect yourself from all of this at once? Provide yourself with guarantees of service availability 24/7/365?” We answer: “Yes! Maybe". To do this, we will simply transfer the entire system to the cloud. Let’s take a closer look at what a “cloud” is.

A “cloud system” is a system that allows for universal, convenient access on demand, taking into account necessary requirements SLA (English: Service Level Agreement). Here the word “cloud” is present as a metaphor, personifying a complex infrastructure that hides all the technical details behind it. So, for example, when you rent the “Business Server” service, you get a full-fledged remote 1C server without unnecessary thoughts and worries. Now we will explain why this happens.

• Problems associated with the failure of hardware components of servers are solved by “virtualizing” servers. And with the use of the latest technologies in this area, failures or routine maintenance on physical servers will not be noticeable to users.

• There is no need to worry whether the backups have completed and whether there is enough space for them. The use of several centralized backup storages, with separation of access rights, allows not only to reduce loads and ensure data confidentiality, but also in the event of failure of one of the backup storages, use the second to create new backups and restore previous copies of 1C or user databases file data.

• Based on the two previous points, it becomes possible to create a “hot” snapshot of the current system. This is useful for carrying out any test actions, be it installing a new 1C platform or updating the DBMS, they will no longer cause any problems.

• Since to create such a system, appropriate premises and service staff, then a reasonable choice would be to place the servers in a data center, in a specially designated area with limited access. Using this solution, we simultaneously solve all issues related to stable Internet access, power supply, cooling, etc. For example, our virtual 1C servers and terminal servers are hosted on hardware servers located in a Tier 3 data center.

But the article would not be complete and complete without economic justification decisions to host your 1C accounting system using the Business Server service.

For the calculation, we take a typical configuration for the main and backup server: 2*Intel Xeon E5607 2.26 GHz, 4*8 GB DDR3 1066 ECC, LSI 9240-4i – 2*500 GB SATA WD RE4 (in a RAID1 array), 2*300 GB SAS Hitachi (in RAID1 array). One such server costs about 100 thousand rubles. Also, don’t forget about software licenses.

We need two server licenses and 15 client licenses to work with the server over the Internet, 15 client licenses to connect to the server through the terminal service - the cost of such a set will cost about 70 thousand rubles. For 15 1C users, a free DBMS such as Microsoft SQL Express is usually not enough, and you need to use a full-fledged one. The cost of a MS SQL server license and 15 client licenses is about 120 thousand rubles. We do not take into account the costs of Internet, electricity and other current costs.

The cost of a 1C system in a client-server version with 15 users connected will cost:

• 18,000 +34,500 rubles – client license for 5 workplaces and 10 workplaces
• 72,000 rubles – server license (x86-64) “1C:Enterprise 8.2”

In total, we have 200 thousand rubles for the purchase of hardware, 70 thousand rubles for the purchase of OS and client licenses, 120 thousand for DBMS licenses and 124.5 thousand rubles for 1C application software to organize the work of 15 users in the company’s office. The average salary of a system administrator to maintain this system in working order is 15 thousand per month, meaning a visiting administrator, and not a full-time employee, whose salary, naturally, is much higher.

For using the Business Server service for 15 users, the monthly payment is 15 thousand rubles. For clarity, let’s put all the numerical indicators in the table and carry out a simple calculation of payback.

The payback period is 31.7 months. Taking into account Moore's law and the growing needs of production capacity, during this time our system will become obsolete and will not be able to provide adequate performance.

Read more about the “Business Server” service on the website

Nowadays, most people understand what enormous business opportunities the global network gives us. One of promising directions– business hosting or creating a website based on the servers of a hosting company.

There are several ways to sell hosting services. The cheapest of them is reselling. It involves renting a dedicated server from a hoster. You can also enter into an agreement to maintain your own server and resell the host’s services to the end consumer.

The next method is to open an autonomous data center. At the same time, taking into account modern tendencies market, it is advisable to do this in a strictly defined niche. It makes sense to create proposals for individual CMS systems that are developing and gaining momentum.

A full-fledged hosting company operates in a separate room on own equipment. At the same time, in our country there are no special permits or requirements for its opening. All you need to do is register as legal entity, buy the necessary equipment. However, those who want to create a large data center should be patient, as the procedure for obtaining permits is lengthy and very troublesome.

Opening of a large data center

Owners of large data centers in construction should focus on the requirements of international standards TIA/EIA-942. This will ensure high quality services provided and facilitate the work of the center. However, own construction is justified only for very large companies. However, there are certain risks involved.

For the purpose of construction, you can hire a specialized company or a system integrator. In addition, when creating a data center, it is necessary to solve IT problems. Thus, incorrect layout can lead to equipment failures and system overheating. Therefore, the qualification requirements for workers involved in the design and implementation of databases are constantly growing.

Opening of a medium and small data center

Medium-sized data centers often rent space. However, they have communication channels with limited bandwidth. If you are interested in how to open your own small-scale hosting, then keep in mind that with low-power equipment and poorly equipped premises, you will be able to provide a minimum package of services. At the same time, taking into account high level competition, you won’t have to count on a large influx of customers.

According to international standards quality, there are 4 levels of hoster reliability. The lowest Tier 1 and the highest Tier 4. Competitive hosting should focus on at least the Tier 3 standard: several channels of connection to the provider, connecting all equipment to two autonomous power networks, 2 autonomous generators and a UPS, the use of cooling devices.

According to the expert, in fact, in our country there is no commercial data center that meets the above standard, although some companies declare compliance, but this is not true.

Start price

To start in the reseller format, it is enough to purchase a package of services from the hoster (maximum $20 per month) and develop a website (depending on the type of complexity, up to $1 thousand). The investment will pay off in just a couple of months. Renting a dedicated server where you can host several hundred small client sites will cost at least $100 per month, and buying your own server will cost $1,000, plus a monthly maintenance fee of $80 per month. The payback period for such a project is one year.

To open a small data center, you will need from 40 thousand dollars. These are 5-6 servers, switches, an office and a staff of 5-6 people, a billing panel, software. The payback period is 5 years.

The construction of medium and large data centers costs several million dollars. The payback period is approximately 3 years.