How to Make Money with Proxies: Part II

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 Hosting for your Proxies:

       In Part I of making money from proxies we discussed what script we were going to use (CGI), and what domain name we had decided on (Proxycastle.com).  The next step in the process is to secure hosting for your proxy.

            Hosting is the place where your site resides; many people use simple hosts such as hostgator or 1and1, but when you are running a proxy you will need a host whose server will be able to withstand the pressure of having a 100 people using your proxy at any one time.  There are 3 types of hosting:

• Shared
  VPS
  Dedicated         

       Many proxy webmasters will swear by having their own “box” which is what we l33t people call dedicated servers.  The benefit of having your own server is that you can maintain it and make sure that it is always up.  Also the bandwidth is usually cheap if you have your own server.  The downside of having your own server is that you have to manage it all the time.  Uptimes are up to you and must be watched by you at all times.  Also I have never managed my own server and would have absolutely no idea what to do with one.  If you know how to setup a server than getting a dedicated box is probably your best bet.  

       Some newcomers try to host their proxy on a “shared” server.  This is a dedicated server or even a VPS, with many different accounts on it. It is almost impossible and very unfair to run a proxy on a shared environment.  The reason being is that it will eat up all the processor power, and slow down all the other sites on the hosting plan, and it will inevitably lead to you being booted from your hosting plan for “unfair usage”.  This is the reason that most new proxies are always up for a quick sale, people are told to move or get suspended, and they decide to sell.  I actually used a shared hosting plan with my first proxy for the first 10 days, but I was fair and asked if it was allowed first and they welcomed me with open arms.  After 10 days they changed their policies regarding proxies.

       VPS or Virtual Private Server is also feasible for proxies.  A VPS is your own server on a dedicated server.  You have your own bandwidth with your own I.P’s and are allocated your own processor power.  You will usually see something like 512mb, 1gb burstable, which means 512 mb is guaranteed and 1gb is what you would get if the need should arise, which it will with proxies.  My proxies were all hosted at Virpus.com; they were very patient with me.  When I got my VPS I had no idea what to do with name servers, and making accounts, they did everything for me.  So if you are new, I can pretty much guarantee that Virpus will be able to help you out along the way in setting everything up.

       I think we will save advertising the proxy for next time because there is a lot I want to talk about in that section and this part will be much to long if I add that part as well.  Again if you have any questions please feel free to post them in the comments section and I’ll answer them all in a new post.