How much bandwidth?

How much bandwidth should one have to run a web server? I want to extend my services to web hosting. What do you guys think?

You need enough bandwidth to operate your website, the website's of your clients, and some extra in case people go over their limit.

Yea i get that, i just need a figure. Currently i have a 5mb up/down for my server, but i want to know how much more i will need to increase that to run a good web hosting biz. Of course i plan to only expand with the buisness, so i'm not going out and leaseing a t1/t3 line until i have to.

Ohhh...I thouht you were referring to bandwidth as "transfer". Sorry, my mistake.

You'll definitely need at least a T1 line if you wish to have a quality webhosting service.

Wow, do people still use T1's?


Personally, I think the best bet is to get something you can easily grow into. If you can afford a partial OC-3, I so "go for it". It gives you room to breath in the future for expansion and potential growth. (Not to mention some serious benefits to being optical <wink wink> )

As a general rule, you have to craft your DOU's (Documents of Understanding) with your clients/customers in such a way as to cover overages and determine peaks.

Perhaps a client knows they will only receive 100 qualified page views per day. You calculate the size of the site, multiply by page views, instantiate a peak and voila. The trick is knowing when to pad it.

I will work up some numbers later, and try to post them.

Cheers.

That helps a bit. If i could get a hard figure i would appreciate it. I have a nice fiber network here in town, not sure what the bandwidth limit is on it, but i'm pretty sure with some connections i have i can get my bandwidth opened right up without having costly t3's, but i just would like a number so i know about where i need to be.

I think you misunderstand. It's not simply a matter of "opening bandwidth". If you purchase a T1, and you run out of bandwidth, you need another T1; install costs, multiplexers... the list goes on.
If you install an OC3, with only say 12Mb pipe, you have room to grow later.
(OC-3 is 155Mb, Max)

It's going to be tough to give you a hard number, since we don't know your customers, their requirements, your services, the business model.... the list goes on.

You have to aggregate all the customers projected peaks, determine if any will co-exist, factor in the type of services you will provide them and base your expectations on that.

Or, you can call up the local competition and find out what they charge.

Most importantly, if you don't have a firm grasp on this sort of stuff, you may want to take a step back and re-evaluate. Hire yourself a consultant or an IT person with some skills to offer you more customized solutions.

Cheers.