Hosting solutions are usually offered as standardized packages so that they are easier to price and understand. However, it’s often difficult to figure out what to start with and how you can adapt along the way. You need to make sure that the solution you choose is flexible enough to scale with your business, as indicated by this recent interaction between our hosting consultant and a real client (edited and anonymized for clarity and privacy):
Client and customer discuss custom dedicated offering
Client:
Good afternoon. For dedicated servers, I realized that I can choose to have 2 Discs with 2Tbs initially.
I believe that my client could need more in a few months. Can you pass me the costs for the implementation of more disks?
Please also include cost and time to deployment.
Do you provide a license for SQL Server Standard?
Thank you for your prompt reply.
Consultant:
The dedicated servers come with ( 4 ) port raid cards, so it is possible to add up to ( 4 ) hard drives to the servers. It is also possible to start with an ( 8 ) port raid card, so that you have space for ( 8 ) hard drives.
How many hard drives do you want to start with?
The cost for MS SQL 2008 R2 or MS SQL 2012 is $ XXX per month per license.
Client:
Great!
What is the cost to start with 8 ports?
What is the cost of each disk implemented later?
We plan to start with 2 x 2 TB with RAID 1.
Consultant:
OK , sure. Here are the specs and costs of a sample configuration. I am starting with 8 GB of RAM.
- Windows Standard 2008 R2 64 Bit or Windows Standard 2012 R2
- Quad Core Xeon E3-1245V2 3.4 GHz w/HT
- 8 GB of RAM
- 2 X 2 TB SATA 3 Hard Drives RAID 1
- 8 port RAID card
- 10 TB of monthly data transfer with a 100 Mbps port
- 1 IP
Cost: $ XXX per month on a month-to-month agreement, with a $ XXX setup fee.
The extra 2 TB SATA hard drives are $ XX per month per hard drive, but the pricing for hard drives is constantly changing, so this pricing may not be valid in the future.
Client:
Actually, I need 32 GB of RAM. And what’s the cost for more hard drives?
Consultant:
This is the pricing with 32 GB of RAM:
- Windows Standard 2008 R2 64 Bit or Windows Standard 2012 R2
- Quad Core Xeon E3-1245V2 3.4 GHz w/HT
- 32 GB of RAM
- 2 X 2 TB SATA 3 Hard Drives RAID 1
- 8 port RAID card
- 10 TB of monthly data transfer with a 100 Mbps port
- 1 IP
Cost: $ XXX per month on a month-to-month agreement , with a $ XXX setup fee.
Client:
OK.
When will I be able to add more hard drives?
Consultant:
You can add extra hard drives to the server anytime, but the pricing that we presented to you for the extra 2 TB SATA drives of $ XXX per month per hard drive may or may not be valid at the time you add the extra hard drives.
If you decide to proceed, this is the information we will need for the agreement:
- Full Company Name
- Billing Address
- Tax ID Number ( if available )
- State of Incorporation ( if available )
- Main Contact with phone number and email address
- Billing Contact with phone number and email address
- Technical Contacts with phone number and email addresses
Thank you.
Client:
Just to confirm, it’s only $ XXX per month for each 2 TB?
Then add 2 x 2 TB HD in RAID 1 = $ XXX / month?
Consultant:
That is correct.
This is the monthly pricing if you want to start with ( 4 ) 2 TB hard drives:
- Windows Standard 2008 R2 64 Bit or Windows Standard 2012 R2
- Quad Core Xeon E3-1245V2 3.4 GHz w/HT
- 32 GB of RAM
- 2 X ( 2 X 2 TB SATA 3 Hard Drives RAID 1 )
- 8 port RAID card
- 10 TB of monthly data transfer with a 100 Mbps port
- 1 IP
Cost: $ XXX per month on a month-to-month agreement, with a $ XXX setup fee.
Thanks.
Client:
Perfect. Is there a traffic limit?
Consultant:
We provide 10 TB of Monthly data transfer, and we provide a 100 Mbps port.
Thanks.
Client:
Thank you! I’ll move on to our client and be in touch soon.
The right provider to customize for your situation
As you can see, you never have to settle for a cookie-cutter solution that doesn’t meet your continuing mission. With our custom dedicated hosting plans, you can add more resources as your business develops, optimizing your system for scalable flexibility with our 24/7 support staff.
By Kent Roberts
The post Scalable Flexibility: Custom Dedicated Real World Scenario appeared first on Atlantic.Net.