Server up time and performance is extremely important. The first that can happen is a server going offline in the middle of the day, when proxies are in greatest use. Pretend you are a visitor – if you visit a proxy and it's offline, chances are, you will never visit it again. Now image that happened to a 2000 or more of your visitors? Exactly.
No matter what host you choose in the end, make sure it is a good one. Look up some reviews, and only choose the best. Look up web sites like Proxy Host for reviews before you buy a plan.
Note: I will tell you now, do NOT buy hosting from forums offering “500GB for just $1/month!” It's a scam, it's horrible hosting, they won't last. I want you to bookmark that page, go back to it in a month, and see if the host offering that is still in business.
Shared Hosting
Most people recommend skipping shared hosting and going straight to a Virtual Private Server. However, I disagree. Shared hosting plans are inexpensive, and allow a proxy owner to simply have a solid base. Plus, if worst comes to worst and you end up not liking proxies, it's a lot better to spend $10 for a month of hosting rather than $30-$50.
Below are two shared hosts that I personally recommend. They have great support, and have good downtime. HOWEVER, do not that because they are so popular, there is a small chance that the IP range may already be blocked at some universities/schools. That is why you should only use shared hosts for a start.
TechEntrance.com
TechEntrance is a very popular and great choice for proxies. It has great plans, great servers, and an over all great service. Their prices are a little expensive, but it's still great.
TechEntrance also has great support. They have IM support, fast email support, and the owner posts on popular proxy forums too (see resources), so you can get a hold of them there. I have yet to experience any real downtime or even need support though, so all is well.
"I've been hosting my proxy (http://surfall.org) with TechEntrance for the past six months and I haven't seen one single downtime or haven't got any slow speed up to now! Their hosting is the most reliable hosting there is -- and I've been with a lot of proxy hosting companies already! I'm sure it's worth the money. Bye TMZHosting, Hello TechEntrance!" - By Aquarezz, proxy owner for more than 4 years (owner of ProxB.com)
HagioHost.com
HagioHost is much better for the economy-wise proxy owner. For their first plan, they offer 110GB of bandwidth for just $4.95. The only problem I see with this host is that you can only use a limited amount of add-on domains. If you plan on using parked domains for your proxy, then this is no problem.
I cannot comment on support, since I have not used HagioHost, but I've heard many good reviews about them. The only issue I see is the lack of contact information on their website. They do have a 30 day money back guarantee in case you aren't satisfied.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
A virtual private server is a section of a dedicated server. It is like a mini server – but instead of full server resources, you get allocated resources. This means that you are limited to your little box, and cannot use the entire server.
This paragraph here applies to both VPS and Dedicated Server (see below). You can either get a managed, semi-managed, or unmanaged VPS. Managed means that your host will deal with everything, and you will need to worry about the server just as much as you did on your Shared Hosting account. Semi-Managed means that while your host will deal with most things, some aspects are your job. Unmanaged means that you get the box, and it is your job to install a control panel and such. Semi-Managed and Unmanaged vary from host to host.
A quick note about burstable RAM – Burstable RAM is basically what you could get if nobody else on your server is using it. If two people are offered 512MB of RAM, and up to 768MB or Burstable RAM, then if one person isn't using his RAM, then the other person can take the RAM up to 768MB. This allows for better use of the server, however, anybody can take RAM.
You will still get the guaranteed RAM, so I don't recommend you rely on Burstable RAM.
Another thing – According to Kevin Ohashi, do NOT order a VPS with less than 256MB of RAM, 512MB is preferred. Also, while many people like cPanel, it's not suggested. Why? Because it can use up 256MB of RAM on it's own. He suggests lightweight control panels like LxAdmin or DirectAdmin.
I am going to combine VPS hosting with Dedicated Server hosting, so lets keep reading.
Dedicated Server
A dedicated server is just that, an entire server. You get the whole thing, all of its resources, everything. Because a VPS is like a mini-server, they are very similar in concept. You get a certain amount of RAM/Burstable RAM, and you can get Managed, Semi-Managed, or Unmanaged.
Dedicated Server costs range from $50-$300+/month, so as you can see, they are expensive. That is why I don't recommend using them until you get a good profit. And I don't recommend ordering server below $100/month.
Choosing a Server Host (VPS/Dedicated)
Sometimes it's best to look for server hosts 'specializing in proxy hosting.' These hosts usually have machines more capable of high traffic, and are better for proxies. Here are a few hosts that I found that have good specifications for proxies.
WDServers.com
Anybody who knows anything about proxies will probably recommend you WDServers. While they have a very plain home page, they know much about proxies. Their cheapest [usable] VPS plan gives you about 3000GB of bandwidth for $30/month. They have all types of servers. They offer LxAdmin for free, but for $10/month more you can get cPanel/DirectAdmin. I personally don't think its necessary to use these, LxAdmin will do the job.
The only negative for WDServers is that the IP range is banned in many schools, therefore some proxy webmaster tend to stay away. Other proxy webmasters claim not to have any concerns, so it's up to you.
PS: WDServers owns and runs TechEntrance (mentioned above).
ServInt.com
I used ServInt for my first proxy VPS. Just coming off of a shared host, I knew nothing about setting up servers. I had a back-and-forth conversation on setting up my server for an hour with a friendly support staff, and I couldn't be happier.
The cost is NOT cheap, but you get what you pay for here. They give extremely generous diskspace, bandwidth, and RAM allotments, and I was very happy when I learned about their VPS auto-reboot service. Basically, if the machine goes offline, the server will 'auto-magically' reboot itself. My VPS has yet to go offline for more than 1 minute in the last 2 months.
There is one catch. ServInt does not allow proxies on its 'Enterprise VPS' packages. This includes the Essential, Signature, and Ultimate VPS. If you wish to buy a VPS from them, which I recommend you do, go for the SuperVPS or Servers (your proxies should be pretty big by then).
Monitoring Uptime
If you are on a shared host, then this is something you don't need to worry about. However, when you use a Dedicated Server or VPS, it is usually your job to reboot the server (or contact the host about rebooting it). Now what happens if the server goes down, but you don't know about it? Nobody will be there to reboot it.
AreMySitesUp.com is the perfect solution. For free, they will monitor up to 20 different domains (you only need one domain per server). If the server goes down, they will email you. Now, you can sign up for free SMS updates*, so you will get a text message when your server goes down. This is great, because you will know as long as you are carrying your phone.
* Standard text rates my apply from your carrier.
Summary: If you are not ready to pay for VPS, go with Shared Proxy Hosting. Soon, you will need to upgrade, but you should be stable enough to be able to afford VPS/Servers. You should have lots of bandwidth, and a minimum of 256MB RAM. cPanel is not recommended unless you have lots of RAM. In order to keep up with site uptime, signing up for a monitoring service like AreMySitesUp.com is great – and free.
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