At a recent php meeting group near me, I was told by one of the members that he currently pays 99 bucks a month for a caged room where his server is connected to some superfast connection

Anyhow,
What I want to know is, Is it worth getting into hosting?

Most of my past clients have gotten hosting from companies i suggested and it could have all been more money in my pocket. And I never even got a refferal fee for the hosting companies that got my clients.

GRRR!!!

Let me know your thoughts on this.. plus if you get a linux server(free OS right?) how much is it to install MySQL and software to make php work as well as an email software?

I'm curious to know how much i'll spend to start up a hosting company before I can start selling space.

-Line

Line,
Here are my thoughts on your delamia. One that guy that has the "caged room" and is paying $99 a month isn't tell you the truth. He may rent a server from a company but for $99 he isn't getting sort of caged roomed at a data center atleast. It sounds like your knowledge is limited in the hosting industry, though I may be wrong. As far as not getting paid for referrals that is a same because unless they are discounting the price for your referrals they are putting extra money in your pocket. If you wanted to go into the hosting business yourself you can make a little extra jingle in your pocket. A great way to start is through a reseller. Someone like www.hostgator.com Honestly though I would recommend you just talk to hosting companies and find a good company that you can refer your clients to that will treat your customers right. Getting into the industry is a lot of work if done properly and clients need access to support 24/7 if you can't provide that to then it's not really fair to them. I would say to start making a decent profit in the industry you need around 1,000 customers. Do some reasearch though and find out if it is right for you. If you would like any recommendations on reading material let me know.

Yes I presume that you are working in the webdesign industry, in which case I would suggest that you just use a reseller.

I agree with GMSmoothie, it's very difficult to get into the hosting industry unless your focusing 100% on it, which it doesn't sound like you want to do.

You should find a reputable company that will give you a kickback for referring clients. That way you make a few dollars, and you don't have to worry about supporting hosting customers.