Can Someone Explain Reseller Overselling?

[jonwatson]

Hi All,

I'm confused about the Resource Usage Limits in WHM; specifically about allowing overselling.

I originally thought that checking that checkbox would allow Resellers to allocate more disk and bandwidth resources than was allocated to their reseller account, but that all resold accounts together would still be constrained by the disk and bandwidth limits of the Reseller account that owns the resold account. However, after reading the section on the WHM manual I am no longer sure:

NOTE: If the Overselling Allowed box is checked for either bandwidth or disk space, the reseller will be able to use more bandwidth or disk space than that allowed by the limit you have set in the field next to each of the two

My question is: if I allow overselling for Resellers will their resold accounts still be limited by the Reseller accounts limits or is it conceivable that a Reseller could create accounts all night and eventually fill up my server regardless of their account limits? And if the latter, can someone tell me why on earth anyone would want to allow that?

Thanks!

Jon

[Jack21]

This feature allows you to limit the total amount of bandwidth and disk space that a reseller can use when creating accounts.

1 To limit the amount of disk space a reseller can use in total when creating accounts, replace the number in the field next to Disk Space with the number of megabytes you wish to let the reseller use.

2 To limit the amount of bandwidth a reseller can use in total when creating accounts, replace the number in the field next to Bandwidth with the number of megabytes you wish to let the reseller use.

[jonwatson]

This feature allows you to limit the total amount of bandwidth and disk space that a reseller can use when creating accounts.

1 To limit the amount of disk space a reseller can use in total when creating accounts, replace the number in the field next to Disk Space with the number of megabytes you wish to let the reseller use.

2 To limit the amount of bandwidth a reseller can use in total when creating accounts, replace the number in the field next to Bandwidth with the number of megabytes you wish to let the reseller use.

Hi,

I get that, but I'm wondering if I don't limit disk or bandwidth usage. If I don't, and the Reseller creates resold accounts that are allocated more resources than the Reseller's account, will all those oversold resold accounts actually be able to use all that bandwidth and disk space or will all of the resold accounts come to a screeching halt when the Reseller's disk and bandwidth limits are reached?

Example:

Reseller buys a plan with 10GB disk space and 50GB bandwdith.

Pretend I have overselling allowed and the Reseller then creates 100 accounts with 1GB of disk space and 5GB of bandwidth each.

When all of the resold accounts collectively hit 10GB disk and 50GB bandwidth will they all go into suspension or will they all actually be able to collectively use 100GB of disk space and 500GB bandwidth?

The thing is that I want to enable overselling for resellers, but not if it means I lose control of my server's bandwidth and disk space.

[jonwatson]

Nobody knows how reselling works?

I would think that was odd except I've done so much searching through the Internet in general on this topic that it's quite obvious no one knows how reselling works.

Somone must have coded this feature. Someone must know how it works..?

[jonwatson]

Nobody knows how reselling works?

I would think that was odd except I've done so much searching through the Internet in general on this topic that it's quite obvious no one knows how reselling works.

Somone must have coded this feature. Someone must know how it works..?

No ONE?

OMFG....a function that nobody on the planet knows how it functions. Never seen that before... interesting.

[jayh38]

The way overselling works is this. You have a reseller with allocated space and bandwidth, lets stick with 100/100

Now the reseller can create account packages with unlimited space (if you allow that check box). Ok with that said, his total accumulation of all accounts under his whm will never exceed his maximum limit of 100/100 set by his main WHM.

The reseller can allocate the world if you allow it (overselling) but can not over exceed his base resources. Overselling depends on the concept that existing clients will not use all the allocated bandwidth and space of the client package, so lets put it to use somewhere else (within the limits of the original WHM reseller base accounts)

If you disallow overselling, then the package accounts need to be set in a realistic manner as the resources will be reserved and can not be sourced out.

So yes, the reseller can create hundreds of accounts as long as the accumulative total does not reach his whm resource limit.

Lets say the reseller of 100/100 created 100 1 gig accounts. He is within his limit if everyone (highly unlikely) used every bit of 1 gig given to them. If he goes above that, the ability to create accounts will be disabled and I believe his account may be suspended or clients may see errors due to disk space being used up.

You could also set a limit to the number of accounts that can be created as well (wise idea)

Hope this clarified things.

[jonwatson]

The way overselling works is this. You have a reseller with allocated space and bandwidth, lets stick with 100/100

Now the reseller can create account packages with unlimited space (if you allow that check box). Ok with that said, his total accumulation of all accounts under his whm will never exceed his maximum limit of 100/100 set by his main WHM.

The reseller can allocate the world if you allow it (overselling) but can not over exceed his base resources. Overselling depends on the concept that existing clients will not use all the allocated bandwidth and space of the client package, so lets put it to use somewhere else (within the limits of the original WHM reseller base accounts)

If you disallow overselling, then the package accounts need to be set in a realistic manner as the resources will be reserved and can not be sourced out.

So yes, the reseller can create hundreds of accounts as long as the accumulative total does not reach his whm resource limit.

Lets say the reseller of 100/100 created 100 1 gig accounts. He is within his limit if everyone (highly unlikely) used every bit of 1 gig given to them. If he goes above that, the ability to create accounts will be disabled and I believe his account may be suspended or clients may see errors due to disk space being used up.

You could also set a limit to the number of accounts that can be created as well (wise idea)

Hope this clarified things.

Ahhh...thanks. Quite frustrating not being able to ferret out this information.

So basically, my (root) limits still apply to the reseller and all of his accounts. This is as it should be and I'm happy to hear that it does work this way.

[Edizon]

Jayh38 is correct!

The reseller cannot exceed the base resource limits and will be placed in suspension if he goes over bandwidth and uploading files will be disabled.


The Overselling option is primarily for the Package feature. This will allow them the ability to create hundreds of accounts to utilize thier resources. It is very restrictive on the reseller if they cannot oversell.

Like Jayh38 had mentioned you should place a limitation on the number of accounts. By overselling the reseller can still run your server into the ground quite easily. The reseller could virtually host 1000's of sites on their account. Your CPU could strain quite easily given just a few of his sites are resource hogs.


Typically if you allow overselling you place a restriction on number of accounts. If you do NOT allow overselling you typically boast "Unlimited DOMAINS!" in reality it is completely reverse.

Here is one companies opinion:
http://www.hostgator.com/overselling.shtml

[jayh38]

Jayh38 is correct!

Like Jayh38 had mentioned you should place a limitation on the number of accounts. By overselling the reseller can still run your server into the ground quite easily. The reseller could virtually host 1000's of sites on their account. Your CPU could strain quite easily given just a few of his sites are resource hogs.
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This is a good reason not to offer reseller accounts or perhaps offer this on a server separate from normal cpanel clients.

I offer whm only to clients having more than 3 domains to manage and usually if they are a developer / designer. The little cost of reseller competition would not justify the risk to me personally.