Would starting a file sharing site be profitable these days??

[timezone]

what do you think if starting a file sharing site like mediafire be profitable these days?? What to expect realistically if one to start a file sharing site like mediafire, with no timer etc.??

In the start, which of the following dedicated servers be ok?

Dedicated Server 1

• G6950 Intel® Dual Core
• 500 GB SATA hard disk
• 5000 GB bandwidth
• 4 GB DDR3 RAM memory
• 4 dedicated IP addresses

Dedicated Server 2

• E3-1230
  Sandybridge Intel® Xeon®
• 1 TB Seagate SATA HDD
• 10 TB bandwidth
• 8 GB DDR3 RAM memory
• 4 dedicated IP addresses

[timezone]

any suggestions?

[Rizla]

Depends on what files you intend to be handling, 500 GB won't go far if it's movies. Also a main consideration is bandwidth which you haven't mentioned and how are you going to make money from this as the last time I looked the likes of Paypal and other payment processors won't touch these kind of sites anymore.

[timezone]

Depends on what files you intend to be handling, 500 GB won't go far if it's movies. Also a main consideration is bandwidth which you haven't mentioned and how are you going to make money from this as the last time I looked the likes of Paypal and other payment processors won't touch these kind of sites anymore.

then what would be the ideal server specs for this kind of site?

Initially i can go with all sorts of files except movies to save on bandwidth or disk space.

If this business is not viable then how come all file sharing sites are working? they must be making money if they are still in business.

[Rizla]

I'm sure they are making money but before you invest you need to find out how. With regard what server, to me it depends on how much money you have to budget with because in theory you could start off with say a VPS and as the site grows have an upgrade path in mind and ready to go the moment the need arises.

Have you thought about hiring a server tech and what script if any are you going to be using?

You see there's quite a lot to this business if you intend doing it seriously to the extent the server spec is the least of your worries.

I'm not trying to put you off but running a filehost properly takes a good bit of research in my opinion first or else you'll end up just blowing cash and have nothing to show for it in the end.

And just in case your wondering, no i'm not an expert, I looked into it and decided against because even if you have a filehost running smoothly, by and large they are frowned upon. So despite having the money to invest plus the knowledge/experience to hand you still have issues running what would in most cases be considered a blackhat site.