Dedicated servers
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Technical aspect in choosing a Linux based dedicated server

A dedicated server allows you to have your own web server and IP address (similar to a postbox address on the Internet for your company) without the cost of having a large amount of bandwidth (ie: a backbone to the Internet) and the cost of a server to run it from your own office. Being in full control of your server, you can run your own email server on your site (allowing you to have addresses such as mysite@yourwebsiteinfo.com), you can run your own credit card processing applications, your own databases for client orders or information management, and you can even run multiple websites from it if your company has multiple services it wishes to promote from different web site names. Most dedicated server hosting providers also provide security monitoring, thus allowing you to outsource more of your ecommerce maintenance, saving you and your company more money.

When choosing a dedicated server, there are several things to consider: Operating System, Data Backup & Monitoring Service, Hardware options, Space, bandwidth and technical support.

Operating System
The Operating System of a server is similar to that on your own personal computer; once installed, the operating system enables one to perform tasks more simply. There are a bevy of server operating systems available today including Linux-based and Windows-based software. The operating system you choose should be directly relational to what operations your server will be performing, which types of software you’ll need to install and also, what you’re more comfortable with. Some common operating systems used for hosting at present are Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), FreeBSD, Fedora (previously known as Red Hat Linux), Debian, and many other flavours of linux.Windows is not the most suitable platform for hosting due to its many security holes, and ease of unauthorized entry. There are several control panels which companies use for web hosting. They are: cPanel, Plesk, Ensim, and several others. A free alternative is Webmin, but it is not very easy to use when working with a large number of sites.

cPanel/WHM Tutorials:
- Change All Packages Themes in cPanel/WHM
Have you ever wanted to change all users’ package themes/skins from Tree to Xskin server wide without going through each package one at a time? We have a quick tutorial on how to change all user package themes in Cpanel.

- Official cPanel/WHM Newbies Tutorial
The Official Cpanel Newbie Guide dedicated to providing web hosting companies and beginners everything you need to start using your Cpanel web server. HOWTO: Cpanel and WHM Newbie Guide - what you need to get started!

- Updating Apache Using cPanel/WHM Easy Apache
EasyApache is a pre configured script that allows you to easily update Apache Web server through WHM or SSH. In this tutorial we will show you how to update apache using SSH /scripts/easyapache.

- Extended Exim Logging
What this addition does is it adds valuable logging information to your exim_mainlog file so that you can determine where messages are coming from, whos sending the message and from what directory on your server the user NOBODY is originating from, if you

- Linux Apache ASP for cPanel/WHM
Apache::ASP provides an Active Server Pages port to the Apache Web Server with Perl scripting only, and enables developing of dynamic web applications with session management and embedded Perl code running on Linux systems.

- How to Hide Bind cPanel/WHM
This quick tutorial shows you how to hide your bind version from anyone snooping on your machine.

- Fix cPanel/WHM Quotas
Cpanel tutorial to fix Cpanel when the user quotas aren't reading properly or showing unlimited for all user accounts using /scripts/fixquotas

- Disabling Password Reset Option cPanel/WHM
How to turn off the password reset option for failed logins to Cpanel.

- Setting up Private Reseller Name Servers
Learn how to assign reseller accounts with their own private name servers such as ns1 and ns2 for their own clients in WHM.

- Setting up DrWEB server anti-virus Linux cPanel/WHM
Setting up an antivirus scanner, DrWeb, on Cpanel servers.

- Properly Reject Invalid Email
Set Exim to Properly Reject Invalid Email the right way and let your Cpanel server run a little easier.

- Securing /tmp partition with cPanel/WHM
If you are renting a server then chances are you only have one big partition. Learn how to create a secure /tmp partition even while your server is already up and running.

- Force Secure Login cPanel/WHM
Change /whm and /cpanel aliases to https making all logins encrypted and secure.

- Default Index Page with New Accounts cPanel/WHM
With this add on clients will have a default index.html page when they visit their new account instead of a directory listing.

- Modify Bandwidth Exceeded Page cPanel/WHM
Learn how to modify the CPanel bandwidth exceeded page when a client's site uses up its bandwidth.

 

Data Backup, Monitoring and Automation
If you run a site, which is constantly being updated, you will need to back it up frequently. This can be a hassle. Many dedicated hosting providers will provide a back up service for you - usually for an added fee, but the convenience may be worth it. Your server will need to be monitored constantly to prevent service interruptions. Check to see that your host can provide such monitoring, and how frequently it is done (eg every 5 mins), and what measures they use to deal with problems, which are detected. Running a dedicated server does usually require a greater level of technical knowledge than shared hosting. However, those who lack technical expertise may still be able to operate a dedicated server --- if the host offers some form of web-based automation to simplify the process of managing a server. Check to see if your host can offer such automation (if you think you may need it).

Hardware Options
Hardware Options are also something to consider when choosing a dedicated server. You’ll need to pick a processor that’s up to the task. Regarding the amount of memory you wish installed, firewall options, and the size of the hard drive. Celerons in general do not perform well when you start hosting several large powerful applications or web sites, Pentium 4's (P4's), perform much better as they also have a larger cache, Xeons on the other hand can perform much better, especially Dual Xeon processors. One should also take into consideration the AMD option, Dual (and single Opterons) have been shown to outperform Dual (or single) Xeons by a margin of 30% or more in some cases. These are quite often cheaper to purchase, so therefore a more suitable solution. When looking at hard disks, you should remember that all hard disks fail at some point or other so it is a necessity in a server environment to have off-site backups or onsite backups of some sort. Having a second mirrored (RAID-1) is a great solution. If you require fast access and high reliability and are willing to pay more it is a very good idea to go for SCSI as they have much lower access time and much lower failure rate.

Bandwidth
A certain amount of bandwidth is generally included when renting or leasing a dedicated server. Once you have ascertained how much bandwidth you will require, you can adjust that limit with your service provider. The space you’ll be given is generally directly relational to the size of your hard drive. Some hosts also give clients the choice of uplink port speed (usually 10Mbps/100Mbps but can go up to 1000Mbps). Bandwidth can be provided using the 95th percentile rule, or simply the via an allotted bandwidth (which is quite often around 1000GB/month).

Technical Support
Are you a novice or an expert in managing Linux based server? This is a question that you need to seriously think about. For the novice, a managed provider with 24/7 support is for you. You most definitely do not want to find an unmanaged provider that does nothing but point you in the directions of the "FAQ or Documentation Pages" when you need help. Not only will it upset you, it will cost you money that should have never been spent in the first place as you have no business being with an unmanaged provider.

When your monitors suggest a fault or possible fault occurring, you will need highly skilled and qualified resource to deal with the problem. The minimum number of support staff required to deliver a robust 24 x 365 support is 8. If you use an in - house or colocation hosting solution you will need to recruit and manage these 3 shifts of support engineers, or to have people on call at the end of a pager. For those of you who are more familiar with what you really want to be...the unmanaged provider will not only be the best route, but the most inexpensive. I say the best route, because most of us who know exactly what we want on our servers, exactly what we want to do with our servers, and exactly how we want our servers to perform...we definitely don't want Support Techs (which mostly turn out to be CSR's working by 'howtos' of their own) poking around our servers trying to "make this run smoother" or "altering a config file that should've never been found in the first place", right?

The most common cause of downtime is not inadequate site infrastructure, but inadequate management of the application. If you need 24 x 365 availability, attention must be paid to the environment into which you develop your application and, critically, the monitoring and management regime you put in place.There are 4 key decision areas in creating an environment and management regime to deliver 24 x 365 availability.

Links to dedicated hosting companies

www.superbservers.net

www.websitesource.com

www.cihost.com

www.hostrocket.com

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