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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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