Hi everyone, I'm new to hosting and server administration and I have a couple of questions. 1) If I get a shared hosting plan for a smaller site, I'm guessing I don't have to worry about any server administration right? 2) In a local server environment on one's desktop, one gets to choose their server software, their relational database management server software, and their programming language along with their configurations so I was wondering, how much control does one have in a shared hosting environment over each of those? 3) Like question 2 except in regards to a dedicated server or a virtual dedicated server. 3) I'm assuming server administration is a lot of work for huge sites but say I have a site that gets something like 10k hits a day, how much work is typically involved? Do people typically do this work themselves or do they pay a server administrator to do these? 4) Xampp and Wamp are used for local server environments but can they be installed on dedicated or virtual dedicated servers? 5) Will experience with Ubuntu desktop and manually setting up any server software, any relational database management server, and any programming language to work together for a local test environment be any relevant to setting these up in an Ubuntu dedicated or virtual dedicated server? Thanks in advance!
With a shared account, no you will not have to worry about any of the server administration. On a shared environment, you have no control over any of that. With both a dedicated server or a virtual server, you will have full control over pretty much all off that. There is a pretty decent amount of work involved. I own a web hosting company and with 45 employees, I am still working 16 hour days. But the people that do server administration do it because we really like and we enjoy doing it. Its not really work for us. Offering server administration through my company, we have quite a few large websites using us for their server management. There is always great deals out there and its a lot less work for the site owner to deal with. You wouldnt want to use those. Your going to want Apache, or some other alternatives are lightspeed. Sorta yea and sorta no. For this, I recommend you get a dedicated server with cPanel/WHM with CentOS 5.8. If its in your budget, get a server with OpenVZ and SolusVM and make separate vps nodes for each large sit. You would need individual cPanel VPS licenses though.
So if I pick a server that runs on CentOS, to run that server, would it be the same as running CentOS on my desktop? I know that accessing dedicated servers is done through a remote access method, so would it be like accessing a remote desktop version of CentOS or does CentOS on servers not have a GUI?
Generally you wouldn't want to install the GUI, it just uses up resources that would be better purposed for what the server is supposed to do - server web pages. Usually you'd just be accessing it over SSH, but that doesn't meant that you couldn't install the GUI if you like and use something like VNC to log into it, or whatever other options there are out there.
And just to add my 2c on top of that, running the GUI can also lead to a far larger portion of software available that might be exploitable to gain access to your server. as Iann said, it also chews a LOT of additional resources. Stuart
Alright guys, I was wondering, how much Linux do you guys know (how much do I have to know)? Once I get a dedicated server, it's going to have the OS itself and I'm going to have to download Apache, MySQL and PHP through repositories right? Do you guys configures Apache, MySQL, and PHP through the SSH terminal or do you guys use cPanel? How does one send stuff to a server to a certain directory? Can one only download stuff from a server? Does one make changes to their server software and MySQL configuration files in Windows and then send them to the server or do some of you simply use the SSH terminal? How does this all work? Thank you!
Personally I do everything through a SSH terminal myself, I've never admin'd a box with Cpanel but depending on your level of knowledge it might be the best solution. As far as editing files go, if you are on Windows I would likely suggest you edit your files like normal, then use WinSCP to get the actual files to the server. Then you can SSH in and copy the file to where it needs to go or possibly you can copy it directly to the location you want it with WinSCP, I can't remember, haven't used it in a while. You can download files the same way, using WinSCP. Or, as you've mentioned, you can SSH in and edit the files right on the server using an editor such as pico or nano.
Hi Weaver, I can actually say I started out where you were many years ago. I would really recommend cPanel, when you are starting out it takes a LOT of the difficult stuff off your hands for you and gives you a *generally* pretty secure environment off the bat. I won't say it is perfect but it is a good start and will generally be far better than if you are compiling things yourself then never updating etc. I would also recommend you get a server admin company to help you out, at least for the initial server hardening but also to help with any questions, or stuff that you run into that you aren't able to do. I recommend the guys at PlatinumServerManagement.com they have always done really well for me... to let you know though they usually just say "this is fixed" and don't give an explanation however if you ask them they will usually give you a rundown of what occurred so that you can learn from it. I would say BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP, it was only yesterday that I saw someone on this very forum say "my host didn't back up for me because I was running dedicated" (I almost cried), it is IMPERATIVE that you set up your own backup schemes. I personally use Crashplan Pro --> http://bit.ly/Ip1H4c (<--my affiliate link or http://www.crashplan.com/business/ otherwise) which is $7.49 per month for unlimited backup, so I always just backup the cPanel backups directory. As a note if you are using it ONLY as a personal linux server (i.e. your hosting and nobody elses) you can use Crashplan+ which you can also set up on your home computers as well and is at a lower price point (see http://bit.ly/J6vt7o or http://www.Crashplan.com respectively). If it is personal then you can use the home edition of Crashplan+ which comes at a lower price point, as soon as you start hosting for others it becomes CrashplanPRO that you require. That is all I can think of off the top of my head, I will have a bit more of a think into the lessons I have learned over the years from when I started out with my first dedicated box and make some more notes. Also I am more than happy for you to ask me as MANY questions as you would like as I know it can be a daunting but very fun experience. (PM me if you want to or catch me on twitter @StuartCRyan) Will come back a little later with any more thoughts that come to my head. Stuart
OK So been having more of a think and a few other things I would recommend are: Keep a journal of what you do and what you learn and any URLS you learned from - This can really help if you think how the FARK did I do that last time. I recommend Evernote as the perfect one for this Don't be afraid to ask questions, seek help it is better to do this BEFORE you do something you are unsure of than to have to clean up after If you do chose to go with cPanel as per my previous comments, sign up to http://forums.cpanel.net there is a MASSSIVE wealth of information there Depending on financial constraints you may want to consider a fully managed service which you can fall back onto if you are struggling with something Consider getting some reading material on the linux basics (depending on how experienced you are with it) if this is up your alley let me know and I can see what I have in my archive that I could recommend I will say it again for good measure... BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP LOL OK I will poke my head back in if I think of anything more later Stuart