Hi, I've always used shared hosting, but now I need PHP 5.3, which no shared hosts provide yet. Hence I'm looking for a VPS. My problem is I have no experience in using a VPS or anything. I'm also wanting to emulate the system the hosts use for VPS so that I can do test on my computer before I screw up my VPS. (I use Windows XP) My questions are as follows: a) What software (exact full name and versions) should I install on my PC to properly emulate a VPS? b) Once one has their own VPS, how do they configure it? c) Has anyone used VPS from "delimiter.us", and how was/is your experience? Extra Note: I have plenty of experience setting up Apache, PHP, MySQL and configuring them on windows. Thanks, Matty
If you want Apache+PHP+MySQL, I suggest you to go for Linux VPS including control panel (i.e. cPanel). Control panel will make your job easy to configure, manage your site as well as server. Also, I suggest you to go for manage server so that you do not need to worry about uptime and backup of your data. Your service provider should take care of this for you. Kailash
Thanks for your answer, but it really doesn't answer my questions. My questions were: How do I set up a VPS just the similar to what I would be purchasing? How do I configure one? (Some guides you think are good would help) Has anyone used VPS from "delimiter.us", and how was/is your experience? Those are the questions I'm after, I need to get my self experienced in this, not just pay others to do it all. Answer reminds me a bit of the ones I get with support tickets. But thanks none the less.
Get yourself an old computer, format it, and put a good Linux distro on it, I would suggest CentOS. A VPS is a virtual server, so, instead of you setting up a virtual server, just use the real thing, as they work the same way, with a few minor differences, that you would not see for what you are trying to achieve. For guides, just search google, there are lots out there, here is one site for example: http://www.howtoforge.com
Someone pointed out that Jaguar PC's VPS services allow for 2 free hours of system administration each month. If you've got no experience with Linux, you may want to contact their support and see if installing PHP 5.3 would be something you could use those sys admin hours towards.
If you really want to play around, have an XP box, and want to experiment with Windows, then download MS Virtual PC 2007. You can then install Server 2003 on it (not sure about Server 2008). It does work because that's how I've set up my laptop. There's nothing "fancy" about a VPS and your experience would be just the same setting up your box to dual-boot and installing Server 2003 or Server 2008 (I'm still talking Windows here), or you could also install a Linux OS if you preferred in a multi-boot system. Setting up a server for internet-facing use is not a trivial matter and it isn't just a case of installing PHP and MySQL and that's it. If that's all you do, you will be not be secure. Not sure why you would install Apache when the server has IIS built-in but I'm a Windows person. As the other posts say, if you're not confident securing an online server, leave it to the experts. If you go for a VPS (Linux or Windows) I'd ask your host to set up these applications for you. They should do it in a secure manner that makes them safe to use and they will deal with any issues that arise that stop these applications working properly. Even if they charge you for doing it, it is worth the small expense.
install centos on virtualbox or vmware, and install openvz or xen in that, and play around with it. If you are not going to do anything with the kernel, which I expect you are not going to, installing centos on the vmware virtualbox itself should give you a good idea of a system on a vps try the vps on my footer. great support, performance and pricing.