VPS Support Advice

For the last couple of years I've been using a friends server to host my sites. This worked well as he maintained the box so I didn't have to worry about the technical side of things. However I've had to move to my own VPS as he's closing down his businesss.

I did a bit of shopping around and plumped with WebFusion (Pipex) for my hosting company and went with the VPS Value offering.

The problem is that I've little/no experience on maintaining a server and am concerned should it fall over at any point or needs some work done on it. WebFusions support so far has sucked big time. I still have a ticket open from 3 weeks ago that they've not resolved so have little or no trust in their ability to respond quickly.

The question is what should I be doing to ensure the box is functioning correctly, securely and such like. What ongoing tasks should I be doing? Basically is there a newbies guide to running a VPS?

Any help will be gratefully received.

Cheers,

Mike

 

I have been doing some work for a client on their WebFusion VPS. Although it is cheaper, there is no support (nothing useful anyway). I get the impression that WebFusion VPS is just rental of server space - after that you need to look after yourself. Unless you know exactly what you're doing, I wouldn't go anywhere near WebFusion and even if you do know what you're doing, I'd think twice (that's probably a general Pipex rule too).

For my own personal hosting I use a clook.net VPS. They are a bit more expensive (than WebFusion Value), but the support is the best I have ever experienced. I always recommend them to my clients.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Ed. However I'm now into my second month of a years contract so need to be able to cover myself.

I certainly wish I'd found DP before I signed up with WebFusion

P.S. Thanks for the heads up on Clook - they look like what I'm after so may well consider a part migration to them. Cheers

 

Hi Mike,

You could get some technical support outsourcing companies to look after your server. they do 24X7 server monitoring and server maintenance for a nominal fees. And am aware that most of them are giving you 30min response time and 5-6 hours resolution time. That is even you have any situation the experts there can fix their issue in just 6 hours.

 

Hi sreyas,

I'm guessing by your autosig that you might be one of those companies?

What sort of figures are we talking here?

Cheers,

Mike

 

I would highly recommend http://acunett.com for outsourced server administration. I've been using them for the better part of a year now and they do a great job.

 

Hi Mike,

Good Guess

But am not really looking marketing here. Still thats my personal site and would like to notified by SE using such terms. There a lot of companies doing such business and you could go for your fav SE to find one. Am sorry if its not the right way of answering but I have to.

Regards,

Ciril Sreedhar