In many cases, virtualization is used to create Virtual Private Servers (VPS), which essentially make small duplicates of the same operating system within directories that appear to the user as servers within themselves.
A VPS, however, is not the only use for virtualization. In some cases, you may actually want to run a completely different [...]
On this blog, I have spent quite a bit of storage space talking about Apache web server, but it is, by no means, the only web server on the block. In no particular order, here is a list of popular web servers, both free and commercial.
Apache HTTP Server – The most widely used [...]
Server-side scripting is defined as “web server technology in which the user’s request is fulfilled by running a script directly on a web server to generate dynamic web pages.” In simpler terms, a server-side script runs on the server rather than your computer. When you visit a website, the script will create [...]
Monitoring the security and stability of a Linux server can become a full time job, so a smart system administrator will welcome any task that can simplify the process. We have covered a few different methods of searching that can take the pain out of trying to find things. All of these commands: [...]
Shared hosting is a tough choice these days. There are so many companies who offer it, and you really never know what you’re going to get until you get into it. A recent decision for me to try out a Godaddy shared hosting account for a website proved an incredible waste of time and money. [...]
In a previous post, I explained an easy method for scheduling tasks on a Linux server using cron jobs. On a Windows server, there is a similar process that allows you to schedule programs to run at specified times.
Task automation is a very important part of running a dedicated server because it minimizes the [...]
Running Linux on a server is a great way to find out about the inner workings of a computer. Linux provides numerous tools to help you learn important system information. In a previous post, I highlighted some of the Linux tools you can use to find out critical information about your server’s [...]
In a previous post, I explained how to schedule a reboot on a Linux server. Today, we will learn how to do exactly the same thing on a Windows server.
The reasons are the same. If your Windows dedicated server has just finished a system update and needs to reboot, you do not want [...]
Normally, FTP involves communication between your home or business computer and your server. Therefore, you probably use a graphical FTP program to handle all file transfers. In some instances, however, you will need to transfer files from your server to another server. For that, you will need to login to the second [...]
When you lease a remote dedicated server, you really have no physical way of knowing that you got what you paid for. There are, however, a couple of ways to find out what hardware your server actually has using some basic Linux commands. These commands tell you what hardware is in use and [...]
Although this may be difficult, the first thing to do is to remember not to panic. Staying calm will go a long way in making sure you can resolve the issue quickly and calmly. When operating a server remotely, your only assurance that a server is running is through its websites and through [...]
Spend even a small amount of time reading about news and developments in web hosting, and you will undoubtedly come across the term “cloud computing”. The term itself is rather broad and can refer to anything from web-based email to full application servers, to RaaS disaster recovery.
Although in the case of email, [...]
To continue our series on SSH security, we should take a look at more options that can be set in ssh_config. Remember, SSH is one of the most secure methods of communicating with your server, but it needs to be configured correctly to provide the best security.
1. Timeout interval – Sometimes, users will log [...]
Administrators face a tough challenge when it comes to e-mail management. As old emails pile up, server performance often suffers.
Traditionally, the most common approach for maintaining optimal server performance was to limit the amount of e-mail storage that users could keep. Ideally, this should force users to delete more of their emails and be more [...]
Any service or software that allows remote users to connect to your server is a potential security risk. Despite its name SSH (Secure Shell) is no exception. Nevertheless, when configured correctly, SSH is the safest ways to connect to your server and one that you will unquestionably need if your server is remote [...]
An email alias is a name that appears before the @ symbol in an email address, which actually refers to another account or location. For example, the alias “billing” may actually point to an email account on your server called “sales”. A single email account can have multiple aliases, and an alias can [...]
With a Linux dedicated server, you will execute tens of commands over the course of a month or even a year. Keeping track of all of them may prove to be too difficult for the average busy system administrator. Nevertheless, you owe it to yourself and your clients to make sure you can [...]
Everyone talks about “Cloud” and Cloud computing. Both terms represent a significant change in the way we use computers as well as in the way companies produce computing services. The Wikipedia’s definition for Cloud computing is “… Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like the [...]
Having SSH access to your server means little if you do not have the ability to edit the plethora of text configuration files that Linux presents to you. For those files, you need a text editor, and one text editor that combines ease of use with power and efficiency is Nano.
Unlike other text-based editors [...]
Disk space on a dedicated server is a premium commodity. One convenient way to save hard drive space on your server is to compress files and directories. This is particularly useful for files that are not commonly used or that only serve as backups. It is also useful if you need to [...]
While there are a few cloud hosting providers, adoption on this type of computing by hosting providers has been very slow. Being quite familiar with the hosting space, I can still only name a couple of providers that have introduced a thorough cloud computing concept. Lack of an eager market is certainly not [...]
Those who love Linux often cite the absence of viruses as one of the shining examples of why it is better than Windows. For the most part, that argument is valid and real, but a server administrator must look beyond his/her own system and consider others as well. Your server may not have [...]
Starting your own server can be exciting and frightening at the same time. While it provides you with new independence that you would not have using a shared hosting account, it also places a tremendous amount of responsibility on you that you did not have before. Whenever you have security, stability, or performance [...]
In a previous post, I explained the wonderful benefits of using Cron to schedule backups, log rotations, and any other task that can be automated. Cron makes automation very easy. There are times, however, when you will want to schedule a task but only want it to run once. A good [...]
On Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux, a chroot jail is the common expression used to describe a section of a filesystem that is sectioned off for a particular user. On a web server, it is particularly useful for the security of shared hosting accounts.
Without a chroot jail, a user with limited file permissions [...]
File permission settings may very well be the most important thing you ever learn in Linux server management. When file permissions on a dedicated server are correct, no one notices, and everything runs smoothly. When even one file permission is wrong, it can result in an error or, even worse, a security hole.
Linux [...]
