Generally speaking, it is a good idea to avoid the need to reboot a dedicated server. The moment you do, your server will experience some amount of down time; hopefully only the amount of time it takes to shut down all processes and restart.
Therefore, it is a good idea to minimize reboots and schedule them [...]
The drives on your dedicated server contain priceless information. It is so important that you probably spend a good amount of time making sure your backups are sound and your security is air tight. To keep your file system running in good condition, it is vital that you stay informed and know its inner workings. [...]
One of the common problems you may encounter with a Linux server is that locally-installed packages require dependencies in order to work. When you install software directly from your distribution’s package repository: yum or apt-get, for example, these programs will install any necessary dependencies automatically. Sometimes, however, you need to download a single .deb or [...]
I cannot count how many times in the past I have purchased a product because of the shiny packaging, only to find the product inside to be less than desirable. This started with childhood when the sparkle of a new toy in the store would fade quickly once I got it home. At some point [...]
When bad guys start attacking your server, one of the first things you might try to stop it is to block their IP addresses. In some instances, this works perfectly and will remove your problem quite thoroughly; however, it is not always effective. Therefore, it is important to know when it is useful to block [...]
SSH (Secure Shell) is one of the most important tools on a dedicated server. It gives you remote access to your server’s command line, making it easy to take advantage of powerful tools only your server’s shell can offer. There are numerous ways to connect via SSH, since you can use it to tunnel other [...]
Monitoring a server can be a full-time job in itself, especially if your dedicated server hosts multiple websites. In Apache HTTP Server, each website is setup as a virtual host with its own set of logs. To monitor each independently is impossible when you have multiple sites. Instead, some system administrators just monitor the main [...]
Dovecot is a free and open source POP3 and IMAP mail system that gives your server’s users access to their email. Many server installations include it out of the box as the default mail box agent, and most use it in conjunction with another mail delivery system.
Dovecot has some security features that may not be [...]
The idea of building a program from source may seem overwhelming to you, and for most software installation on your server, you can avoid it. Nevertheless, there may come a time when it is the best option or even the only option. When that time comes, you will wish you kept reading this article.
Before you [...]
If you spend a decent amount of time talking to people in the Linux and free software community, you are bound to stumble upon the sudo vs su debate. Some system administrators swear by sudo and argue it is the only way to truly keep your administrative account secure. Others argue in favor of su, [...]
In most situations, an individual or company will keep the same operating system for the entire time they use a server. While there may be occasional upgrades, these usually do not involve switching to another OS completely. At the end of the server’s life, however, you may decide to go with a different OS. If [...]
A VPS (virtual private server) gives you the ability to host several instances of your operating system within a single dedicated server. Each virtual machine or container within your server behaves independently as though it were a server by itself. This gives users all of the benefits and administrative access of a full dedicated server [...]
The ps command is an extremely powerful tool for monitoring processes on a Linux or Unix server. Processes are the individual instances of a program running on your server. With ps, you can find out which programs have running processes, how much memory they are using, how much processor power they are consuming, and which [...]
If you have used enough PHP scripts on web servers, you have undoubtedly encountered “out of memory” errors at some point. While they are annoying and even damaging to business when they interrupt service on a website, they are relatively easy to diagnose and fix.
If you do a quick search for a solution to this [...]
MySQL is a powerful database server that you can use in conjunction with server-side scripting like PHP to enhance your websites with dynamic content. By default, the only way to manage MySQL is from the command line. Fortunately, there are web-based tools like phpMyAdmin and cPanel that provide other options.
In cPanel, you can create and [...]
This is a difficult question to answer. When you are shopping for a dedicated server, however, it is bound to come up at least once. RAM (memory), hard disk space, and bandwidth all cost money. It does not matter if you are purchasing your own dedicated server or using a remotely-hosted solution. These things cost [...]
As you embark on the exciting journey that is your dedicated server, you will encounter numerous slogans, terms, phrases, and acronyms. Some are completely relevant and important for you to know. Others are just thrown in to confuse you. Here are five you should definitely know.
1. Name server – This is the system that will [...]
Time To Live is a term that refers to the amount of time that passes before a DNS zone is updated. If you are running your own DNS on your dedicated server, you may want to consider your TTL setting and how it affects your websites.
The old standard TTL setting for most DNS servers was [...]
Picture this. You wake up one morning to several text messages, emails, and even voice mail messages all saying essentially the same thing. Something is wrong with your dedicated server. It could be something small, like a single web-based tool that is not functioning properly, or something huge like an [...]
You have likely heard the expression “security through obscurity”, and you may have even considered adopting it as a policy at one point or another. It is convenient to believe that an “obscure” server is secure because no one knows about it, but this is not a very realistic theory.
As a rule, any device attached [...]
