(Oh, well, another question..:))

Can any of you tell me which are the *worst* and the *most common* problems that may appear when you are providing support for your clients??

I mean, I've been reselling for a company for the past few months, with which I had problems with the servers all the time (right now I'm trying to change to another one..);
So, I'm not quite sure what kind of problems would be common and what will not. For example:

- "Help, I tested my .PHP file and it works on other servers but not at yours!!" (without this being caused by the PHP version installed neither by the .php files - maybe by some misconfiguration on a program, for example??);

Is it common to have to access the *non-managed* areas of the server (or to forward this to your host if you're reselling) to fix a problem??
(Aparently, it's not, because de Technical/Hardware Forum is almost empty..??)

If anyone could give an idea of what to expect (with examples of problems you had yourself or which you had to solve), I'll be really thankfull..!!

the common problems maybe be the questions are so hard you don't even know how to answer you should'nt provide programing support because there is too many scripts to debug and too many webbased languages to learn

I don't know, sorry :D

Most questions you'll get will be relatively easy to fix. Other questions you can come to a board like this and ask all of the gurus, or hire a more knowledgable tech/admin. But unless you attract gurutypish (love that word) customers, you shouldn't receive too many tough tech questions. And by the time you do, you will have learned enough to solve it. :)

Just my two cents. That's in my personal experience.

Originally posted by Google
the common problems maybe be the questions are so hard you don't even know how to answer you should'nt provide programing support because there is too many scripts to debug and too many webbased languages to learn

I don't know if you got what I meant, so let me explain:

- I wouldn't feel bad to reply asking for more information about the problem, because I believe I know most (if not all) of the commom "terms", etc, and do know some programming.... so answering a "hard" question would probably not be a problem for me..

- I won't provide programming support, although I'm a webmaster too and have modified and set up several Perl CGIs - I'm getting started with PHP and mySQL (and a bit of C, C++) now...

My problem is with misconfigurations at the server or server programs... More precisely: having to access the server to fix a problem / (re)install something...

Programming questions are quite rare and are usually related to a bad file CHMOD, upload in binary format, file extension (mainly for SSI) or paths.

Take care of these and usually you will be fine. If your server is decently configured first and you don't thinker with it too much, you shouldn't really have any problem that killing/restarting the service would solve.

enjoy!

well one of the problem can be to configure your clients httpd.conf file
Some time clients don't know how to use it and they mess up and then you have to fix it.

hmmm your clients should have direct access to the httpd.conf file unless you are offering VPS, right? (or am I missing the point of this thread??)

all the clients have direct access but when they are playing around with it you have to fix it

Originally posted by Annette
they should never be able to alter that file

While reading this, that's what I was thinking!? She's not offering dedicated servers (I think?), nor virtual servers (I think?), is she???

Amplify, if you are leasing a fully managed server, then you most likely won't have root access. If you are reselling, you'll have to email the host.

I think the most importand things have been mentioned. Just make sure you know the server your clients are going to be on.

1. For example, know the paths (absolute) to commonly used applications on the server (sendmail, perl, etc..)

2. Understand permissions! (not understanding this at first caused me a lot of headaches)

3. Know the difference between uploading in ASCII and Binary, and have a general knowledge of different ftp clients.

4. Know how to configure different mail clients. I don't know how many times I would receive emails saying: "My email won't work, my email won't work....." And the problem was just a simple config of their mail client.

5. And, make sure all the above is clearly documented in a Support section on your website. That way, you can direct your clients there for commonly asked questions.

I'm sure I could come up with more, but I don't want to bore everyone. :)

Thank you all, for your help..!!
Here's the answer to some of the questions that came up:

I've been reselling for several months, and I'm having no difficult at all to do this (except for the company I resell for, and billing stuff..).. I know everything I should at this stage (maybe more than I needed..);

But, as I want to grow, now I'm thinking about leasing a server (to host accounts in a *shared server* enviromment) The problem is: I have no experience with managing a server at all..

So, supposing I leased a server at Alabanza or VDI, where I can fastly learn how to use the Control Panel to do *most* things.., would I have to worry about having to access the *non-managed* area of the server to fix a bug or something??

I mean, would that be common?? (Problems that need a technician to access the root to fix it without the Control Panel)..??

Alabanzo goes down some times for very long time but they are still good.The control panel is very easy to use it self explanetory

Originally posted by Amplify_girl
So, supposing I leased a server at Alabanza or VDI, where I can fastly learn how to use the Control Panel to do *most* things.., would I have to worry about having to access the *non-managed* area of the server to fix a bug or something??

I mean, would that be common?? (Problems that need a technician to access the root to fix it without the Control Panel)..??

Would you have to worry about it? Short answer, yes. The more you know about it (and you'll learn over time, little things here and there), the better off you'll be (of course). Now, will *you* have to worry about it? You could pay someone to worry about it for you, if a problem every came up. Some dedicated server hosts don't charge extra for support, some offer a limited amount of requests, and some just leave you on your own (due to either the contract you signed or the LACK of quality support they provide).

If you are new to servers, then I'd recommend looking somewhere where support levels make you confortable. Things will crop up, and when they do, you either need to know how to fix them yourself, have decent support to guide you, a managed support plan or pay someone to admin (even part time).