Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Dedicated Server : Looking for admin - individual or company (again!)

[pergesu]

A while ago I looked for recommendations for someone to admin my server, and went with ServerWizards. They didn't really work out for me. Here's a letter I sent off to a couple companies a while back, and I'm hoping I can get some recommendations based on it.

Basically I'm just looking for someone who can keep my server running smoothly. My server is running FreeBSD 5.4. I'm willing to pay $75/mo for this, hopefully that's realistic. You should be able to get an idea of what I want based on the letter. That said, any recommendations?

Do you have any experience with lighttpd and fastcgi? I'll be running a bunch of Ruby on Rails applications, and I'd like them to run on lighttpd/fastcgi.

I've been using my server as a development server for the past few months, so it has a lot of junk on it. The main reason I'm coming to you guys is that I'll be running production sites on it, and I'm not confident in my ability to keep a server running smoothly in production.

Do you require that a control panel be installed? Currently I don't have any control panel installed, and don't really intend to have one if you recommend an OS reload. I have no need for it at this point, and don't want to deal with all the special configurations or have it take up unnecessary resources.

What's your policy on installing software? You say you offer unlimited admin work, and I'd like to know what that means. For example, if I want subversion installed and configured, are you willing to do that? Or is that something I have to do myself?

Lastly, do you perform system updates, and if so, how often? The info page says you'll upgrade backend services like http, mail, and ftp, but will you also apply kernel updates and and upgrade system binaries? Do you regularly schedule that maintenance, or do I have to request it?

Basically I want to be able to write apps for my clients and not worry
about keeping the server up to date...I want to be able to sleep at night knowing you guys are taking care of things. I understand if perhaps you're not the best company for my needs, I'd just like to be clear of what I need upfront, thus the many questions. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Thanks

[Justin]

pergesu,

As many view rack911 quite highly I would suggest possibly contacting them. (note this is a suggestion not a recommendation as I haven't had any first hand experience with thelinuxguy's services myself).

In any case wish you luck in your search for a competant admin.

-Justin

[huck]

We don't do FreeBSD but perhaps some things you should look for:

Very good of you to ask what unlimited "admin" work means. I know of firms that restrict "admin work" to simply installing patches, rebooting the server, and restarting services. If you need anything extra done, say tune apache or look into a spam issues, then you have to pay additional fees. if the latter items come up frequently, the value your original thought you were getting may soon vanish. Ask about specific scenarios and make sure your needs are covered in order to get a handle on expected management costs.

Find out not only how often the updates are done but how they are done. Many firms have taken the Ronco Rotisserre approach of "set it and forget it". While this make work for your dinner it is not the best approach for your servers. Sysadmins often use scripts and automated tools; however, unless you are running a well defined, standardized, system such automated solutions can often cause problems. Ask CPANEL users about the auto-update feature it includes and problems that arise. IMHO, server updates should be at a minimum supervised and not simply scripted to run at the wee hours of the morning. I know of cases when certain companies have had their scripts fail, leaving scores of users with offline services until a tech could login and analyze what had happened.

If you used the box for development, I suggest that you either wipe it or get another system. There are likely ton's of configuration changes, dev tools and other bits scattered about that not only may throw a kink into operations but also may introduce security vulnerabilities.

A control panel is not technically required to maintain a system. I would be suspicious of any firm requiring a control panel to manage the system -- even simple panels like webmin. Though they may specialize in a certain control panel, a knowledgeable sysadmin does not require a control panel to run updates.

Since you are not using apache, ask some questions to get an idea about their experience with lighthttpd/fast-cgi. Most entry level sysadmins should be proficient in apache but few training programs include alternate http servers besides Redhat's tux. Ask them if they have other clients running Ruby/lighthttpd/fast-cgi applications.

Hope this helps.

[pergesu]

huck,

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely be asking any admin all those questions. As for getting the server wiped, I actually did that for the reasons you mentioned.

fwiw, you can find an account of my experience with SW here.

[linux-tech]

For a standard server, $75/month isn't unreasonable. However, since you're running a non standard server, you can probably expect to pay a good deal more.

Is there a reason you are using lighthttpd over apache (which is the industry standard by far)? Not trying to insult your choice of server here, just trying to understand why you chose this specific server.

Asking for a definition of "unlimited" services is good, in fact. I've seen companies try to blindly pull this one off actually (hi, we'll support unlimited servers for $300). Unfortunately, that's just as unrealistic as it gets, and smart people ask questions about this kind of stuff


Sorry to see your bad luck with these guys, hopefully your next choice will work out better

[pergesu]

Apache is the industry standard for web hosting...except with Rails hosting. In that case, everyone is using lighttpd. There's just more support and documentation for Rails with lighttpd, so that's why I'm using it.

Since I don't plan to run any non-rails apps (save for mail scripts, etc), I don't really need to run Apache. At least I don't feel a need for it at this point...whenever I do, I'll install it and use it.