Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Hosting Security and Technology : Learning how to manage a VPS and eventually Dedicated.

[John-Michael]

I was forwarded to WHT by another community (Reddit). I found the information here awesome. I would like to ask if anyone knows of any tutorials, websites, or any other type learning materials for properly managing a VPS and, if it's any different, a dedicated server.

I have some decisions to make regarding which providers I use, and I would like to have an idea of what it really takes to manage my own VPS. I'm not really looking for someone to just link to a linux server distro manual, but if that's all that's out there, then so be it.

If I'm leaving out any information you may need to answer my question, please ask.

Thanks again.

[NoSupportLinuxHostin]

A VPS is basically managed like a dedicated server, except you don't have to worry about managing the hardware. The typical Linux related tasks are going to be very much the same between a VPS and a dedicated server. Pick up a good book on the OS you plan to use and you should be set to have some fun.

[cd/home]

Originally Posted by John-Michael

I was forwarded to WHT by another community (Reddit). I found the information here awesome. I would like to ask if anyone knows of any tutorials, websites, or any other type learning materials for properly managing a VPS and, if it's any different, a dedicated server.

I have some decisions to make regarding which providers I use, and I would like to have an idea of what it really takes to manage my own VPS. I'm not really looking for someone to just link to a linux server distro manual, but if that's all that's out there, then so be it.

If I'm leaving out any information you may need to answer my question, please ask.

Thanks again.

Buy an old pentium 4 pc and load the Os onto that or create a dual boot on a newer machine and have a play, or just get a low end vps plan, I believe the hands on approach is better

[portbridge]

Yeah, there is no other replacement for just plain old experience and reading materials on the OS. For Linux you may have an experience gap to overcome but once you get to the level you need to be at you can learn to manage 50 servers with ease.

I work on both Linux and Windows systems and it is a nightmare to manage just 3 servers compared to the around 15 I help manage in Linux. Read and then trial and error.

If you want a good Unix or Linux experience where they will help you restore your VPS in case you hose it just use rootbsd. I hosed mine and they fixed it for me quickly

[necronomikron]

You can rent a VPS on Amazon for $.08/hour (along with various charges for bandwidth, if just playing, this'll add up to about $.05/month - $.15/month, other than storage, which is $.15/month per GiB).

Good to play with.

[John-Michael]

Thanks for all the responses. I think I might have found a compromise.

What I failed to mention in my initial post was that I have a website currently on shared hosting that is about to drastically outgrow the servers resources. Regardless, I'll need a VPS. But starting from scratch with something like Linode, might not be in my best interest given my situation.

Host Gator provides fully managed VPS setups for Level 3 and above. I did a quick comparison to Linode and for $40 Host Gator provides more RAM, more bandwidth, 2 GB less disk space, and it's fully managed.

Wouldn't this be a nice compromise that allows me to get setup ASAP, but also include the flexiblity of an unmanaged VPS?


Thanks!

[jweeb]

Fully Managed VPS can truly help if you are new. It gives you a fallback that support is available. You can also use it as a time where you are able to try to learn how to administer the server.

Have you considered WiredTree, ServInt, LiquidWeb, KnownHost for fully managed VPS?

[John-Michael]

Originally Posted by jweeb

Have you considered WiredTree, ServInt, LiquidWeb, KnownHost for fully managed VPS?

WiredTree: yes
ServInt: no, but I will
LiquidWeb: yes
KnownHost: no, but I will

Others I'm considering:
powervps
itsjusthosting
hostdime

[HostDime]

A managed VPS seems like will be your best option. You will get root access and you have the ability to learn and if you need help your managed vps provider would assist you. There are many vps providers out there so ensure when your looking they are managed. Also many companies would give you some discount by just asking. It don't hurt to ask and many people don't use this approach.

[amduk]

Hi, I am just finalising the move from shared hosting to a semi managed VPS that I have been playing with for a couple of months. It came all setup ready to go with WHM/Cpanel that I was already familiar with from my shared account, but with many more options!

I have had to get used to using putty also to setup rsync backups and a few other basic tasks, which was all very new to me but a good challenge.

Perhaps I am taking a gamble running these sites myself with little linux knowledge but I feel that the server is now already more reliable than the shared account as it is just my few sites and I have got them running perfectly.

I'm not sure if I need to fully understand apache, what else should one look out for?

[John-Michael]

Originally Posted by amduk

I'm not sure if I need to fully understand apache, what else should one look out for?

From what I've gathered, the default settings will work. Having said that, there are cases that the default settings are less than ideal. Custom setups aside, high traffic is the most common situation where custom settings are warranted. I've seen examples of folks providing support where upgrades were recommended my novices and all was really needed was the proper configurations for apache and MySQL. No additional hardware was required.

If I were you, I would take a look at what type of site you're running. Most CMSs and other platforms have suggested configuration settings for servers. Check those out and apply them to your sever. If you're running something more custom, then find something that is comparative out there and use those settings.

Hope that helps.