Tһеrе аrе different operating logic scale, depending οח уουr needs. Fοr example,Windows operating logic optimization, networking аחd collaboration, wһісһ mау bе wһу tһеу аrе tһе mοѕt well lονеd.

Bυt, wһаt wіll happen іf уουr server below attacks? All уουr information wіƖƖ bе lost οr relentlessly hυrt, wһісһ іח turn саח affect tһе performance οf уουr business operations. Many people dο חοt take preventive measures tο try tο keep tһеіr dedicated server security guard wаѕ attacked. Tһе following іѕ tο keep уουr information reliable ѕοmе οf tһе tips.

1. Mаkе sure уουr software іѕ up tο date аחd patched

2. Disable a service tһаt уου dο חοt υѕе. Tһе space саח חοt bе wasted

3. Fixed audits οf уουr logic log, search fοr suspicious activity οr errors

4. Mаkе a firewall саח check IP addresses within tһе specified time

5. Complexity οf уουr password, change tһеm еνеrу 3 months

6. SCHEDULE [fοr Windows] consistent anti-virus аחd [fοr Linux] check rkhunter

7. Back up аll data regularly, bυt bе careful חοt tο save tһе backup οח tһе server

8. Oחlу installed οח tһе server authenticated аחd certified applications

9. Track security alerts frοm Technological Cyber іח case tһеу apply tο уουr systems/programs

10. Apply аll οf tһе above tο аחу οtһеr hardware used tο log іחtο уουr server аחd аחу server fοr уουr application development

11. Regularly audit your system logs, searching for suspicious or erroneous activity.

Tһаt’s іt. If уου give a close attention tο tһе above matters, уου саח increase tһе safety οf уουr server significantly.

SO now you have a new server, what to do with it? The sky is the limit! Or is it? Naturally, and logically, there are restrictions. But a little extra attention for some details goes a long way… Let’s go over some of them.

Security: This is important, and cannot be stressed out enough. THEY ARE OUT THERE. Sounds dramatically? It is! If you want to keep the bad guys away start spending quality time on the firewall before activating services such as MySQL or Postgresql. I am not exaggerating. In the first night my server was active (I hadn’t even discovered these forums yet) I got 16 logon attempts from a total of 3 different IP addresses. Where the heck they came from is beyond me, but this is common behavior (this isn’t a surprise for me; been here, seen this before). They are out there! Trust me on this.

By default you might feel safe, no icky things in your logs, everything seems in order… Yes and no. Go Daddy charges you for used up space, and doesn’t risk default processes gobbling up your disk space without you knowing it. I think this is a very fair business policy, but it comes with a price. Namely that you’re probably left in the dark about your security. Do you have a “/var/log/secure” file telling you details on login attempts, failed login attempts and such?

If the answer is no then this is most likely because you do not have the “syslog” package installed (“sysklogd.i386″ to be exact). Want it? Then do (as root): “yum install sysklogd.i386″. And wham, in no time you’ll see what’s happening on your box. Careful: This comes at a price. Not a big one, but those log files do take up disk space no matter how you put it. Fortunately not all is lost.

If you installed that MC program mentioned earlier now is a good time to use it. Go to the /etc/logrotate.d directory. Here you’ll find a file called “syslog”. Press ‘F3′ to view it. Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything in there. What counts here is the first line. Notice stuff like “/var/log/messages” and “/var/log/secure”?

As the name suggests this is a configuration file telling a program on your server called “Log rotate” to actually rotate the files being mentioned in the config files which you find in that “/etc/logrotate.d” directory. So what does this mean? That every day (assuming default behavior) the system will archive your logfile and tell the main system to start using a new one. So, for example, let’s focus on “/var/log/secure”. A very important file in my opinion. If you wait a while (and I suggest not doing this behind your computer, but getting some sleep too) you’ll eventually notice 2 ‘secure’ files. One called ‘secure’, the other called ‘secure.1.gz’. What is this? Simple.. The first (’1′) of the compressed (‘gz’ stands for ‘gzip’ which is a compression program on Linux) logs. Still didn’t get MC? Shame on you! If you are on the console you can still easily view this file, just use something like: “zless /var/log/secure.1.gz” (you need to be root). ‘Space’ goes to the next page and ‘q’ quits. Using MC you simply press ‘F3′.

To conclude a personal comment: Go Daddy, I really hope you’ll consider using some ‘preview’ option. It really makes life easier (I know I could ‘edit’ my post, but still… “A good preparation goes a long way”).

Creation of Backup – Regular backups are necessary as we do not know when a failure can occur. It is a good practice to take backups of all documents, images and database and make sure it is stored in the right place.

To perform regular kernel security updates and keep all software’s up-to-date and secure.

Easy script installations such as Fantastico or Softacolous can be useful in daily installation requirements and keeps you safe from unwanted server errors and bugs.

Control Panels can make your life easier when you are about to manage their sites.

Frequent update of passwords is important to increase security of your dedicated servers.

Monitoring is a good habit which helps you to understand your dedicated server better. This mainly can be through monitoring software or a remote panel offered by your hosting provider.

Use only that is required. You should leave more space for your CPU, RAM and disks to deliver better.

Maintenance should be taken seriously as this increases your dedicated server lifespan and mainly include software updates, software upgrades, migrations, service checks, security monitoring.

• Always keep current backups of all data. Backup:  Regular backups are necessary as we do not know when a failure can occur. It is a good practice to take backups of all documents, images and database and make sure it is stored in the right place.

• To perform regular kernel security updates and keep all software’s up-to-date and secure.

• Easy script installations such as Fantastico or Softacolous can be useful in daily installation requirements and keeps you safe from unwanted server errors and bugs.

• Control Panels can make your life easier when you are about to manage their sites.

• Frequent update of passwords is important to increase security of your dedicated servers.

• Monitoring is a good habit which helps you to understand your dedicated server better. This mainly can be through monitoring software or a remote panel offered by your hosting provider.

• Use only that is required. You should leave more space for your CPU, RAM and disks to carry better.

• Do not max out your servers with more users and websites than it can comfortably hold. Leave a little room so that you’re CPU, RAM, and disks are not overtaxed.

• Give users plenty of time to get ready for any maintenance down time, software upgrades, migrations, or other possible service interruptions.

• Maintenance should be taken seriously as this increases your dedicated server lifespan and mainly include software updates, software upgrades, migrations, service checks, security monitoring.

• Offer your clients a script installation service to make simpler the installation of many popular web applications. This will minimize support requests for “Internal Server Error” and other problems. It will also help clients keep their scripts up-to-date.

• Encourage users to regularly update their passwords and enforce strong passwords to prevent security breaches.

Linux Users:

1. Log into your server via SSH and then become root:

$ su

2. Stop the current MySQL instance (note that this will halt any sites that depend on it, so make sure you do this during the lowest possible traffic time).
3. Start MySQL in safe mode and skip privileges checks:

# mysqld_safe –skip-grant-tables &

4. Next, log into MySQL without a privileges check:

# mysql –user=root mysql

5. Finally, reset the password by updating the user table of the default mysql database:

UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD(‘newrootpwd’) WHERE user=’root’;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

(Note: replace “newrootpwd” with your actual password, preferably one you can remember)
6. Restart MySQL to get out of safe mode:

# /etc/init.d/mysql restart.

Windows Users:

Log on to your server as the Administrator. Kill the MySQL server if it’s running. To do this you need the Windows Services Manager, so click on the Start Menu, then go to the Control Panel, then to the Administrative Tools, and select Services. Here look for the MySQL server and stop it. If it’s not listed there and MySQL is till running it means that MySQL is not running as a service. In that case you need to load the Task Manager which you should be able to access using the key combination of Ctrl+Alt+Del. Now kill the MySQL process.

With the MySQL process stopped you need to force a change of passwords on MySQL using a combination of the UPDATE and FLUSH options. So launch your favorite text editor and create a new file. Enter the following text into the file replacing “NewMySQLPassword” with your new password:

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD(”NewMySQLPassword”) WHERE User=’root’;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

What the first line does is that it updates the value of the field “Password” in the table mysql.user for the user “root” to “NewMySQLPassword”. The second line flushes the old set of privileges and makes sure your new password is used everywhere. Save this text as C:\mysql_reset.txt.

Next, you need to start your MySQL server passing this file as a configuration parameter. Launch a terminal by going to the Start Menu, then to Run, and then type cmd and hit Enter. Now enter the following command:

C:\mysql\bin\mysqld-nt –init-file=C:\mysql_reset.txt

Once the server is done starting delete the file C:\mysql_reset.txt. Your MySQL root password should be reset now. Now restart your MySQL server again. Go back to the Windows Services Manager again to do that. Your new MySQL root password should work for you now.

The following are four steps you can take to lessen the sting of high data transfer for one or multiple websites on your server.

File compression – Bandwidth is calculated in bytes and finally in gigabytes (GB). While HTML and CSS files are generally smaller than Mp3s and other media, multiple downloads can add up. Fortunately, you can save bandwidth with file compression. Most modern web browsers support gzip compression, meaning that users will download your content and then uncompress it seamlessly within their browsers.

P2P File Sharing – Although this is generally thought of as a tool for software, music, and movie pirates, peer-to-peer networks are great for reducing bandwidth, as they offload some of the data transfer to users. Bit Torrent is a very popular file sharing technology that you can use for large file downloads.

File Hosting – If P2P file sharing does not work for you, there are plenty of services that will host your files remotely at a fraction of the cost of bandwidth.

Cloud Storage – Many services such as Amazon S3 offer long-term cloud storage, web application caching, and/or Content Delivery Networks (CDN), all of which can reduce your server’s direct bandwidth and at last save’s your money.

Traffic – The number of hits, page views and unique visits are the main variable to take into account. Obviously, if there is going to be a lot of traffic through your website, you’ll need more RAM; inversely, less traffic requires less RAM.

Operating system – To run Windows Server you’ll need at least 512MB RAM, with recommended 1GB for Windows Server 2003 and recommended 2GB for Windows Server 2008. For Linux based server, 64MB RAM will be enough, or even less depending on a choice of a distro.

Static or dynamic site? Scripts and databases are memory hogs. If you use PHP or other scripting language and SQL databases then you need more RAM. How you use them and the size and the number of the databases will largely influence amount of RAM needed for site to function.

Content management systems – usage of Drupal, WordPress, Joomla and other CMSs will result in need for more RAM. There might be slight differences in memory usage between various CMSs, but the main factor here is how many and which additional plugins/modules are installed and used. The other important factor is the number of logged in/authenticated users in any given time – their hits consume much more memory than those of anonymous users.

Do you use control panel? Controls panels can be resource hog too, some of them less some of them more. Check this control panel’s comparison table for more info.

What other applications run on the server – email clients, antivirus, firewall, email spam protection will also make a difference in the amount of RAM you require.

Caching – if a large part of your site is set to be cached by proxy servers and browsers – that will significantly improve performance and decrease ram usage. Some static content that doesn’t change too often should be always cached. (such as images, css, and js). On Apache server you can use .htaccess to control caching.

So, with all this in mind lets start a “guessing game”, how much RAM do I need? Setup example:

Linux OS

Apache web server

SQL database like MySQL or PostgreSQL

Scripting Language like PHP

Content management system like Drupal, Joomla or WordPress

Firewall

Antivirus software like ClamAV

Email server and web mail client like Open Webmail or Squirrelmail

FTP server with SSH supported like Proftpd

“Light” control panel like Webmin or DirectAdmin

If you have no traffic or very low traffic on a setup like this, you’ll probably be fine with 512MB RAM. If you have 200 000 monthly visits and 500 000 page views you’ll need at least 1GB RAM. If you have more than 1 000 000 monthly visits and more than 2 000 000 page views you’ll need to upgrade to 4GB or more.

Take this advice only as a starting point; as I already said this was a “guessing game”. The actual amount of memory that will be required by your website will vary on your site setup, optimization of every piece of software on your server and number of logged in users. If you plan to have more than one site on a server, things will get even more complicated. Feel free to post question in comments about estimated RAM consumption for any particular setup and we will try to answer it. Some more tips:

• It is easy to upgrade RAM, so you can start your project with lower and buy more when needed.
• Before going live you can use load testing tools like LoadImpact or similar to examine system behavior under working load.
• Optimize Apache, SQL, PHP, CMS for better performance

  Optimizing Apache

  Optimizing PHP

  Optimizing MySQL

  Optimizing Drupal

  Optimizing WordPress

  Optimizing Joomla

• Set up caching for better performance

For more visit: www.version-next.com

So what is a content management system and why is CMS web hosting important?

A content management system is very simply exactly what it states – a system that assists webmasters in maintaining and editing their content on a day-to-day basis. In the web hosting realm, using a CMS to manage your dedicated server is what many webmasters do to minimize effort and outsourcing technical support. Content management systems are designed to be as user-friendly and effortless as possible, as they are designed with the new and inexperienced webmaster in mind. So you can be sure that when you are using a content management system with dedicated web hosting that you will be able to fully maintain your website and implement new changes, add text and photos, blog and links with ease.

Some of the most popular content management systems for web hosting are Joomla, Mambo, WordPress, b2evolution, DotNetNuke, Drupal, Moveable Type, and Typo. Joomla web hosting has become extremely popular recently due to the many free Joomla extensions available, and WordPress Web Hosting is arguably the easiest CMS web hosting platform available for novice webmasters.

For more visit: www.version-next.com

How do I set my default page using Plesk?

In the Linux world, you can use an .htaccess file to specify your default
page.

In order to do the same thing with Windows, you would need to use Plesk for this functionality.

You can set the order of pages searched for the index page by doing the
following:

* Login to Plesk
* Click your domain
* Click Web Directories
* Click Preferences

In the section labeled Documents, you can set the order of which files are
searched. If you want index.aspx instead of index.html, you would make sure that the index.aspx is listed above index.html.

If you would like a file-name that does not exist in the list to be your
preferred file-name, you can add it using this same section.

After making sure that the file-names are in the order you would like, the
selected page will come up in the browser if it is present in your files.

For more visit: www.version-next.com

Dedicated SQL Servers provide committed resources to enhance performance and reliability for your application. MicroSoft provides Dedicated SQL Servers to web developers, enterprises and organizations needing advanced support and functionality. With a full team of database administrators (DBAs) a Dedicated SQL Server can give you both the robust database functionality and expert support you need.

LINQ support

New spatial and date/time data types

FILESTREAM data type

Transparent Encryption

Data & Backup Compression

Policy Based Management

Enhanced Auditing

High Availability Dedicated Server Servers

Dedicated SQL Servers can put an intense demand on resources such as CPU and RAM.  Dedicated SQL Servers with high I/O needs can see performance benefits from the use of solid state drives. MicroSoft offers custom High Availability solutions for your SQL Server needs. Our team of DBAs can help design and configure a solution that will meet your database’s specific needs. MicroSoft supports the following technologies:

• Database Mirroring
• Database Log Shipping
• Server Clustering

• fully managed SQL dedicated servers. Dedicated SQL Servers provide enhanced performance, reliability, and dedicated resources for your application. MicroSoft offers a wide range of cost effective SQL Server Hosting solutions to suit the needs of any web business. Try one of our fully managed Dedicated SQL Servers, equipped with Dual Core/Quad Core/ Dual Quad Core Xeon processors, up to 32 GB of RAM and up to 450 GB of fault tolerant SAS disk space. Create unlimited databases, users, packages, SQL jobs, maintenance plans and more.
• Microsoft® SQL Dedicated Server 2000/2005/2008 hosting solutions provide you with the most comprehensive platform for building and deploying database driven applications for an online business. Since Dedicated SQL Servers require intensive resources such as CPU and RAM, each of MicroSoft’s SQL Dedicated Servers deliver the ultimate in terms of performance, dependability, and security, coupled with guaranteed uptime, affordable pricing, and round the clock technical support.
• Our Dedicated SQL Servers allow a user the privileges to manage the entire SQL Server remotely with SQL Enterprise Manager or via RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). All SQL Server hosting packages come with round the clock technical support from our Microsoft Certified staff. MicroSoft has a dedicated team of Dedicated SQL Server Hosting experts who have sound experience in SQL Hosting administration, optimization, backups, restores, as well as implementation.
• With our branded hardware dedicated server configurations, world-class data center and support for Windows Servers, you can be rest assured that your data is being delivered on the most advanced database hosting platform available.
• MicroSoft also offers custom solutions for your web and SQL Dedicated Server needs. Please contact our Sales Department for a quote based around your specific needs.
• If you have a requirement for SQL Server 2005/SQL Server 2008 but cannot afford the costly per-cpu licenses required or quite simply do not want the extra hassle of maintaining SQL databases then why not take advantage of our Windows Web Hosting. We have shared SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 servers and can offer this to all customers who need SQL Server hosting at an much lesser cost than a full dedicated SQL server.

Version-Next is specializing in dedicated server industry. We are experienced in web hosting, dedicated Servers solutions & leasing high end servers (US based/Indian Based) to its clients.

To setup your Microsoft SQL Dedicated Server please click here

For more visit: www.version-next.com

There are tons of things you can do from the htaccess file inside of your web hosting account.  From redirecting the users to controlling who can get in and who can get out, it is a very useful file to have on your hosting account.  To help out the new web hosting clients and to act as a reminder to the old pros around here, I thought I would go through five of the most popular .htaccess tips I know.

Redirect to a Maintenance Page

This is a great one to use if you need to make some quick web page edits, and you don’t want the public to see you edit your web site, while it is still live.

Options +FollowSymlinks

RewriteEngine On

RewriteBase /

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/offline.html$

RewriteRule .* /offline.html [R=307,L]

This will redirect anybody who checks out any web page on your web site to the “offline.html” file.

Force the Use of “www” in Front of a Domain Name

If you want to keep the www in front of your domain name, no matter how somebody types it in, here is the ‘bit of .htaccess magic you will need:

Options +FollowSymlinks

RewriteEngine on

rewritecond %{http_host} ^mydomain.com [nc]

rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.mydomain.com/$1 [r=301,nc]

Once you have done so, both mydomain.com and www.mydomain.com will both send you to www.mydomain.com

Remove the “www” From in Front of a Domain Name

You can also force your domain to drop the www from the address when typed in, if you would rather have it the other way around. In that situation, you would need to add this to your .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.mydomain.com$ [NC]

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://mydomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

This will make both mydomain.com and www.mydomain.com send you to just mydomain.com.

Manually Create Custom Error Pages

Ever check out some of those customized error pages and wonder how it could be done? Just use these snippets of .htaccess code to tell people where to look for your error pages.

ErrorDocument 400 /errors/400.html

ErrorDocument 401 /errors/401.html

ErrorDocument 403 /errors/403.html

ErrorDocument 404 /errors/404.html

ErrorDocument 500 /errors/500.html

This tells the server to look inside the “errors” folder and that specific page for each of the different error types. That is not all of the error codes, but they are the ones that will be ‘hit by your users 99 percent of the time.

Block Visitor By IP Address

Need to keep somebody from checking out your web site?  This next tip will give you the ability to deny somebody based on what their IP address is:

order allow,deny

deny from 123.45.6.7

deny from 012.34.5.

allow from all

The above blocks access to the site from 123.45.6.7, and from any sub-domain under the IP block 012.34.5. (012.34.5.1, 012.34.5.2, 012.34.5.3, etc).

Before you go off and plant htaccess everywhere, read through this and make sure you don’t do anything redundant, since it is possible to cause an infinite loop of redirects or errors if you place something weird in the htaccess.

Also…some sites do not allow use of htaccess files, since depending on what they are doing, they can slow down a server overloaded with domains if they are all using htaccess files. I can’t stress this enough: You need to make sure you are allowed to use htaccess before you actually use it. Some things that htaccess can do can compromise a server configuration that has been specifically setup by the admin, so don’t get in trouble.