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Words of advice for a new VPS owner
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Words of advice for a new VPS owner

drmikedrmike Member
edited November 2011 in General

When you run a dd test, be sure to delete the resulting test file afterwards.

Anyone else care to offer up some advice?

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Comments

  • Wait at least two months before trying a new host...

  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    Be considerate of other people on the node. Just because you have access to xx cores, doesn't mean you can eat all xx cores by yourself.

  • InfinityInfinity Member, Host Rep

    Learn command line before getting a Linux VPS..

    Thanked by 1kylix
  • be sure that you understand difference between managed and unmanaged.

    Thanked by 1kylix
  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    @Infinity said: Learn command line before getting a Linux VPS..

    Or, if you don't, be willing to learn and not complain about the host just because you don't know jack. If you aren't willing to learn or don't have the time, either go managed or buy a control panel with your VM.

    Francisco

    Thanked by 1Infinity
  • @Infinity said: Learn command line before getting a Linux VPS..

    Best advice is to learn the command line when using Linux period.

    I would have to say do not forget backups backups backups and more backups.

    Thanked by 1Infinity
  • Read the TOS/AUP/etc so you won't get your VPS terminated because you cancelled another one wrong.

  • @drmike said: When you run a dd test, be sure to delete the resulting test file afterwards.

    ... and always add -O /dev/null to your speed testings with wget.

  • ... and always add -O /dev/null to your speed testings with wget.

    I have to disagree with that. Doesn't saving it to the hard drive affect the result number you get? If so, "saving" it to /dev/null would just make the numbers better but false.

  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    you're only testing the network with the cachefly downloads so using /dev/null would make it accurate for the network and not skew your results with any IO lag the host has :)

    Francisco

  • Ah, I see. I had started with dd tests while @breton quoted me but discussed wget's.

    Sorry about that.

  • Try to avoid paying for annual subscriptions with new webhosts and always keep a backup locally and externally :)

    Thanked by 1tux
  • Never trust any provider, however trustworthy he/she might be!

    Not that everyone of them is bad. But it is your responsibility to anticipate problems and keep your server up.

    Be aware that at least temporary problems will arise with any provider.

    Hence, have a plan in place for your rescue when things go wrong with the provider or your vps due to whatever reasons.

    If the vps is a production server of any level:

    • Get one more with similar specs from a different provider.
    • Keep synchronized copies of your applications and content on both the boxes.
    • Use the second one as redundant server or as a standby, based on the applications.
    • Use a monitoring service and when the primary goes down, switch to the secondary till the problems are sorted out.

    If the only use of the box is for web hosting, you can get almost 100% uptime just by implementing proper replication setup and using round robin DNS.

    This is how I keep things up, and is suitable for many LEB/LET users.(The less experienced ones among them).

    There will be better options based on your requirements if this doesn't suit you. But have a plan-B to act on rather then wasting time venting your ire on the provider when things go wrong.

    Note: Using round robin for redundancy is frowned by many, but it serves the purpose well with modern browsers.

  • danielfengdanielfeng Member
    edited November 2011

    Never get a VPS. Go for dedicated.

    Never get a dedicated. Go for your own server.

    Never get your own server. Go for some fun. 2012 is coming.

  • @danielfeng said: ever get a VPS. Go for dedicated.

    Never get a dedicated. Go for your own server.

    Never get your own server. Go for some fun. 2012 is coming.

    I like the 2012 part =)

  • @danielfeng good one

  • If they werent getting a VPS, they wouldn't be a new VPS owner :S

  • Have your data there copied at another place, even if it's your PC (even though it takes ages to get it restored from there). It must be mirrored somewhere for the time when a node crashes, error and human mistake happenes deletes your data, or even provider ends business without an announcement.

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    If the only use of the box is for web hosting, you can get almost 100% uptime just by implementing proper replication setup and using round robin DNS.
    Well...quite a bit of "almost". If one of your boxes is down for a period of time, you're relying on the DNS TTL which is at the mercy of what ISPs and browsers honor. It's better than nothing, true...

  • divyadivya Member
    edited November 2011

    Well...quite a bit of "almost". If one of your boxes is down for a period of time, you're relying on the DNS TTL which is at the mercy of what ISPs and browsers honor. It's better than nothing, true...

    @raindog308 it actually doesn't work that way. Modern browsers will wait for a predefined period and fetch from the other server seamlessly.

    As a test case:

    1. point www.testdomain.com to 2 ip addresses (with webserver setup on both ofcourse)

    2. start webserver on first server and shutdown webserver on the second.

    3. access www.testdomain.com from firefox or any modern browser.

    4. Now shutdown webserver on first server and start it on second server.

    5. access www.testdomain.com from firefox or any modern browser. As per DNS TTL argument, it should show a server down status. But actually the site loads from the second server after a small lag. If it doesn't, just refresh.

    I have tested this with very high TTL values and it always worked. Only problem is, the session data will be lost.

    To be safe, once you know a server is down, you should remove that ip till it is online again.

    Maybe someone can test this and give feedback.

  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    Use Webmin!

  • @netomx said: Use Webmin!

    The 90ies alias for resource eating.

    s/eating/wasting

  • Read the Terms of Service/Acceptable Usage Policies BEFORE you sign up.

    And when you get caught with your pants down, at least have some dignity about it and bow out gracefully. Don't try to cause a scene just to embarrass yourself and waste others' time.

  • Look out for ISPs that have the balls to give you their address at or to which a summons may be served. Since you will make yourself transparent when paying via CC the ISP should so, too, since he's providing the essential services for the contract.

  • Remove root access as a log on method. most failed attempts are on root account - becomes harder to guess a username and password rather than just a password

  • @exussum said: becomes harder to guess a username and password rather than just a password

    it's even harder to guess an ssh key.

  • Beware of providers where the square root of the guaranteed memory (in MB) plus the amount of storage space (in GB) is significantly greater then the cost per year.

  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    kylix, I didnt get it. It is a good admin (if you have sufficient RAM)

  • @dmmcintyre3 said: dmmcintyre3

    Agreed, but also becomes less convenient. I log in from loads of locations some which dont allow USB drives so using SSH keys becomes difficult

    Key based security is better though

  • SimplyfastSimplyfast Member
    edited November 2011

    @Infinity said: Learn command line before getting a Linux VPS..

    Or get Linux VPS and start learning the command line. You have to. Even if you sure you'll use control panels only, you never know what might happen.

    Monitor your box 24/7 with free services like Pingdom e.t.c.

    Test and improve it with tools like Loadimpact. (easy with it, care your neighbors too)

    Be sure to calculate your RAM usage and leave enough spare for accidental peaks.

    Never buy domain name from untrusted/fresh VPS provider.

    Never update/auto update software packages without checking compatibility with your software. Also some say "Leave it if it works!"

    There's a lot more.....

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