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Ask HN: VPS management for the absolute beginner

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Ask HN: VPS management for the absolute beginner

#1

Post by AgentConundrum »

I have a new site that I want to build, something that I as a programmer wish existed. While there is no way this site would ever reach StackOverflow levels of success, I do hope that it will have a broad appeal and become decently successful - I'm optimistic, anyway.

I'm going to start with a shared host, possibly sticking with the company which hosts my blog since I know them well enough, but I don't think shared hosting is a good long term solution.

As such, I've been checking out Slicehost as a good "next-stage" host. The problem is that I would be completely out of my element with a VPS. I only have limited experience with Linux (I've tried it a few times on my laptop, but always ran into issues that made me give up on it - usually wireless issues), and while I'm pretty sure I could get the basics setup, I worry that I'd leave things horribly insecure or that I just couldn't handle maintenance issues.

Obviously, my idea may flop entirely, but I'd rather not get caught with my pants down if I ever got to the stage where a VPS becomes a necessity.

So, are there any good tutorials / (e-)books / articles describing how to get to know your VPS, or any other issues I should be concerned with.

An ounce of prevention, etc.

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: VPS management for the absolute beginner

#3

Post by maxdemarzi »

If you're looking at slicehost, then you must know they have step by step instructions to get you setup at http://articles.slicehost.com/ This should get you pretty far.

You can always ask the community for help if you need and worse case turn to http://www.admingeekz.com/ , http://www.geniusweb.com/system_administration , http://www.supportpro.com/administration.php or some other hourly/per case type of sysadmin service.

Re: Ask HN: VPS management for the absolute beginner

#4

Post by AbyBeats »

mixmax wrote: post #2

Good question. I'm somewhat in the same boat as you, and I've found Linodes tutorials good. Check them out here: http://library.linode.com/beginners-guide/

An offtopic question if you dont mind.When should we think of switching from a VPS to a fully dedicated server?I have a forum with around 3k members and vBullentin and the forum will grow further rather fast in next two months.

Re: Ask HN: VPS management for the absolute beginner

#6

Post by ubuntuftw »

I was in a similar position about nine months ago. I was on a shared server, and now I'm rocking a VPS with a pretty good confidence level. Here's what I did.

First, I picked a Linux distribution. I went with Ubuntu because of ease of use.

Second, I ordered a copy of "The Official Ubuntu Server Book" (http://www.amazon.com/Official-Ubuntu-Server-Book-2nd/dp/013...) and read it from cover to cover. In some cases, I had to read chapters several times to completely understand it, but because I did that and took copious notes, I feel pretty good about things now. P.S. If you do read a book, take notes. I refer to them almost everyday.

Finally, I picked a VPS provider. I tried Slicehost, VPS.net, and Dreamhost, but finally settled on Linode. I picked them because I heard great things about them, and they haven't let me down. Back then, it was something like 386mb of RAM for $19.95. Now, they're even better. They offer 512mb for the same price! With Slicehost, you only get 256mb for that price. At VPS.net, it's 376mb. So Linode is the best deal, hands down.

Oh and Linode has an excellent user library with how-to articles on doing EVERYTHING. http://library.linode.com/

Hope that helps some!

Re: Ask HN: VPS management for the absolute beginner

#7

Post by AgentConundrum »

ubuntuftw wrote: post #6

I was in a similar position about nine months ago. I was on a shared server, and now I'm rocking a VPS with a pretty good confidence level. Here's what I did. First, I picked a Linux distribution. I went with Ubuntu because of ease of use. Second, I ordered a copy of "The Official Ubuntu Server Book" ( http://www.amazon.com/Official-Ubuntu-Server-Book-2nd/dp/013... ) and read it from cover to cover. In some cases, I…

Thanks for the recommendations. I hadn't really looked a lot into which VPS to use yet; I saw a post recently which linked me to Slicehost, so I checked it out without really having yet had the chance to do much comparison yet.

I just skimmed over the linode library that you linked, and I am impressed. I was going to ask you for more information about installing and securing Apache (nothing against ngenix; I just have more experience with Apache), MySQL, and PHP, but it seems they've beaten me to the punch. Though, if you do have recommendations for any of that, please do pass that along. More information is always appreciated.

Re: Ask HN: VPS management for the absolute beginner

#8

Post by AgentConundrum »

maxdemarzi wrote: post #3

If you're looking at slicehost, then you must know they have step by step instructions to get you setup at http://articles.slicehost.com/ This should get you pretty far. You can always ask the community for help if you need and worse case turn to http://www.admingeekz.com/ , http://www.geniusweb.com/system_administration , http://www.supportpro.com/administration.php or some other hourly/per case type of sysadmin ser…

Actually I didn't know about those articles. I browsed through the site rather casually and focused mostly on specs and prices first. I didn't think to check the "community" link (expecting it to be forums, which wasn't exactly what I wanted) until you prompted me to go look for your link.

The information there seems great to get started. Many appreciations to you.

Re: Ask HN: VPS management for the absolute beginner

#9

Post by ubuntuftw »

AgentConundrum wrote: post #7
ubuntuftw wrote: post #6

I was in a similar position about nine months ago. I was on a shared server, and now I'm rocking a VPS with a pretty good confidence level. Here's what I did. First, I picked a Linux distribution. I went with Ubuntu because of ease of use. Second, I ordered a copy of "The Official Ubuntu Server Book" ( http://www.amazon.com/Official-Ubuntu-Server-Book-2nd/dp/013... ) and read it from cover to cover. In some cases, I…

Thanks for the recommendations. I hadn't really looked a lot into which VPS to use yet; I saw a post recently which linked me to Slicehost, so I checked it out without really having yet had the chance to do much comparison yet. I just skimmed over the linode library that you linked, and I am impressed. I was going to ask you for more information about installing and securing Apache (nothing against ngenix; I just hav…

I do! A killer tip too.

The Linode tutorials teach you one way of installing Apache, PHP, and MySQL... but there is another.

If you're using Ubuntu and you run the command "sudo tasksel", that'll launch a program that lets you pick from a bunch of preconfigured options. Need a LAMP server? Just "sudo tasksel" and select LAMP. Need a mail server? Same thing. Need an SSH server? Well, you get the idea.

In the past, I've had problems getting Apache, PHP, and MySQL to play nicely when installed manually, so this can sometimes be helpful.

As far as security tips: 1. Use password-protected SSH keys to login as opposed to just using a password. SSH is the protocol you will use to manage your VPS. It is also what you should use (instead of FTP, which is insecure) to transfer files. 2. Use UFW (it's short for uncomplicated firewall) to block all traffic by default and allow only necessary ports (80 for HTTP, 22 for SSH, etc). UFW is one GREAT reason to use Ubuntu. With other distributions, you have to use iptables to setup a firewall, which is incredibly complicated. UFW is easy as pie. 3. Run the command "sudo mysql_secure_installation" to secure your MySQL server 4. Keep the software on your VPS up to date. Run the commands "sudo aptitude update" and "sudo aptitude safe-upgrade" to do this.

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