Dedicated Linux Server

Dedicated Web Server is an entirely loyal to clients and their websites- regarding high traffic, disk space, flexibility to manage software and applications. “Linux Dedicated server” is a “Dedicated Hosting Server” that used Linux Operating System and its features, for Web Hosting.

How to Secure Linux Dedicated Server?

In hosting different service clients, websites hosted on the same server is called shared hosting, and that websites are in danger. Dedicated Server isolates all security risks to host only your site or sites on the server.

It is not enough to say that having dedicated server is safe. Still, there are many security issues like – Viruses, Hacking, Malware, etc. and it’s required more security actions to secure your Linux dedicated server.

Here are some tips to secure Linux Dedicated Server:

Update and Upgrade OS

Upgrade Linux version time to time with new features and latest security issues, also update option provided by Linux provider to update their patches. All upgrade and update must be done agilely.

Use SELinux

SELinux is Security Enhanced Linux developed access control security system in the kernel which provides security in-depth; it should not be disabled on the server. On command line type  “system-config-SELinux” to check status ofSELinux.

 Root Access

Root access is like the master, through it anything can be done, it is better to get access to root in a fortuitous event. Enable secondary login and use Sudo access, which is helpful in monitoring server.

Strong Passwords

Well, known truth for a password is, it is not secure when it is constant. A strong password must use a mix of keyboard letters and generate new password frequently.

Secure Shell

For remote login to a server, Telnet is commonly used, but it is not secure. Secure Shell or SSH has the same function, and it encrypts data during transmission to secure communication.

 FTP & HTTP

FTP service often not used for security reasons, and it should be disabled if needed SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is a better option for it. On HTTP files and folders, set read-only permission for users.

Firewall

Enable Linux firewall, and it is used to allow and deny traffic on specific ports. It has default rules set which are not enough to secure server. Set rules as needed and apply it in IP tables to filter packets.

An article lists steps to Secure Linux Dedicated Server against hackers, malware, and viruses. Security options covered include – update and upgrade of the operating system, use  SELinux, enable secondary login instead of root access, strong passwords. use secure ssh and sftp and enable Firewall. A systematic article on Linux Dedicated Security would contain brief on Linux server security, best practices, security software, and measures and how to secure server from hackers.

In Hosting ritual Dedicated web hosting is a service used for the commercial purpose by clients where they can host multiple websites and increase space and speed for websites. Dedicated Hosting also beneficial for those websites Audio / Video and file download services using shared web hosting with limited bandwidth.

Initially in hosting business people prefer budget solutions, after a time period when a business grows its need more features. It is good to choose the company, which give fast and easy upgrade from any hosting plan to dedicated hosting. Dedicated server setup available on monthly or yearly plan payment options and it is not easy to switch different hosting provider in short time. All that process can be time-consuming and costly for clients.

In Cloud Hosting specific server is not required, however buying resources and bandwidth for users in business what is a necessity. Clients need to select server only, deploying cloud server, configured and ready to use everything is ready within few minutes.

In Cloud hosting the infrastructure includes massive redundancy, if a particular server is not in working condition, automatically burden is transferred to other servers, hence it is not possible to say where the server is located, may possible that websites host in other city or a different country. In cloud hosting, if a server can be deployed or destroyed within an hour clients pay only what they use.

Unmanaged Linux hosting refers to Linux hosting whereby the client is in complete control of his server. Here, the customer is the one who manages his server.

There are quite some reasons why a customer would prefer to use cheap unmanaged Linux hosting. First of all, it is cheaper; in the sense that you get to save the money that you would pay your web host for managing your server. On the other hand, cheap unmanaged Linux hosting gives clients an upper hand when it comes to controlling of his server. This way, the customer can exploit all the resources that come with the server, such as memory bandwidth and disk space along with many others. Unmanaged Linux hosting is also customizable, thus allowing clients even to install some programs or even software that may not be supported by the web host. All this is possible as the clients are in control of their servers. Another reason would be the fact that the server’s management issues and technical support issues are your responsibility; the hosting company does not offer clients any technical assistance.

Some of the hosting companies in the industry that offer cheap unmanaged Linux hosting are Site 5 hosting company, dotVPS.co, modVPS, VPSLink VPS hosting and Cool Handle hosting company just to mention a few.

At DotVPs.co hosting company, clients get excellent and cheap unmanaged VPS hosting. The price for unmanaged Linux hosting at this company starts from as little as $4 up to $15 a month. Some of their hosting features include: 512 MB, hosting speed of up to 1000mbps, full root access, Solusvm control panel, and additional IP addresses available on request for only $2.50 and so many other great features.

Mod VPS offers unmanaged Linux Virtual Private Server hosting t their clients. Their hosting comes with a variety of hosting features starting with a 45-day money back guarantee, Supermicro servers with RAID 10 arrays, guaranteed network uptime of up to 99 %, Solusvm VPS management software, unmetered bandwidth, a private network, full root access along with many other features. All these and more features for as little as $14.95 a month.

VPS link is the leading company when it comes to offering unmanaged VPS Linux hosting solutions. Their hosting starts from as low as $6.62 a month and more so supports several Linux operating systems; Gentoo, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and CentOS. Some of the features of their hosting services include full root access, SCSI RAID storage, up to1000GB of bandwidth each month depending on what package you choose, Ruby on Rails and LAMP VPS hosting an instant set up and many other excellent hosting features.

Coolhandle is the other hosting company that offers cheap Linux VPS hosting in the industry. Some of the core features of their Linux VPS hosting include: redundant storage which ensure the safety of your data, dedicated resources, a money back guarantee, full root access thanks to SSH, 24/7 technical and customer support, free file transfer, free domain transfer free script transfer and free database transfer plus many other incredible features.

Where is the data more secure on shared hosting or dedicated hosting?

The web hosting company you opt for can be your best ally or your worst foe. The right degree of service along with the technical support and responsiveness that one offered can make your website reach a zenith, but you definitely need to opt for the right kind of hosting to make your site secure.

A dedicated hosting or shared one option comes across as a difficult choice and which option is more secure for your site is a very crucial subject matter. The willingness to share space might be easy and pocket-friendly but is it secure or opting for a dedicated web server will safeguard your site against the potential threats. These questions need to be answered before you spend the money in your pocket when you go pick up a web hosting service for your site.

Potential threats on the Shared Hosting

Now with shared hosting, the price is definitely saved. The aspects like technology, storage, and bandwidth requirements play a major role in determining the value of virtual hosting.

• Free hosting is also a likely feature in the shared hosting in return for displaying advertisements from the hosting company or with one of the sites that you share the IP address with.
• However with Shared hosting the risks are more, to begin with, make sharing web hosting done unknowingly with Spam sites or adult portal can raise a red mark with the search engines. The Spam sites try to trick the search engines to give them a higher rank but then all these actions can result in a ban of the entire IP address from the search engines index.
• To know more about the kind of sites that the Web hosting company hosts alongside your IP address go through the terms of service page and make sure to ask whether they upload different sites on the same server on a particular IP address.
• Next issue on the shared hosting is slow server response that would not only make the sites respond slowly as the server is shared with other sites and the hits will decrease as the site takes a longer time to upload. Now the slow server response not only hurts the site promotion by frustrating visitors but can turn you into bad books of search engines as the pages take a time to upload the search engine spiders crawl by and tag you at the back of the pages or disown you for bad services.
• The server crashes are more in the web sharing as the hosting company limit the type of the CGI scripts on their servers and the poorly written script can get haywire too soon too quick crashing the whole site in a moment.

Own Your Home With A Dedicated Server

With a dedicated server, the security definitely feels to be more. Yes, the cost a lot and sometimes are not in favor of the low budget. However, with more costs, more features and benefits come into the picture. When you are the only company the Web Hosting provider has to serve the standing line issue ends and no more is the first come first serve tag on.

• The script running the site is as per your requirement and instructions so the chances of crashing decreases.
• The site runs faster as the server just needs to run your site with a decrease in bounce rates and the visibility on the search engine pages increases.
• For the server, it is easy to set up and handle FTP and SSL encryption as there is a dedicated server for your IP address. The SSL encryption comes in for free which safeguards your content.
• The bandwidth is allotted with no restrictions as it is assumed that you would need a lot of bandwidth when you opt for a dedicated server.

Keeping all these pointers in mind one needs to opt for a Webhosting Service as the potential threat could not only take away your potential client to your competitors but also degrade you in the search engine ranking. So keep these potential threats in mind before opting for a shared or dedicated server.

Linux Hosting Features

Web hosting is simply a term in which a service provider places your website on the internet, to make it accessible across the globe. The site typically put on a computer known as “Server,” which serves as a home to your website.

There are two choices on which you can host your websites either Linux Hosting or Windows Hosting.

In the vast world of hosting, Linux was once the king. It supports by default various scripting languages like PHP, Ruby On Rails, Perl, etc. But for ASP or .NET web sites Linux hosting is not a good option. There are various hosting provider companies. But how to choose a good hosting company is a question.

Steps to select a reputed web hosting provider

Choosing the right web hosting service provider is a time consuming and difficult task. It is particularly due to the reason that every individual or business has different requirements. Given these varied requirements, here are some services that a web hosting company will offer you.

• Control Panel: It is your admin panel where you can control or customize your site on the web server. The control panel you get depends upon the hosting plan. In a case of shared hosting, all the rights remain with the service provider, and you need to seek their permission to make changes. But in a case of dedicated hosting, you have admin authority and can control your sites by your own.
• Disk space: It is the space that you purchase from the web hosting provider. The size of disk space depends upon your requirements, and size of your website. Getting larger disk space will cost you more thus it is suggested you become equitant with your requirements to get the best deal.
• Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the amount of data transferred or received for a particular duration. In a case of web hosting, the bandwidth consumed whenever the visitors open your site, download or upload something.
• Email Account: You can also get domain based email accounts, mainly known as POP3 email accounts. These accounts can be accessed using Outlook, Netscape Mail, Eudora or any other email software.
• Database: Database is a crucial component of every web hosting package. It is the place where you keep all the data related to your website. In a case of Linux hosting MySQL databases is provided by hosting provider companies.
• Some hosting companies offer free website scripts like Message Forum, Social Networking Scripts, Image Galleries, Mailing List, E-commerce and multimedia features that are an add-on to your site. Companies like Bluehost are providing these features at affordable prices.

Customer Service/Support

Whether you are a novice or an expert in web hosting, you need the assistance of web hosting provider at many instances. While selecting the company, you must check their customer support and services. The different ways of doing:

• It is a very good idea to check their knowledge base. If the service providers are not well enough to resolve your fundamental issues, it is useless to stick to them. The service provider must have comprehensive knowledge of all basic terminologies, standard errors along with round the clock customer support.
• Responsive customer service staff is the next big thing. The client service team should be happy to help you and can resolve your issues whenever you ask them.

Pricing:

Certainly, a huge matter, because many web hosting service providers are there offering their services at very affordable prices. While deciding on the price, you must also comply with your basic requirements and should never compromise with quality. The pricing of hosting plan depends upon the disk space, database, and email accounts you opt. Still, you can get the same deal at a low price by doing some research.

Just stick to these simple points, and you will inevitably end up finding a web hosting provider meeting all your requirements.

Use the option “Launch Site Builder.” Initially, the password to log into the site builder is the same as that in the control panel.

Administer Your account
Enter your control panel login and password into “Login to your Control Panel.” This login and password e-mailed to you at the address you specified at signup. Use the Control Panel to view your bills, change your contact/billing information, change passwords, get more disk space, report problems to the technical support staff and much, much more.

Default index page
The moment your account registered on cpwebhosting.net, a temporary index page added to your site’s directory.
It will be there until you upload your site and replace it with your index page (i.e. www. yourcompany.com/index.html).

Web design
Create your first Websites or E-Commerce. Web design includes: Logo Design & Company Branding, Graphic Design, Markup Languages (HTML, XHTML, XML), Stylesheets (CSS), Programming Languages (JavaScript, PHP, Visual Basic, ASP), Query Languages (MySQL, MS Access), Protocols (DNS, FTP, POP3, SMTP), Basic Websites, E-commerce solutions , Search Engine Optimization, Web Hosting, Domain Registration, Email Communications, Live Support and Pay Per Click Marketing.

Content Management System
A web content management solution is a kind of software which allows the user to make changes or edit the substance of any website without having any web design knowledge. It is essentially a computer system which is used to maintain web documents. CMS web designers create series of CMS templates where web pages dropped for future changes. A user can then use a simple interface to add, delete or modify the content of the page. CMS also provides a simple and easy way to create new web pages. A CMS allows document editing, auditing, and timeline management.

Why CMS?
If you have a website then you need to update it regularly so that your visitors find it interesting. Stagnant websites are like stale food making every one disinterested to even see. But it will need a lot of money if you plan to update your site by web developers every week. Hence you can have a mid way for this. A CMS can help you update your website allowing you to edit or modify the content in your website. You can save money and time by using CMS. Through CMS, you can update your content as often as you want. With constant updating your site will look more interactive and appealing. If you plan to update your content then it is a good idea to have a CMS.

Key Features of CMS
Many CMS’ have different features. It is not essential that every CMS will have similar features. The basic feature of CMS is to edit the content of the website. Many CMS’ have features like access rights management and content approval, dynamic site maps, e-mail alerts, dual or multilingual functionality, form creation and management, standard and accessibility compliance, Meta tag updating, site security, image optimization and processing, versioning, static report and search functionality.

How to get CMS?
Many web deigning companies offer CMS along with other services. CMS pricing depends on the number of pages and users involved in it. You can get varieties of CMS offered by different companies. Make sure you do a thorough market research before spending big bucks on CMS. You can also consult software companies for better

Linux Server optimized for Web application development

For PHP developers, Linux is most popular Operating System, and most have configured LAMP in their Windows or Mac workstations. They have virtual private web development server in the existing operating system like any other program with a collection of standard industry software. This server is cheaper, faster and accessible from their workstation.

Linux Distributions:

• OpenSUSE – formally known SUSE Linux, in development since 1994, sponsored by ‘Novell.’
  

  “Linus Torvalds criticizes it for usability issues especially around security policies requiring root credentials for everyday operations.”

• Fedora – General purpose Linux distribution, created in 2003 when Red Hat Linux discontinued
• Ubuntu – derivation of Debian codebase.

How does it matter? When is it free and open source software, how it can be trusted?

• Minimizes or eliminates the cost of its use
• large community to support
• a variety of components

Install and configure Linux Web Server and bring the components work together in a Software stack LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP). You may be required to troubleshoot common installation and configuration issues, install PHP development framework and Content Management system.

As an administrator of the Linux Server, you can:

• work from the command line and configure various server components including the Exim-mail server
• build a simple website that connects to the local database
• install Drupal, WordPress, and more on the server
• Troubleshoot and maintain Linux server components
• Manage the server with Webmin
• Use a MySQL client with the database

Virtualization: It allows an unmodified operating system with all its installed software to run in an environment within your existing operating system.

Profits of Virtualization

• No need to take the external resource such as external machine or VPS

Requirements for Private Web Server

1. Server optimized operating system like Ubuntu Server LTS 64 bit   * LTS – Long Term Support available at Ubuntu[dot]com
2. VirtualBox for virtualization available at virtualbox[dot]org or Oracle VM VirtualBox
3. SSH Client, e.g., PuTTY
4. IDE or Text Editor

Why is Linux considered a viable solution for web development? It’s free, and everybody can copy and re-use the software also its source code is available which users can change, improve and distribute again as open source software, so collaboratively, it leads to a stronger platform and thus an excellent solution for those in web development. It has an extensive community-based support system which includes forums, wikis and Internet relay chat.

When you want to make your website online, then you have to choose a Website Hosting Company, which is the important way of making your site online on the internet. This is basically one of the most important factors for a website’s success.

There are different packages that a web-hosting company offers to its clients and the clients have to choose according to the site’s traffic and what all kind of users are going to visit your website. Basically, a web hosting service is a type of internet hosting service, which allows individuals and organizations to make a website accessible via (WWW) World Wide Web.

The hosting companies provide a particular space on the server given by the web-hosting company. That space is provided according to what the user wants and is that space suitable for the user. As the web industry is growing at large and there are lots of opportunities for users. Reseller and Cloud hosting are the two most popular hosting plans that are creating a boom in the industry.

Reseller hosting is one of the simplest hosting plans that enables the user to earn money. In this, the user is given the permission to further resell its web space to other users. Once the user has decided he has the ability to set his own hosting prices and sell it according to what the user has asked him and the configure the plan according to what are the requirements of that particular user.

The important part of this plan is that there is no issue on the technical aspects that means there is not much understanding needed for the technical problems. In this, all the management is done by the primary web host. Cloud hosting is the latest plan that is present in the web-hosting industry.

In this, the user has the processing power of some interconnected servers. The user only has to pay for the resources that he is using very often. The user has the ability to access the bandwidth, memory and processing power. Cloud server offers a maximum level of security using firewall guard and tight disk space.

These servers are usually suitable for business seeking for better performance without high costs. Windows and Linux are the most commonly used operating systems used today. Most of the hosting companies offer Windows hosting, Linux hosting and Java hosting plans to its customers.

Many free online email options are available nowadays, giving no reason to purchase email software. Outlook.com is one such example, for iteration of Microsoft’s Hotmail online email solution. Any small business will benefit from its convenient, cost-free access to email and collaboration tools. Companies are allowed to use their website in their email address free of charge, eliminating requirements for an in-house mail server. This will be a big saving for a small company.

Security

Email software has to be updated, maintained or patched at own cost. Terms and conditions of Gmail should be considered. Posting, displaying and submitting content give Google a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free and non-exclusive license to adapt, modify, publish, translate, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content submitted, posted or displayed the services.

According to above statement, added content to a Gmail email becomes Google property. Probability is there to expose provided content seem to be next to none, but it is a business with free email and if any user doesn’t want to follow these terms and conditions, it is better to take responsibility on its own.

Contractual Obligations

Taking responsibility is not the perfect solution. Solutions like Office 365, better than Outlook.com offering terms and conditions preferred by the user depends on the line of business, these might not be the solutions can simply use as they are in a cloud. For non-classified users following agreements are made by United States Department of Defense (DoD) are:

Office 365 treat as a paid alternative will come in the category of open to debate, it is kind of checking agreements signed by a user at starting of signing a contract and clarifying not just be DoD prefer email clients to cloud solutions.

Compliance

Using cloud email another key area can be compliance. Depending on industry used by the user has a number of standards need to follow some legal business operations. One example is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance or known as HIPPA compliance.

HIPPA is applicable on healthcare insurance coverage during a change of jobs. Email usage would be covered. While considering it, healthcare insurance coverage maintenance requires moving patient health records by email. If email is not safe, then there is probability to fall in wrong hands. Resultant, provisions are added to safeguard the information of patient by electronic means.

Standards of HIPPA mainly for email covers like encryption and access. A company follows standards is subject to audits. Email used in an environment maintained by HIPPA support TLS and SSL, but services like Gmail support SSL while accessing websites and TLS is supported for inbound email transport, it proved that they are not HIPPA complaint. Companies are required by HIPPA which have a ‘Business Associate Agreement’ signed with an entrepreneur. A user will not just get from email service provider- set terms by them, not by the user.

Conclusion

Industry standards dictate the exact method of using email by a user. Email solutions like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook probably providing security to a bulk of business users according to requirements. Email usage would not be covered by business agreements. Many companies provide email solutions, engaged in helping their customers to meet standards of their industries. It has to be investigated that most famous web-based email solutions meet those requirements are free. User’s job is to find appropriate standards applicable to specific business.

Making the right choice for your large-scale corporate needs is, to say the least, very important. And it’s tougher than it used to be. For years, Unix servers from IBM, SUN, and HP have been the logical and popular choice for large applications. The power of a Unix server, with up to 64 processors, together with the scalability and stability of a Unix operating system has created a whole generation of IT professionals who would rather fight than switch. But, my, my – how things can change…

First, consider some of the initial costs. Intel-based servers are usually cheaper than proprietary Unix servers, making Intel server clustering a less expensive way to scale out your business. With price not always the most important consideration, you still have to weigh the advantages of one, large Unix server running just one copy of applications and the operating system on all the processors – far easier and faster to troubleshoot. With Intel-based servers, you have another cost advantage – more negotiating power. When you go Unix, you get locked into one vendor, like HP or Sun, and you pretty much have to live with whatever they do down the road. Intel servers, on the other hand, run standard processors and software allowing you to cluster together boxes from different manufacturers fairly easily. So if you’re not happy with one vendor, you can say, “See ya!” and go somewhere else.

And then there is the issue of power. It used to be that Unix offered 64-bit chips and Intel only 32 bits. That made a monster difference in memory addressability for managing very large databases. Last year, however, Intel finally got it’s Itanium 64-bit chip to market. And with the upcoming release of its successor chip, McKinley, Intel is expected to deliver a formidable, although relatively untested in the real world, 64-bit chip.

Microsoft has apparently done its part to improve the stability of the Windows operating system with NT. A warning is the concerns you used to have about how far you could scale it reliably on Intel-based servers. Alas, you will have to deal with software upgrades with Microsoft products and perhaps endure rebooting with seeming regularity. Of course, you could decide to run Unix on your Intel-based servers. Although its open-source cousin, Linux has been stealing the show primarily because you can download it free, Red Hat has done a decent job with support services, and you can tweak the code to better suit your requirements.

If you find yourself wrestling with what’s best for you, you may yearn for the simplicity of days gone by – when Unix held the keys to the castle for very large-scale server needs. But you can bet that the flexibility offered by today’s products is worth the additional time and effort you’ll spend making your decision.