Posts Tagged ‘Server’

Apache Web Server on Dedicated Servers

May 20th, 2010 Admin

Apache web server is the leading web server used on the internet today. It is trusted, powerful and very stable platform to rely on to serve websites and content.

Apache web server is the best option available for a robust and reliable linux dedicated server. The Apache Foundation manages its development and makes sure to maintain it as the industry leading web server. Millions of dedicated servers worldwide rely on Apache as their dedicated web server. The best part is that the apache web server is completely free. It is an open source code and distributed under the GNU Public License. Apache supports both the http and https protocols. It can also be installed on Microsoft Windows Server systems for the users who prefer that platform.

The configuration options available with apache web server are vast, no surprise that it is used as the backbone for almost all dedicated web servers. Apache uses the virtual host function which is extremely powerful and full of tools. It allows you to host multiple domain names on the same server, with either shared or dedicated IP’s. The primary configuration is for the system and then individual virtual host configurations can be setup to configure the other domains hosted on that web server.

It comes with no surprise that since it is the most widely used web server on the market, it will be the target for many hackers to try and find vulnerabilities in software packages, permissions, poorly written scripts and more. The good news is that the apache developers are constantly working on new updates and patches to keep the linux dedicated server secure and stable. Linux is a very secure and stable platform to develop and host websites on.

Apache has a very powerful function called .htaccess. It allows the webmaster to do slight PHP configurations for the individual websites, configure password protected directories, website redirects and rewrites and more.

To conclude, the Apache Web Server is the perfect choice for your dedicated server. It provides so many abilities and different configurations, no wonder it is the number one choice for Linux dedicated servers.

Gogax is a professional web hosting service provider. We offer a wide range of dedicated servers and we will provide the best dedicated server hosting. To explore more about Dedicated servers, please visit our website.

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Configuring a Simple Ntp Time Server

May 19th, 2010 Admin

NTP, or Network Time Protocol, is a standard protocol for synchronising time on computers and network equipment. NTP allows client computers to synchronise with a reference NTP server over a computer network. The protocol was originally developed for the Linux operating system. The standard NTP distribution is a freely downloadable application supplied under the GNU public licence. This article attempts to simplify the installation and configuration of the Linux NTP server application. It describes a simple NTP installation and goes through step-by-step the configuration procedure required to provide a NTP server on a Linux machine.

The NTP software distribution can be freely download from the NTP website, ntp.org. As well as containing the NTP daemon for Linux, the distribution also contains a number of utilities and configuration scripts. These utilities and scripts aid the installation process and provide debugging facilities to trace installation problems. A number of Linux installations pre-install the NTP package, others offer it as a pre-compiled RPM package.

The NTP daemon is configured using a configuration file ‘ntp.conf’. A list of commands can be specified in the configuration file to indicate which servers the daemon is to synchronise to and also to specify various authentication and access control options.

The NTP daemon synchronises to an external NTP server. Often, Internet based NTP time servers are used as reference clocks. External NTP servers are specified using the ’server’ command along with the IP address or domain name of the server. Multiple external time servers can be specified in the configuration file, which allows NTP to select the most appropriate server.

The NTP daemon is controlled by a series of scripts, which are used to start (‘ntpd start’), stop (‘ntp stop’) or restart (‘ntpd restart’) the daemon. The NTP daemon can be queried and debugged using the ‘ntpq’ utility. This is a very useful utility for debugging NTP server installations. It provides information relating to the synchronisation status of the NTP daemon.

There are a number of security commands that can be specified in the configuration file to control access to the time server and also to provide authentication. It is very straight-forward to restrict access of the time server to a limited number of computers. This is achieved using the ‘restrict’ command, which is used in conjunction with the IP address or computer name of the computer to be allowed access. Multiple ‘restrict’ commands can be specified to restrict access to a range of computers. Authentication allows a matching set of keywords to be used on a server and client to authenticate the server. Shared keywords are specified in a ‘ntp.keys’ file on both the server and client computers. The keyword that are trusted and to be used for authentication purposes are then specified in the NTP daemon configuration file ‘ntp.conf’.

To summarise, the NTP distribution is easy and free to obtain and easy to install, configure and debug. There is no reason why anyone with a little computer know-how cannot set up a local NTP time server for network time synchronisation.

Dave Evans is a technical author in the field of computer network timing. For more information about timing and NTP servers.

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Mailservers on Dedicated Server Hosting

May 16th, 2010 Admin

Whenever a hosting service is to be considered, one of the most important aspects is the kind of email service you will get with the web hosting package or server you will be leasing from the hosting provider. The kind of features which are generally been looked forward to are the number of emails which can be sent, the webmail clients and the mail servers which are available.

Dedicated server hosting generally involves 2 hosting platforms i.e. the operating system provided and these are Linux and Windows. Though, this also depends on the hosting provider you choose. As complete freedom is offered with the Dedicated Servers (some of the limitations are there but these also depend on the hosting provider you choose), you have the freedom to select your own Mailserver but it is recommended that you use the Mailservers provided by the hosting provider as this solution is considered to be more reliable. Although, as Dedicated Servers belong to you, it is possible for you to have another Mailserver as per your requirements.

It is possible to customize the email sending limits from the Mailserver, however, it might be possible that your hosting provider has disabled this feature due to some reasons. Another facet which should be taken in consideration is the Mail clients which are available with the Mail server as only some of the Mail clients are not supported on some Mailservers. Now, when it comes to Dedicated Server hosting, you will be provided with a Mailserver and this strongly depends on the operating system you choose. Generally, Exim Mailserver is preferred for Linux Dedicated Servers and Mailenable is preferred for Windows Dedicated Servers. Let us see some of the features of these Mailservers.

Exim: Exim is an open source Mail server which is released under GNU license. Licensing fee is not required for this Mailserver as it is available for free and can be downloaded easily from it’s website. If it available on Dedicated Server Hosting then Linux operating system is installed on it as Exim is supported on Linux only.

It includes great features and is amazingly stable when it comes to the performance. It is developed in such a way that it is feasible to integrate it with most of the anti-virus applications and anti-spam measures. Dedicated web hosting based on Linux is provided with Exim Mailserver by most of the hosting providers due to the availability and the features it offers, however, if you consider an unmanaged dedicated server, it might be possible that you will have to install it yourself.

Mailenable: This mailserver is available with Windows operating system only. Thus, it is conclusive that this Mailserver is only available with Windows Dedicated Web Hosting. Due to this, one might take it as a drawback but it is certainly a benefit as almost all the features of a Mailserver are available in this Mailserver i.e. Mailenable. It is scalable enough and can be configured as per the requirements, though, some limitations are included, however, if installed on the Dedicated Server Hosting, the limitations are almost none as the Dedicated Server is fully dedicated to the owner.

The only drawback (not exactly) is the fact that it is a licensed application i.e. licensing fee is required for it, however, one of the versions is available for free but does not include the features and benefits the paid versions include and can benefit on Windows Dedicated Web Hosting. It has great features and stability on Windows and therefore is mostly taken as granted Mailserver when it comes to Windows Dedicated Server Hosting.

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What’s the best way to practice to become a Linux server admin?

April 18th, 2010 Admin

Sorry for the dumba** question, but here’s the situation.
Every job I’ve had, we’ve worked w/ a unix server set up w/ some distro of Linux. For the most part, I’ve just found myself interacting w/ the server through a terminal launched in a Windows desktop.
I haven’t had admin priviliges for the server; just basic priviliges to get in, get what I need, write what I need to, and get out.
Having not yet been put in a position to shadow the server admin, and facing experience requirements to get the position that I need to get that experience, I’m in a bind.

In the past, when doing client-server apps, I’ve just done little server applications and client applications on the same machine.
I haven’t run a server OS before, so I don’t really know how to go about looping it back to possibly act as both server and client on the same machine. This would be preferable. Alternately, I could set up a tiny, 2-3 comp at home LAN and work through that, if absolutely necessary.
For all intents and purposes, I’m a complete server admin newbie.
Any self-taught Linux server admins who managed w/o shadowing anyone or specific training classes out there? How did you do it? Thanks :)

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The Advantages Of Linux Server Hosting

April 5th, 2010 Admin

Even with a huge amount of information about modern technologies as well as our daily use of computer equipment and software, most people are unaware of the differences in scripting languages and the variety of web hosting services available. Many may not even understand what web hosting or scripting languages mean!

In the simplest of terms when a business or individual has decided to create a website they will more than likely require the services of a web hosting company. Web hosts own the server equipment that keeps all of the data and files necessary for the site to run, look and perform as the website owner desires. The data and files are all going to be written with special programs and languages which are recognizable by computers around the world. Currently the two most common platforms are Linux and Windows.

There are reasons that a business or individual will need to know which of the platforms their hosting provider uses including the design of an existing site, the need for certain functions or applications and their own budget constraints.

The advantages of using Linux server hosting will generally include:

 

Compatibility – Linux web hosting allows for a full range of integration or compatibility with other operating software or applications. The software can run easily on a Windows server, while the reverse is not so easily done. Additionally, many of the most commonly used databases and applications work smoothly in Linux. This also means tons of stability.

Cost – Linux software is totally free for developers to use or modify as they require. This is not just the operating software but all of the other applications that have been written for it. This translates to entire suites of server applications that can be downloaded and put to use on the server at no additional costs.

 

Ease of Use – Linux initially earned a reputation as a bit more complicated than the familiar Windows OS, but today web developers and software writers have made the Linux applications incredibly easy to use and even modify for customized functions.

 

Security – The jury is still out on this issue, but most experts acknowledge Linux as the least prone to security issues and also the OS that delivers the most guaranteed amounts of uptime.

 

There are clearly many advantages for choosing a Linux server hosting provider, but the real key to knowing if it is the right choice for your needs is to simply compare it to the work that may have all ready been done for your site – if it is primarily Windows software or applications you may want to choose a Windows provider, but the beauty of Linux is that is perfectly capable of using the Windows language as well.

Compare Web Hosts is a premier web hosting directory that provides accurate and unbiased web hosting reviews. You can find the best cheap web hosting, Linux web hosting and Windows web hosting online at CompareWebHosts.com.

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