Eukhost suffered a power outage at the datacenter they use leaving many dedicated server and VPS hosting customers offline for several hours. Customers were largely in the dark whilst servers remained offline due to a fault with the power supply system at the datacenter.
Dec 01
VPS.net appears to be suffering from repeated issues in the last month. Multiple SAN failures, Distributed Denial of Service attacks as well as other network related issues have brought much less less than 100% uptime in the last month with some users facing days of inaccessibility to their virtual servers.
Oct 23
There are many ways to provide an “anywhere” desktop with all your files and settings immediately available. Firstly, on a Linux based virtual server, you can provide a desktop orientated operating system such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, SuSe running a VNC server. This will allow a user on any computer in the world to connect to the system remotely with VNC, and to use office applications in OpenOffice, to browse the web in Firefox, to email in Thunderbird or similar – all from their virtual desktop. Alternatively, on a Windows based machine, you can use remote desktop with Server 2003 web edition to run all your normal Windows programs. Windows licensing is more expensive, but for a lot of people the ubiquity of Windows is the important thing – all their applications will run and they are used to the interface.
Sep 14
Virtual Dedicated Servers feature full root access. Running on highly powerful and reliable host systems, a VDS gives you the full flexibility of a dedicated at a lower cost – ideal for low-usage niche applications, monitoring systems and more.
A VDS provides the full flexibility of a dedicated server – you are free to install your own software and configure the system to your exact needs as there are no other users – at just a fraction of the cost. They are perfect for development environments, simple applications, and sites which need the security of a dedicated server but don’t need the additional power.
Aug 30
A virtual dedicated server (VDS) is a virtual machine hosted on a physical dedicated server. There can be many virtual dedicated servers on a single physical dedicated server, and the beauty of this is that you get the flexibility of your own physical server without the cost.
You are provided with the root login/administrator access to the virtual dedicated server, in the same was as if it were a physical server. You can choose your operating system, (e.g. Linux CentOS, Windows Server 2003) and can install and configure your own software exactly to your own specifications. If you require a custom Apache configuration to host your website, you can do this.
Sometimes it is recommended that a user purchase a virtual dedicated server instead of a reseller package. With a Windows or Linux reseller hosting account, you are effectively free to resell a number of websites, based upon the amount of space/bandwidth you have purchased wholesale from your reseller hosting provider. This is especially suitable for a novice web hosting user, who need to host a number of websites but who doesn’t have the systems administration experience required to keep a virtual dedicated server running smoothly and securely. Additionally, a web designer who wishes to offer web hosting to their clients may benefit from a reseller hosting account – they want to offer website hosting to their clients but without the added problems of worrying about administering the server, making sure all of the scripts and server software is up to date etc.
So whilst a reseller account is very convenient, and cost effective for a user wishing to host a large number of websites, it doesn’t quite offer the flexibility of a virtual dedicated server, which may be more suited to a developer running multiple websites requiring custom Apache/MySQL/PHP/Ruby on Rails hosting requirements. In conclusion, for most users a reseller hosting account is usually the better option to take, whilst as a user gains more experience and understands the details of administering a linux hosting server, a VDS may be an option to progress to later on.
Aug 30
VMware http://www.vmware.com
The host profile feature of vSphere 4 is useful in streamlining host profile set up and eases diagnostics.
As part of its ongoing testing of the VMware vSphere 4 platform and its rivals, eWEEK Labs puts the new host profiles feature to the test. Host profiles streamlines the configuration of new ESX hosts, and makes it easier for administrators to check for compliance.
New in VMware vSphere 4 is the ability to streamline the configuration of new ESX hosts. (ESX being the management component of the server infrastructure.) As part of my ongoing testing of the vSphere 4 platform, I put the new feature through its paces in the lab.
Host profiles help to solve the finicky problem of ensuring uniformity among the groups of physical ESX host systems that support the virtual machine environment. The host profile feature is a good addition to vSphere 4, but the need for it may be lessened by the abilities of the new distributed switch that was also added in this overhaul of VMware’s flagship data centre virtualisation platform.
Aug 25
HAProxy is a very fast, efficient piece of software that enables you to load balance multiple servers behind an HAproxy front end. It supports tends of thousands of concurrent connections with moderate hardware requirements, whilst also being incredibly reliable.
The layer 7 load balancing software can even act as a rudimentary firewall – placed in-front of a single server it can screen requests to see if they are malformed or similar. Protecting your Apache server from overloading its CPU or exceeding it’s RAM and going in to swap is a massive worthwhile benefit.
Unfortunately the main feature that HAproxy doesn’t support, is SSL; but there are multiple ways around this which I’m sure you can explore. The official HAproxy website is here: http://haproxy.1wt.eu/
Aug 24
http://www.techmixer.com/free-windows-hosting-control-panel-dotnetpanel-express-edition/
DotNetPanel Express Edition, a free hosting control panel for Windows Hosting that help Windows webmaster or windows home hosting simplifying Windows Hosting management operations. This free Windows hosting control panel offers its users with greater flexibility. It is written in C# and comprises with the latest technologies such as WMI, ADSI, SOAP Web Services with Web enhancements and N velocity Templates engine.
Meanwhile, DotNetPanel Express edition support for Exchange Server 2007, Windows Share Point Services, IIS 7.0, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and a new VPS solution for complete Enterprise level automation of virtualization. It is reputed as the fastest AJAX enabled control panel.
The DNP Express Edition is ideal for VPS and dedicated server owners, home hosting, education and evaluation use. You can manage an unlimited number of domains or websites, install it on three servers with up to five users, and it runs on Windows Server 2008 Web edition. And, best of all, it’s FREE!
Aug 21
This document describes how to install a PureFTPd server that uses virtual users from a MySQL database instead of real system users. This is much more performant and allows to have thousands of ftp users on a single machine. In addition to that I will show the use of quota and upload/download bandwidth limits with this setup. Passwords will be stored encrypted as MD5 strings in the database.
http://www.howtoforge.com/virtual-hosting-with-pureftpd-mysql-on-debian-lenny
Aug 18
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/44452
During this week’s Converging on Microsoft podcast interview with Mike Schutz, Director of Product Management for the Microsoft Windows Server Division, we discuss the relevant steps necessary to secure servers running Hyper-V. Microsoft has a number of resources you will find helpful (links at the end of this article) and Mike’s interview is also a great place to learn what’s happening with Hyper-V security.
One of the most valuable tools Microsoft has for securing Hyper-V is their Hyper-V Security Guide. The Hyper-V SG layouts it out in three steps: Hardening Hyper-V, Delegating Virtual Machine Management, and Protecting Virtual Machines. Here are some added thoughts and commentary beyond what the document offers.
